Introduction
A group of 12 met at Masa's in San Francisco for what may be the finest wine tasting I have ever attended. Normally I am not one to focus all that much on the food, especially when great Bordeaux is being served, but the quality of the cuisine and the wine pairing really was extraordinary, as was the wine service. The size of the group was also perfect, as I found I was able to hear at least some conversation (amid the ecstatic groans) at either end of the table. A great wine tasting experience I won't soon forget.
Flight 1 - Champagne (1 note)
A fitting introduction to the great wines that follow, this may well be the finest Champagne I have ever had the privilege to taste. Suitably aged so that the secondary notes are there, this wine still has enough acidity and sheer intensity of flavors to seem youthful. Served with sashimi of yellow fin tuna and hamachi, hearts of palm edamame, daikon radish sprouts, and ponzu sauce.
White - Sparkling
1988 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut
France, Champagne
Golden yellow in color, this wine shows a faint oxidative note, but one that dissipates with time in the glass. Beautiful, powerful, nuanced nose of nuts, toast, and a hint of truffles. In the mouth, intense flavors and outstanding palate coverage, with strong bracing acids really amplifying the flavors and giving a very lively, even youthful character to the wine. Outstanding cut and definition on the long finish, this has to be best Champagne I have ever tasted. Still some good life ahead of it, particularly given the powerful acidic structure.
Flight 2 - White Wines (2 notes)
Perhaps not quite measuring up to what followed, still I found these to be quite good, with the Corton Charlemagne showing an understated elegance and the Kongsgaard showing excellent intensity of flavors and aromas. Served with Carnaroli Risoto, with squid ink, parmesan cheese, and Italian parsley.
White
1992 Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
Golden yellow in color, this wine shows caramel on an otherwise reserved nose that gradually expanded with time in the glass. In the mouth, a creamy texture, but with good acidity driving a moderately long finish. This is perhaps not the most lively wine, but still has some delicacy and finesse that make it quite atrractive in my opinion.
White
1996 Kongsgaard Chardonnay
USA, California, Napa Valley
Very nice nose showing intense fruit softened by oak, very lively and expressive. In the mouth, equally intense flavors, with excellent acidity. The oak is more prominent in the mouth, so one has the impression of a fairly heavily oaked wine that is improving with age, the oak now perfectly integrated on the nose, nearly there on the palate.
Flight 3 - 1983 Bordeaux (4 notes)
A great showing for this vintage in the shadow of 1982. Lafite was the weakest of the flight, with drying tannins that I don't expect to fade before the fruit. But the Mouton was a real sleeper, showing much stronger than I would have expected from the critics notes. The Margaux, however, was still the strongest of the flight, with excellent power, balance, and finesse. Served with a rillette of Four Story Hills Farm poularde, with french green lentils, red wine vinegar sauce, frisee.
Red
1983 Château Cheval Blanc
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Garnet red in color, with slight bricking near the rim. An exotic nose of Cuban tobacco leaps right out of the glass. In the mouth, fat and ripe, with a slightly syrupy quality that fades a bit with time in the glass. This seems to be the most advanced of the wines in the flight, but the balance and the sheer ripeness of the fruit still provide a very pleasureable drink.
Red
1983 Château Lafite Rothschild
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Slightly darker in color than the Cheval Blanc, this shows a volatile nose of cassis, leather, spice, and even a touch of mint. The nose seems to decline a bit after 15 or so minutes, but then regains some of its power with more time. In the mouth, quite elegant and delineated, but medium bodied at best, with drying tannins emerging clearly on the finish. I don't see this having sufficient fruit to overcome those dry tannins, so I would drink up now. Least impressive of the flight.
Red
1983 Château Mouton Rothschild
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Dark ruby red, nearly opaque. The nose shows a hint of sulfur early on, but this blows off to show classic aromas of cassis, tobacco, and leather. In the mouth, the wine is intially quite reserved and tannic, but it expands nicely with time as the underlying ripe fruit brightens up. Once it sheds its initial sulleness, this wine shows beautifully, with great balance and mouth feel. A real sleeper of the flight, this only slightly behind the Margaux in quality.
Red
1983 Château Margaux
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Deepest color of the flight, this wine initially shows a reserved nose that only partly opens with time. In the mouth, this wine is marked by the great purity of its fruit, with excellent grip on the powerful finish. This seems less sweet and more structured than the others of the flight, giving it a decidedly youthful character. This should continue to improve nicely with bottle age.
Flight 4 - Interlude Wines (2 notes)
An interlude to go with sauteed artisan duck foie gras, with confit orange, fennel marmalade, orange infused sauce. What can I say?
White - Sweet/Dessert
1989 Château d'Yquem
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Dark caramel colored, this wine is off the charts right out of the glass, with peach and apricot dominating the nose. In the mouth, incredibly fat, rich and sweet, with great balance of its flavors. The only possible criticism might be its lack of delicacy and finesse compared to the '88, with the botrytis character swamped by the sweet gobs of fruit. But this wasn't what this wine was made for.
White - Sweet/Dessert
1988 Château d'Yquem
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Beautiful contrast with the 1989, this wine is much lighter in color, with much subtler aromas of peach and apricot and botrytis. In the mouth, also less powerful and sweet, but also apparently more structured and complex. The crisp acidity really seems to draw out the nuances of this wine, which shows impeccable balance and breeding. Great stuff.
