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1996 left-bank Bordeaux tasting with lots more
Richfield, Lam Soon Building, Singapore
Tasted May 23, 2009 by Paul S with 809 views
Introduction
Sasi was back from Jakarta, so we took the chance to meet up and do a tasting of 1996 left-banks, with one wine each from St Estephe to Margaux and a Haut-Medoc.
As usual, everyone came out with extras. William and I coincidently(!) brought 2004 Spatlesen from the same vineyard for starters, Sasi chased that with a 1996 Champagne, William brought out another Aussie red, Hsien Min opened a surprising 1996 Cantermerle and Siang threw in a nice 1996 Huet Vouvray to end. Lovely company as always, with Chad, KG, Amy, Jillian and Leonard making up the rest of the party. And there was a real treat right at the end, when Hsien Min pulled out a 1957 Clos du Bourg to match Siang's wine. What a tasting!
With the exception of the Max Ferd Richter and the champagne, all the wines were served blind. The 1996 Bordeaux were split into two flights, with the identities of all 7 bottles only revealed at the end of the tasting.
Flight 1 - Whites to Start (3 notes)
White - Off-dry
2004 Weingut Max Ferd. Richter Brauneberger Juffer Feinherb Spatlese Mosel Saar Ruwer
91 points
Got to Lam Soon a little late - so was just in time to wring the very last few drops from the bottle. Notes may not be absolutely accurate as a result. As with my experience with lots of MFR's bottlings, very classic Mosel lines. Nose showed rubber and slate, very nice and stoney, along with snappy green apple accents. The palate had a nice fresh green grassiness to it - very meadow like. Nice touch of herbs as well mixed in there, along with more green apple. Chad, who had quite a bit more of the wine than I did, said that it was a nice greeness, clean fruit with a touch of ladybug. Finish was very decent - clean lines, grippy feel and more mineral. Very pleasant, very refined. Very Mosel. Really though - what are the chances that William would bring a Riesling Spatlese from the same vintage and from the same vineyard as I did to a 1996 Bordeaux tasting?!
White - Off-dry
2004 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese
92 points
Found this lying around somewhere, not listed on the inventory - what a bonus. Thought this was very good. Still quite young on the nose, with little undercurrants of musky undergrowth, a touch of rubber and slight whiffs of petroleum, otherwise, still fresh and forward with tons of elegance in its stone fruits, slate, and gentle white flowers. Very smooth and very polished on the palate. Slightly oily testure, certainly rich for a 2004, but with a nice clean elegance and beautiful balance - bright acid tones brushing up against mandarin orange, nectarine, pineapple and golden kiwi flavours, along with more of that musky white flower note from the bouquet. Nice finish too, with the minerality reasserting itself towards the end. Much enjoyed.
White - Sparkling
1996 Jean Laurent Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut
87 points
Not the most effervescent of Champagnes, but alive enough. Very enticing nose - touches of brioche, some soy and tons and tons of chicken stock. Brand's Essence of Chicken to be exact. And then lots of deep savoury characters to go along, yeasty, marmite like. I thought it nosed a little more maturely than it should have actually - would have guessed 1990 if served blind. The palate, however, was anything but mature. This was very punishing, with sreacming acidity almost at Extra Brut level I thought. Dry as a bone, tight as a... well, very very tight. There were some not too ripe green apple flavours, and lots and lots of fresh limes and a squeeze of lemon, all but drowning out little brioche notes. Finish was juicy, to say the least, and very mouthpuckering. I went back to this at the end of the tasting after the red - acid had toned down slightly, the wine was rounder, the apples more obvious, but still, this one needs a lot more time yet. Even then, I'm not sure. Certainly not a disastrously poor Champagne, just tough as nails to drink at the moment.
Flight 2 - Warm-up (1 note)
Red
2001 Bannockburn Cabernet Merlot
89 points
A little warm-up to start the tasting. Pretty decent. Nose was chocked full of earthy notes of leather, mushroom, wet dog - really animale tones. I thought old world at first, but a few swirls later, those sauvage notes peeled away slightly to show sweet cherries, strawberry jam and preserved raspberry tones. One sip and new world Merlot-type blend came up quite clearly - again, sweet cherries and quite a bit of dark fruit came out in a very open, expressive palate. I got a touch of mint and other herbs and little bits of crushed beetles along with that sweetish fruit. I thought it was pretty well balanced and quite decently knitted together until just after the midpalate, where some disjointed notes started floating around. Finish was rather dry, with touches of wood spice, damp leaves and a hint of big alcohol. Clearly new world then, but rather interesting. KG guessed 2001, the rest of us all thought rather older.
