Bordeaux Night with a Wonderful Mix of Friends New and Old
A suitably spaced tasting room in Los Olivos, CA
Tasted September 17, 2020 by JonnyG with 202 views
Introduction
Eight of us prudently and enthusiastically met up for a deep dive into some stellar Bordeaux treats, exquisitely matched with a series of well executed dishes from a local chef. We were fortunate that the vast majority of the bottles were in great shape, with many outperforming expectations quite markedly.
Flight 1 - A Special Bubbly to Kick Things Off (1 note)
As the kids would say, we "pre-gamed" with this, and those few of us that were assisting with set up had their generosity of spirit well-rewarded.
Flight 2 - A Blind Bordeaux Blanc Flight (2 notes)
Paired quite well with ridiculously fresh and delicious Pacific Gold oysters collected earlier that day from Morro Bay.
White
1993 Château Haut-Brion Blanc
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Served blind to the guests. This bottle was in great shape, and the cork emerged easily. The wine benefitted from a 2-hour decant, and continued to evolve throughout the evening. Good concentration, showing ample minerality, with additional notes of ginger and stone fruit. The last sips were the best, with a caramel richness emerging on the finish.
White
2016 Y de Yquem
France, Bordeaux
Served blind to the guests, and decanted for two hours. This was a big step up from a 2015 I had recently, with tremendous complexity. Intense tropical aromatics, initially pineapple, then some lychee and peach syrup emerged. The palate diverges from the nose somewhat, with minimal sweetness and very good balance. Lush and creamy.
Notes of lemongrass, white flower petals, some apple too. Just sang with the just-harvested Pacific oyster accompaniment. I see real upside from here.
Flight 3 - The 2009s (3 notes)
A truly extraordinary flight, with each wine garnering passionate advocates as WOTF. Accompanied by a locally hunted wild boar Bolognese served generously atop a chived polenta.
Red
2009 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse)
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
My winner amongst a killer flight of three 2009s, the others being Pichon (Baron) and Trotanoy, though a majority of the others had it third (though still delicious). Decanted for 6+ hours. Intense, enticing aromatics of dark fruit, gravel, some floral and herbal elements and sweet spice. Concentrated and intense on the palate as well, suave, pure and silky, with plum and herbal notes well balanced by a mineral backbone. The oak is fully evident. Sweet tannins on the lengthy finish. I could see this approaching perfection with time.
Red
2009 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Decanted for two hours. Very approachable, though ample room to improve with time. More Pomerol than Pauillac in many ways, no shock given the large Merlot component. Highly evocative nose of black berries and pencil lead, alongside some licorice and truffle. Tar, leather and graphite alongside the blackberry-driven fruit notes. Sweet tannins on the finish.
Red
2009 Château Trotanoy
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
A flamboyant wine, not quite bombastic but it did teeter that way sometimes. Berries and truffle on the nose. A lush, rich mouthfeel, very expansive, with ripe, concentrated fruit and some evident minerality. I felt the Cabernet Franc was especially prominent on the nose and in the mouth, with some pepper, smoke and mocha elements perhaps being attributable to that.
Flight 4 - (Most of) the 1982s (2 notes)
A tough spot for our first "miss" of the evening, but no one gave it much thought given how things were going. This and the following flight were paired with a fresh leg of venison served with whipped potatoes and fresh ratatouille.
Red
1982 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Clearly corked, though not so badly as to force one to push it away. The underlying fruit was pure class, but there was no acid to speak of, nor any structure. Such a shame.
Red
1982 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
A great example of this, which is fortunate given personal and well-documented bottle variability, as well as the badly crumbled cork (extracted without any particles being left behind, I'm pleased to say). Fully mature and at-peak IMO, with sweet, gentle red fruit, plum and some spice and olive notes. Dusty tannins on the finish. Very elegant.
Flight 5 - A Mini-Ausone Vertical: 1966/1982/1990 (3 notes)
Another killer flight, providing fascinating insight into what is generally thought to be a "dark period" for Ausone, at least relative to former and subsequent glories. Lesson deliciously learned...
Red
1966 Château Ausone
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
My first encounter with this vintage for Ausone. Despite the bottle being in pristine shape and with a very good fill, expectations were very low based on weak professional reviews and the belief that the house was not at its best in this era. To say that the wine outperformed this would be a massive understatement. Sweet red fruit, some truffle, a touch of caramel, tobacco and leather. Plenty of structure. Fine-grained tannins (fully resolved, of course). A few had this as their WOTN. What a treat.
Red
1982 Château Ausone
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
As with the 1966, this Ausone easily exceeded cautious expectations. Notes of truffle, black tea, black cherry, fennel and iron. Very good depth of flavors. Grippy tannins. Can easily go another 15+ years.
Red
1990 Château Ausone
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
It has been nearly a decade since I have had this wine. Amazingly, this bottle was at least as powerful and concentrated as that one, in fact came off as downright youthful, just so energetic. Intense and powerful notes of caramelized fruits, anise, coffee and cedar, with sweet, fully resolved tannins and impressive depth.
Flight 6 - Some Napa Outliers Before Dessert (2 notes)
50-50, not so bad at all, in fact the Rubicon was stellar.
Red
1994 Niebaum-Coppola Rubicon
USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford
Another big "outperformer" on this lucky night. The cork was so pristine I thought it must be a late release, which was not the case. In prime form, with earthy red fruit, a touch dusty, and some herbal notes.
Flight 7 - A Sauternes to Close Things Out (1 note)
As referenced in my tasting note, any shortcoming of the wine was easily overlooked given how beautifully the food pairings worked.
White - Sweet/Dessert
1976 Château d'Yquem
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Dark caramel in color, with a pristine cork that was easily removed. Not a perfect bottle, though, as the wine was somewhat thin and diluted. Hallmark notes of honeyed apricot, tropical fruit, marzipan and crème brûlée were all present nonetheless. The two accompaniments, a mild Point Reyes blue cheese and a fresh almond apricot tart, were ideal pairings. No complaints were heard.
Closing
The wine gods were generous to us. The diversity of opinions expressed on which wine(s) stood out made this night especially rewarding.
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