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Bordeaux Siblings
Moss, Norway
Tasted June 1, 2012 by LWI with 1,228 views
Introduction
So many of the good Bordeaux vintages come in pairs. We tried some of them. Each sibling pair was tasted semi-blind, knowing the castle and the vintages to choose from, but not the order.
Flight 1 (2 notes)
White - Sparkling
1990 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon
96 points
Freshly baked bread, a hint of citrus; wonderfully citrusy and fresh taste, tight, very long and elegant. Surprisingly young. Must get hold of some bottles.
White - Sparkling
1990 Veuve Clicquot Champagne Brut La Grande Dame
92 points
Quite evolved color. Mature apples, a hint of raisin, decent acidity and length, a hint of sweetness.
Flight 2 (2 notes)
Red
1975 Château Mouton Rothschild
90 points
Some vegetal notes, forest floor, beef juice, very dry, a little short. Best with food?
Red
1976 Château Mouton Rothschild
92 points
Some spice, quite evolved, rounded, some complexity. A very likable wine.
Flight 3 (4 notes)
Red
1982 Château Gruaud Larose
93 points
A wonderful complex nose; both powerful and elegant at the same time, beef juice, bonfire, dry, perhaps a tad short. Nose a little better than the mouth. There should be better bottles.
Red
1983 Château Gruaud Larose
91 points
Quite tight, but with warm fruit, forest floor. Fine wine but not on par with the 82.
Red
1983 Château Palmer
92 points
Wonderfully rounded, complex, a warmish fruit. Perhaps not an optimal bottle.
Red
Flight 4 (1 note)
Flight 5 (8 notes)
Red
1986 Château Cos d'Estournel
93 points
Dark berries, forest floor, some bonfire, a bit high in alcohol? However, ends a bit too soon, tight, and dry. Not exactly charming, but a lot structure: 'claret'.
Red
1985 Château Cos d'Estournel
91 points
A little burned taste, tight, some green elements, fresh, correct, and could have been more concentrated.
Red
1986 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
94 points
Floral notes, clean, young dark fruit; fine acidity, long and intense, a hint of sweetnes that I often find in is Chateau. Very fine wine.
Red
1985 Château Margaux
92 points
Cork was moldy and broke into many pieces. Champignon, forest floor, mature berries, complex, elegant, some sweetness. Although a very good wine, it was too developed, stored incorrectly?
Red
1986 Château Margaux
96 points
Very fresh and elegant, some graphite, fine acidity, bright fruit, minerals. Development still ahead.
Red
1986 Château Lafite Rothschild
96 points
Dark fruit, graphite, some mushrooms, very tight, wonderfully complex, long. Way too young.
Red
1985 Château Lafite Rothschild
93 points
Warmish fruit, long, forest floor, mushroom. Not entirely convincing bottle.
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Flight 6 (8 notes)
Red
1989 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron
90 points
Fine deep fruit, decent complexity, some champignons, some burned notes, not the longest.
Red
1990 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron
92 points
Primary fruit, but some tertial aromas settling in as well. Slight lack of concentration in the mid palate. Very fine lenght. Lovely wine.
Red
1989 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
95 points
Fantastic nose, rich, very likable, and easy to identify as Lalande. Opulent and a bit 'in your face' wine. But I like it, aha.
Red
1990 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
88 points
Some vegetal notes, surprisingly mixed with heat, some spice, and good length.
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Red
1989 Château Mouton Rothschild
92 points
Classic, tobacco and underbrush, mature fruit. Very lovely, but a bit short, slightly astringent.
Red
1990 Château Mouton Rothschild
94 points
Good deep fruit, coffee, tobacco, underbrush, up front and not particularly subtle. Sweet and 'what you see is what you get'.
Red
1990 Château Montrose
95 points
A hint of burned wood, powerful, a bully, loads of extraction, some sweetness, long. Again, lots of everything. A close sibling to the 89 tasted alongside.
Red
1989 Château Montrose
96 points
Classic notes, very powerful, dark berry fruit, some bonfire, black currents, graphite. A lot of everything, including tannin, primary, enormous concentration, but lacking in elegance. Still, I am utterly impressed.
Flight 7 (4 notes)
White - Sweet/Dessert
2001 Château La Tour Blanche Sauternes
95 points
Fresh, cool, long, some coconut, the palate has fine definition and but lacking slightly in concentration. Still, my kind of wine.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2001 Château Suduiraut
94 points
Finely spiced, bonfire (!), a surprising bitterness in the finish, opulent, much further developed than a bottle some years ago, and I suspect that this has been stored a bit too warm.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2001 Château d'Yquem
97 points
A little reticent on the nose, however leaves little doubt concerning which wine this is. Multifaceted, lightly spiced, elegant, fresh, very long. However, slightly less impressive than a bottle a few months back. Too warm storage?
White - Sweet/Dessert
2001 Château Rieussec
93 points
Some burned notes, heavy, almost massive, macrons, some complexity, though. I can see why some people like this – more than me, and I partly adhere to that, but the acidity is too low to make my day (night that is).
Closing
Biggest surprise: Cos 86, partly Margaux 86 and la Tour Blanche 2001. Some dubious bottles, particularly Margaux 85, and Gruaud 82 (both mine). I guess all of us were eager to taste the Montrose 90 and the 89 alongside. To me they were almost twins, not mere siblings, and very little differentiated them. Perhaps the 89 was a bit more elegant. One of the participants described these as ‘Winter Wines’, and I can relate to that. Imagine yourself by the fireplace after a long day in the snow, having some hearty food with your companion. This is a wine for that occasion. The Lafite 86 (in 30 years time) or the Margaux(in 15 years time), however, are the wines for an elegant haut cuisine.