Flight 3 - 1996 Bordeaux flight 1 (3 notes)
Red
1996 Château Sociando-Mallet
93 points
Wow - this was absolutely singing, so much so that it outperformed all the bigger guns on show. Lovely left bank nose - tobacco, gigarette ash, green pepper notes, roasted meat and lots of gummy blackcurrant fruit below all that - everything integrated into a warm, plush, enticing bouquet. The structure on the palate had obviously mellowed down from a more excitable youth, but still provided plenty of backbone, with fine, almost powdery tannins and very sprightly, clean acidity running through lots of pure, almost primary, cassis fruit and more of the telltale tobacco notes. Very masculine, with plenty of power, but superbly balanced. Finish was very long, with lots of sappy fruit mixed with tea leaves, more roast meat and slightly coating tannins as the wine evened out at the very end. Again, I got a sense of power here, and lots of persistence. A lovely wine. I should have guessed it was the Sociando from the flavour profile, but the quality was so high that I thought is must have been the Pontet Canet instead. Still going strong when I retasted the remainder at home 6 hours later.
Red
1996 Château Lagrange (St. Julien)
90 points
Strange little wine - started off poorly, got better, got really quite good, and then tailed off rather quickly. Nose had a pungent, barnyardy component to it at first that took awhile to blow off. When it did, it was really quite attractive - pain grille, lots of fruit sweetness in dark cherry and cassis tones, leather notes and damp leaves. The leathery accents continued on to the palate too. It was the first thing that hit me, along with some toast and smoked notes and then crystallined cherry fruit. Not the most structured of the wines we had, which migt be expected, but the wine had very masculine flavours for a St Julien. On the first few sips, the wine faded quite dramatically at the mid-palate, leaving the finish a little lightweight and disjointed, with a touch of bitterness, but that filled out nicely with sweetish fruit and more cherry tones. Almost merlot-ish for some reason. When it hit its peak though, it came across a lot more integrated, more substantial and pretty enjoyable. Probably one of the better Lagranges that I have had. Pity it faded again rather quickly.
Red
1996 Château Pontet-Canet
89 points
Biggest disappointment of the afternoon. Third time I have had this wine, and I did not recognise it at all - off bottle perhaps? Nose was familiar enough - a touch of funky gym socks and wet soil, but very richly fruited with sweet, almost candied dark cherries and cassis liquer with a whiff of flowers. Made me think that it might be the Pape Clement or the Malescot. The palate was a let-down though. Quite tannic, rather tight. Lots of structure and sweet underlying fruit in its cherry and cassis tone, but somehow it all seemed rather un-special, lacking a bit of personality.There was some power, pointing towards Pauillac, but mid-palate onwards, everything was cloaked by a tough exterior that spoke more of tannis and pepper notes than the fruit that came on the nose and attack. Even the finish, which was rather clinging at first, seemed to lose energy and became a bit shorter and lighter, closing with a little metallic sigh. Not a bad wine by any strecth of the imagination, but disappointing compared with the previous experiences I have had with this vintage.
Flight 4 - 1996 Bordeaux flight 2 (4 notes)
Red
1996 Château Cos d'Estournel
93 points
I had some vested interest in this wine since I have a few bottles lying around - so I got quite worried when I could not tell it out from the other wines in terms of quality when blind, and even more so when it was unveiled. Suffice to say, I was not blown away. Good, I thought, but not outstanding, even with a few hours of decanting. Thankfully, it really came into its own at the very end of the afternoon when we retasted it. At first, the nose had some telltale Cab Franc signs of green capsicum, along with stewed meat, some damp leaves, soy and earth and a toasty element. There was a little high-toned component in there as well, threading the line between flowers, glycerin and varnish - most likely the alcohol here. That faded a little with time though, and then I got the telltale graphite and tobacco leaf - with all the elements pulling together rather dramatically. The palate was probably the most polished of the lot on display, it was soft, lush and plush, very rounded with cassis and plums and lots of richness all round moving into a finish that showed dashes of spice and pinpricks of pepper. Just a liitle uni-dimensional I thought. Only at the very last hour did it really open up to show more cassis, tobacco and roasted capsicum notes, all held in a lovely balance. The difference was quite dramatic especially moving into the finish, which put on lots of weight and sappy fruit. This needs a lot more time yet. It is heading in the same direction as the stupendous 1990 and may indeed overtake it given some time.