Flight 5 - 1982 Bordeaux (5 notes)
A great flight, but with the Leoville las Cases clearly standing out in my opinion. The Leoville Barton, however, showed beautifully, as did the Ducru once it opened up. Served with Paine Farm squab and russet potato gratin, wilted spinach, confit leg, squab jus.
Red
1982 Château Léoville Barton
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Deep dark ruby red, this wine shows the strongest aromas of tobacco and ripe cassis of the flight. In the mouth, drinking equally well, with thoroughly ripe tannins balanced by sweet, intensely flavored fruit. A great finish of intense cassis and fine tannins lasts for 30 seconds, this wine must be near its drinking peak right now.
Red
1982 Château Léoville Las Cases
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
This wine has to be coaxed to show much of a nose, but what emerges are extraordinarily pure aromas of rich, almost fluid cassis touched by notes of the finest tobacco. The real show, however, is on the palate, where the '82 LLC shows that signature creamy mouth feel, incredibly rich, luxuriant, but without any trace of flabbiness at all. Incredibly light on it feet despite the uncanny richness of its palate expression, this wine blows the others out of the water in that department. Yes, the nose is less expressive, but can one expect such a rich wine to show the same volatility as a lighter one? Really marked by the great purity of its fruit on both the nose and in the mouth (in chemistry, we use the term "ultra-pure"). I would say this wine has some years to improve, but I would not really call it youthful given the maturity and complexity of its aromatics. This was a transcendent experience drinking this wine.
Red
1982 Château Léoville Poyferré
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Under ordinary circumstances, this would be an outstanding wine to drink, but in present company it doesn't seem to measure up. Much softer and less delineated than the others in the flight, this wine comes across inevitably as less interesting. The powerful, sharply defined aromas and flavors are not there. Certainly the weakest of the flight IMO.
Red
1982 Château Gruaud Larose
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
The leanest and most austere of the 1982 flight, the GL still manages to show an expressive nose of cassis and tobacco. In the mouth, the wine is reasonably well balanced except for its slight deficit in ripe fruit to balance the drying tannins. It makes up for this to some extent by showing good delineation and grip on the finish.
Red
1982 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
This wine shows a pronounced caramel character on the nose that initially obscured the other aromatic components. With time in the glass, however, the definition of the other elements improves and the classic cassis and tobacco notes emerge. In the mouth, beautifully round and full, with great palate expression, the sappiness expanding over the entire palate. This one creeps up on you and it is only by the end of the glass that you realize how long and fine the finish is.
Flight 6 - 1989 Bordeaux (5 notes)
This seemed like an amazingly consistent flight at the time, although my scores might suggest otherwise now. Somehow, I had thought this was supposed to be a somewhat inconsistent vintage, but these wines all showed very well, each marked by good structure, ripe fruit, and outstanding balance. I was initially quite impressed with the Lynch Bages, but my enthusiasm waned a bit after the tasting. I thought the Montrose and the Pichon Lalande were the strongest, but the Gruaud Larose was a real sleeper. Served with prime beef rib eye, roasted mushrooms, spring asparagus, green garlic, sauce bordelaise.
Red
1989 Château Lynch-Bages
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Not wasting any time, this wine shows a powerful nose of cassis, black cherry, and a touch of red fruit right out of the gate. In the mouth, equally rich, as the fruit were congealing on the inside of the mouth. As somebody at the table said, just "gobs" of flavor. My only possible criticism would be the very slightly awkward character of the elements, as if they never completely integrated. This seems to cause the wine to show a little less finesse than some of the others in the flight.
Red
1989 Château Montrose
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
This deep dark ruby red wine started a bit slower, but only improved with time in the glass. Very different in expression than the 1990 Montrose, this wine seems to show more in common with the 1996 in the sheer brightness and definition of its Cabernet fruit. A wine with great balance and palate coverage that avoids blurring the laser-like precision of its focused flavors. In fact, the delineation only improves with time in the glass. With the Pichon Lalande, the longest finish of the flight.
Red
1989 Château Margaux
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Initially the Margaux started strong, with a velvety, round, and balanced mouthfeel that others in the flight (with the possible exception of the Lynch Bages) did not show initially. But with 15 or so minutes in the glass, it seem to fade markedly (or was it just the dramatic improvement of the others), ending up as a less interesting and complex wine than it appeared initially.
Red
1989 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
This wine did not seem to get much respect, but I found it improved continuously in the glass, ending up the strongest in the flight along with the Montrose. The aromatics intiailly were quite reserved, except for a caramel note, but gradually notes of olive and spice and tobacco emerged, a slight variation from the classic straight Cabernet nose (a Petit Verdot element?). In the mouth, the wine fattened up with time in the glass, the flavors intensified, all while maintaining a perfect balance of tannins, ripe fruit, and acidity. Wonderfully smooth and pure fruits, this was another wine where the length of the finish gradually sneaks up on you. An impeccable, aristocratic wine in my opinion.
Red
1989 Château Gruaud Larose
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
While arguably the leanest and most austere wine of the flight, as one might expect from a Gruaud Larose, this wine showed a fuller and richer palate than the 1982 GL, with excellent purity of fruit and outstanding balance. Definitely the sleeper of the flight, this wine seems to have come around if earlier reviews by the critics were accurate. This wine might even merit a higher score in a couple of years.
Closing
We finished with some Port, which I don't feel qualified to describe, although I must admit the 1970 Graham really was striking in the acidity and great structure it showed, not characteristics I usually associate with Port.
All in all, an amazing evening without a single corked bottle. What's more, I felt that almost all of the wines were showing very well--no "off" or "tired" bottles at all.
