Community Tasting Note

NoahCap wrote:

Monday, February 19, 2024 - Out of a 375mL with suspect storage: apparently found in a dusty corner of the basement of my local wine shop. It wasn't cheap, but given the prices that this wine fetches at retail (at least $1000/bootle), I got a screaming bargain. This is the first 1st growth I've ever bought! Saved for a few years for a special occasion- That's tonight!

Cork is mostly saturated, comes out in one piece. Wine pours a healthy looking crimson with just the smallest amount of bricking at the rim. Amazingly healthy looking.

One smell and I can tell that, while good, this wine is not at its best. The whole package is a little muted and lacks some intensity. The aromas that I do smell are nice though- the fruits are at the dark end of the spectrum, blackberries and black plums, black cherries, along with some cinnamon, and classic Pauillac unburnt cigar and cedar.

Gentle and suave in the mouth with a very pleasant surprisingly fruit-forward entry. Dark fruits take the lead, then some lovely leathery tertiary notes. Cassis, tobacco, wood, graphite, all those nice Bordeaux descriptors are there, though you have to hunt for them a bit. The finish is nice and pleasant, medium in length, medium in complexity. I'm left with the impression of a nice, though not profound, Bordeaux. I enjoy it, but it's not the 100pt epic wine that I was hoping for. I'm not into scoring wines, but I'll give it a B+. Not bad given the deal I got.

I've never had this wine before (never had Mouton before in fact), and there are no over-the-hill off notes, but the giveaway that this wine is not at its best are the almost absent tannins. The '86 vintage, and the '86 Mouton in particular, has the reputation of being a bit of a tannin monster, but not this bottle. I imagine the small format and so-so storage accelerated the aging of this wine. My guess is that I'm tasting the 1986 Mouton as it will be at age 50 or 60, instead of the 38 years that it is today. I'd love to try a well stored full sized bottle, and while this wasn't profound, it was certainly fun and worth it for the experience of having tried Mouton.

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