Red
1996 Château Malescot St. Exupéry
92 points
This was really good - certainly not far behind the Cos d'Estournel on the day, so much so that most of us got stumped trying to tell the two apart when blind. Nose showed savoury tones like leather, soy, earth and sous bois along with plush, plummy notes, sweet cassis, pepper, spice and tea leaves. More pepper on the palate, which showed lots and lots of rich fruit. Not new world fruit bomb in any sense, just a powerful, persistent cassis note moving into the finish which still showed quite a bit of tannin structure with a twister of slightly bitter tea. Very classic, nicely sculpted wine. Unfortunately, it shut down rather quickly, and the midpalate went a little droopy, giving a shortish feel to the finish. Maybe not quite a as good as the last bottle I had for this reason, but otherwise a really lovely wine.
Red
1996 Château Pape Clément
92 points
This was clearly the Pape Clement. A bit closed at first, but the nose opened up to show modern stylings of coffee, coconut and varnished wood riding above more classic Graves notes of mushroom, earth, boiled herbs and just the tiniest tiniest whiff of sweet flowers. Palate was mellow and gentle and rather plush, with slightly bitterish herbs and spice adding interest to polished cassis tones. A liitle short on power in the finish, but that was made up for in charm - closing off with gentle berry and cherry notes and a nice lingering spiceness.
Red
1996 Château Cantemerle
90 points
Surprisingly good at its price point. Very plush nose. I got some squid ink, a touch of varnish, and then lovely, deep scents of tobacco leaves, plums, cassis and slightly flowery tea notes. Very clean on the palate, mid-weight, but extremely pleasant and very classic, with lots of smoky tobacco, a touch of ash, leather, cedar and plenty of fleshy cassis fruit. Nice sculpted feel as well, with a strong sense of structure and grip moving into the smoky finish. While not quite as polished or weighty as some of the classed growths we tried, still plenty to enjoy. Impressive value.
Flight 5 - Huët's Vouvray (2 notes)
White - Sweet/Dessert
1996 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux 1ère Trie Clos du Bourg
92 points
This is what I would call a wine geek's wine - on the same page as the Haut Brion blanc, Beaucastel Rousanne, Coulee de Serrant etc. Lots of quality, lots of interest, but it takes time to appreciate, to think through and enjoy. Certainly not for people who want a hedonistic blockbuster for their sweets. The colour was a nice orangey gold, showing some age, and yet the rim was completely pale and very light. I found it quite different from the last bottle I had - certainly a lot more complex - perhaps because Siang had bottle decanted this for a really long time, and it was just begining to show. The nose opened with some baked bread, and then dried, preserved plums, along with dried apricots, spice, prunes and musk. The palate had a sense of sweetness in its dried flowers, dried apricot, sultanas, nectar and nectarine tones, but there were little almost oxidative characters tones of brown apples, savoury preserved llimes, dried mushrooms and kumquat. Superb balance all the way into the finish, which had a citrusy lift, with orange peel and lemon zest mixed with oolong tea and a tiny touch of honey. Captivating wine - this really brought the senses to attention after a tiring tasting through the 1996 Bordeaux. Drop daed fantastic pairing with smelly L'Ecalt du Nuits cheese.
White - Off-dry
1957 Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Clos du Bourg
93 points
A big thank you to Hsien Min for sharing this bottle with us. A beautiful yellow, orangey gold colour, deeper, but not all that different from the 1996 Molleaux. Coupled with the youth and life on the palate, most of us guessed somewhere in the 1980s - just off by about 30 years! These Vouvrays must be practically indestructible. Even on the day, it took some time to open up, but when it did, it just got stronger and stronger to the last sip. Intriguing nose, very deep and lovely, with mushroom, dried fruits, musky dried flowers and apricots along with a little layering of butterscotch. Palate did not show its age at all. Plenty of body, still very nicely balanced, with dry, lemony acidity holding up flavours of sweet granny smith apples, lingering white fruit notes, honey tones and a nice minerally backbone that weaved its way through the wine into an finish that was really alive and kicking. Again, fresh, dry acidity, almost mouth-sapping, with orange notes, prunes and more minerality. A lovely wine.
Closing
Just a note on the 1996's. This tasting really confirmed the strength of the vintage for me. Very Cab-Sauv dominated, the wines were generally quite polished and well-structured, marked with lots of rich dark fruit and a nice integrated acidity. The vintage characteristics as well meant that many of the wines, including the Margaux and the St Julien, had a mroe masculine than usual character. The wines were generally still very, very young. I would not touch these for awhile yet. But when their time comes, I think many of the wines will be superb.