1990 Château Margaux

Red Bordeaux Blend

sdr Likes this wine: 94 points

April 18, 2020 - “Grapey” is usually a derogative term when applied to wine. But how else to describe a wine which plumbs the depth of the essence of perfectly ripe sweet blackberry and raspberries? The texture is almost too silky, the tannins subdued, the acid and oak well integrated, the alcohol almost invisible in the background. The feminine soft side of Château Margaux. I wish for a bit more grip though. At peak for sure and probably not for the very long term.

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fclarity commented:

5/28/20, 4:39 PM - Hi,
How long was this bottle open?
sdr commented:

5/28/20, 5:53 PM - Hi, f., I know you’re a believer in long decanting. This one saw only a brief time since it was double decanted shortly before service. Usually an older wine softens in air, do you find it can firm up too? Note that I drank it slowly over several hours and it did not change.
fclarity commented:

5/28/20, 5:57 PM - I definitely find that air tends to firm up bottles. Sometimes it takes a while. Thanks for the response!
fclarity commented:

5/28/20, 6:07 PM - One more thought. I think the key for me would be color. Given your note, and if it had strong color, I would probably try decanting it for 4 hours before I started drinking to see if it firms up. Then I would drink it over a few hours. I agree with you that a nice bottle like this needs to have some spine. Otherwise, it is off to auction!