Community Tasting Note
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Eudemis Likes this wine:
December 9, 2018 - 12% alcohol. The level is good, at bottom of the neck. The cork is soaked through, and it breaks up two thirds of the way upon extraction; no problem getting the other third out by the usual technique of tackling it at an angle. No idea why people are spending good money on specialist corkscrews. Decanted a short 30mn ahead in view of the venerable age of the bottle.
The colour is dark, slightly dull, with some thinning at the edge of the rim but no significant browning. The nose is not very intense but it has a surprisingly vivid feel; no fruit left as such, but very pleasant with a suggestion of caramel. The mouth has good energy, with nothing faded about it; fine acidity and good length, albeit in a slightly fluid way.
I won't hide the fact that I am quite disappointed by this bottle; yes it has held through 32 years, and yes it is in good condition, but is it better now than it was 15 years ago ? I can't say for sure as this is a once-off for me in this vintage, a gift from a now deceased friend and mentor (RIP JTL), but I suspect that I would have liked it better then. The problem for me is that the flavours that I get are not sufficiently refined or even distinctive to compensate for the loss of fruit. Certainly no magic here.3,150 views
2 Comments
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johnnyrichardson commented:
12/11/18, 12:57 AM - Eudemis, I don't think you'd have found this better 15 years ago. I bought a case (12) of these on release back when I still had hair, it has been a super-tannic beast which didn't really give up anything for 25 years or so, and which has been all but undrinkable, at least to me.
Having said that, the bottle I last opened a couple of years ago seemed just about in the window and was drinking very well, a solid if not stellar performance, so I look forward to better things from my remaining bottles some time in the next few years. L-B always needs time, but the '86s were hard as nails and quite unpleasant for a long time. Maybe your bottle was unrepresentative though? -
Eudemis commented:
12/11/18, 3:36 AM - Thank you for your comment Johnny (if you excuse the familiarity), I am happy to take your word for it. Indeed I can't vouch for the storage conditions of the bottle in its early days, and this can be a factor, although in my experience Médocs are pretty resilient.