1997 Chateau Langoa Barton. Wine clocks in at 12.5% ABV. Cork came out in one shot with the Durand. Level was perfect for a wine this age, well over base neck. Bottle was properly stored since release.
Opened the bottle around 10AM in the morning and left it open until about 3PM at which point I poured a small glass to get a sense of where this was going. Initially, this was surprisingly closed and reticent. Not much going on. But after some time in the glass on the nose, a good amount of leather, some mushroom, some cedar, some slightly green peppercorns, some sour cherries (faint fruit here, nothing prominent), dried redcurrants, definitely some greenness, bruised mint or herbs (herbal, just can’t put my figure on it exactly). On the palate, it still feels quite fresh: still some fruit there, more so than on the palate. I get some dried strawberries, some sour cherries, some earthiness, mushroom, some leather, some mint and maybe some dried herbs, good freshness, some liquorice, just an overall really enjoyable wine.
Medium body. Medium-plus acidity. Fully resolved tannins. Medium length. In the glass, some bricking at the rim, clear signs of ageing. Not sure that this has much more to offer, so I would definitely drink up, even if you like fully mature wines. I like these older wines and trying off vintages, which this defiantly was. However, I can see why others might view this as being over the hill and possibly even long gone, quite tertiary in its evolution although there is still fruit there. I very much enjoyed this wine.
