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1990 Bordeaux Horizontal
Tasted March 6, 2014 by LWI with 1,336 views
Introduction
Wines were served by appellation, and we knew the content of the flight but not the order of the bottles. Premier crus and similar were decanted for about 6-8 hours, others a little less.
Flight 1 (4 notes)
Red
1990 Château La Fleur-Pétrus
88 points
Blind. Dark fruit with some depth, otherwise a bit shy nose, a hint of spice; moderate length and fullness, good balance, drying finish, a bit bell pepper (some CF here?). Thought it was La Croix de Gay. Dissapointing.
Red
1990 Château La Conseillante
91 points
Wonderful sweet-and sour smell, spice, deep fruit; Alas, only moderate body but good length, merely a hint of sweetness. Slim and elegant. There was a hint of TCA initially which grew in the glass and dominated the fruit after a while. Thus, there should be considerably better bottles out there.
Red
1990 Château Gazin Pomerol
95 points
Blind. very ripe blackcurrant os the nose, clear/linear smalle; More rounded in the mouth, balanced and with fresh acidity and correct tannic finnish. Abundance of dark berries, although it is slightly on the extracted side it is still intense and food friendly.
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Red
1990 Château La Croix de Gay
89 points
Blind. Pronounced swet-and-sour smell, also a bit one-dimensional; good middle part of the tasting curve, moderate length, a bit simplistic.
Flight 2 (4 notes)
Red
1990 Château Pavie
95 points
Blind. Deep fruit, some development, elegant smell; extreme length, but above this it is the intensity that carries the wine, almost peacock tail finish. Structured and fresh, well integrated tannins.
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Red
1990 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse)
92 points
Blind. Deeply colored, sweet-and-sour and a bit one-dimensional smell, lots of dark berries; quite long, more dark berries in the mouth, somewhat extracted, simple finish.
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Red
1990 Château Ausone
flawed
Old drawer, champignon, cellar. Absolutely not right. Not corcked. 2 out of 2 misses with this wine, for different reasons.
Red
1990 Château Cheval Blanc
97 points
Blind. Structured and subdued on the nose, very elegant on the nose; in the mouth it is very fresh, some bell peppers, pronounced but well integrated tannins. Most balanced and elegant. Extraordinary complex finish. Long life ahead.
Flight 3 (2 notes)
Red
1990 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
flawed
Celllar, mushroom - and the cork became more evident after a while. Bummer. Beneath is a fresh wine with even some complexity forcing its way through the musty odors.
Red
1990 Château Haut-Brion
95 points
Blind. Tobacco, big fruit; It boasters a warm, earthy, and complex tastes. Still, very fresh, even some minerals, good tannins, structured, very good length. Not exactly a charmer, but a very good and food friendly wine.
Flight 4 (4 notes)
Red
1990 Château Brane-Cantenac
92 points
Blind. Very detailed aromas of camphor and spice, intriguing, minerals/smoke, some xtoc notes – a nose to delve in; not quite as intriguing in the mouth, long, fresh, a bit lacking in the finish, moderate body only
Red
1990 Château Margaux
95 points
Blind. deeply colored, lots of minerals and bonfire smoke on the nose, very fine indeed, dark fruited, something hints at this being a bit closed; warm in the mouth, very fresh and deep dark fruit, very nicely balanced, most full bodied.
Red
1990 Château du Tertre
93 points
Blind. Dark and more developed than others; warm mouth, wonderful finish, expansive, high extraction - but still on the fresh side.
Red
1990 Château Palmer
91 points
Blind. Simpler than the others, decent length, warm and charming, fresh, Ok finish.
Flight 5 (5 notes)
Red
1990 Château Léoville Poyferré
96 points
Blind. Minerals and black currants, some smoke; violent fruit attack inn the mouth - well balanced with acid and tannins,lot fruit sweetness (but not sweet in any way), fresh and ling. Very intense. Wonderful wine.
Red
1990 Château Léoville Las Cases
93 points
Blind. Warmish presentation, verging on 'boiled', peculiar, some smoke and minerals, not very expressive, but a good West Bank wine.
Red
1990 Château Léoville Barton
95 points
Blind. Slightly exotic and fine-grained nose; dark berries, smoke, a bit on the extracted side, very convincing, powerful and structured.
Red
1990 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou
92 points
Blind. Very good wine, but not too complex, slightly bretty, warmish.
Flight 6 (4 notes)
Red
1990 Château Latour Grand Vin
99 points
Blind. Wonderful sweet-and-sour deep dark fruit, some mint, minerals and black currants, smokey, very complex; Even better in the mouth, unbelievable length, fresh, still some tannins – but not overly so and they are well integrated. The most impressive characteristic was an absolutely stunning finish.
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Red
1990 Château Lafite Rothschild
93 points
Very good nose, a lot to like, exotic, some old wood, hint of forest floor and bonfire; fresh taste, slightly sweet, some development, a bit short and lacking a bit in concentration.
Red
1990 Château Mouton Rothschild
91 points
Blind. Some brett, a bit exotic, both sweet and fresh in the mouth, moderate length, lacking in complexity.
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Flight 7 (4 notes)
Red
1990 Château Cos d'Estournel
92 points
Blind. Most primary, fresh black currents, some complexity on the nose; powerful and intense, fresh, a slight burned note, slightly warm fruit.
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Red
1990 Château Cos Labory
91 points
Blind. Developed color, warm on the nose mixed with some greenness; violent acidity, sweet fruit, peculiar, a bit short, tannic finish. A good mouth full.
Red
1989 Château Calon-Ségur
90 points
Blind. Exotic and deep, spicy, some brett; the wine is not completely integrated, and there is a gap between sweet fruit and sweetness. Not overly complex.
Red
1990 Château Montrose
91 points
Blind. Very dark. Sweet fruit, warmish, not the longest, drying finish.
Flight 8 (4 notes)
White - Sweet/Dessert
1990 Château Suduiraut
93 points
Blind. Darkly colored; orange peel and marzipan, some roasted almonds, exotic spices; burned sugar, moderate acidity, moderate length, some alcohol, but a wonderful fullness and a very fine finish.
White - Sweet/Dessert
1990 Château Filhot
90 points
Blind. Fresh, citrusy, intriguing nose with little botrytis, very clean wine, lacking a bit in intensity.
White - Sweet/Dessert
1990 Château d'Yquem
96 points
Blind. The lightest in color, by far, in the flight. Curious soapy when first smelled, but this blew off. Varnish, not the richest, but very elegant, clean and well balanced, extreme finish. Wowsa. I suspected this to be the Yquem, and this was a much less developed bottle than previous ones.
White - Sweet/Dessert
1990 Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey
94 points
Deeply spiced, varnish, fresh and long, on the comaratively sweet side, full yet elegant. A steal.
Closing
We had our share of non-optimal bottles. Margaux, St. Julien and Pauillac impressed us. Some of the lesser wines performed very well. The freshness and structure were impressive across the board. The 1990 is a vintage were some wines have entered their drinking window, but the tasting should really be repeated in 10-25 years.