A Savage Bday (67 Pall Mall, London): Dare we say this is young.. and frankly with highlight we should have decanted it for a good hour as the wine took its time to shine. It definitely developed and opened up and albeit was out gunned by the beautiful nose of the 1978 GPL ( Papies 94-94) still was ever the beautiful and classic wine. 1986 but recently recorded at the chateau too so ever the healthy bottles ( two on the day) and showed that intensity that good 1986s have. Long live the beautiful 1980s and this one specific has an easily a good decade of love to give. Very solid 93
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Bob's cellar. Mid garnet red, hints of bricking but little. Nose is swirls of wild forest fruit, black cassis, damson, quite austere and rigid wind blowing through. Lots of fruit, little bit of forest floor funk, serious and good. Taste shows a dry, austere side, tannins pointed and present, fruit is dry and receded. After some air, not keen to open up, remains harsh and restrained. Bit disappointing after last year's bottle. Day 2, a completely different wine. Nose has rich sweet forest fruit, lovely liquorice and menthol, red fruit. Flavours are red fruit to the fore, fine tannins and black cherry, grip, delicious and really good. Note to self - open the day before for the remaining 3 bottles. Could drink this all day as an aged Bordeaux.
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Bought in an auction a couple of years ago. VTS (see picture). Opened shortly before serving. The thing I liked the most about this wine was its very lively deep ink red color. Other than that, this bottle was pretty unremarkable: not bad but rather anonymous as well. Disappointing
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Annual holiday get-together (St. Genevieve): Unknown treatment, drank a small glass over at least an hour. My experience seems consistent with several other notes here. This is easy drinking and pleasant, it doesn't have any sparkle or great interest as you would expect from a decent 1986 bordeaux. It would have been great with duck or a mushroom tart, not next to 1986 Gruaud Larose and hanger steak.
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Roasted… oak? walnut? Sweet iodine and small black berries, damp smoke and a general reserved feel. Notes of oyster shell, more roasted notes too. Prettier with air and showing notes of olive, raspberry, spicy oak, and graphite.
Light side of medium-bodied, feels like a ripe vintage there is a sense of coalescing to the core… good acidity, resolved tannins, sweet red notes, iodine, smoke and fire. There is a sweet succulence here and freshness. Almost ethereal, iodine, plasters, roast (beef), molten liquorice… sweetness on palate. What a treat!
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Bob’s cellar. Deep inky red, no bricking at all. Forest floor blackcurrants nose, light spices, reticent. Pnp tasting opens with some redcurrants, damsons and plums, warm and fine, lace of tannins, a bit underwhelming but nice. Three hours later, this has all tightened up. It is more obvious that as a lot of the tannins have dropped out, it is beautifully integrated, brambles and wild forest fruits, with a fine acidity support. Plenty of fruit, structure, refined and polished, superb.
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Ex chateau. Took a while to open up At first a bit thick and unbalanced with tannins blocking the end. After 30 minutes really blossomed. Not a bit wine at all but a lot going on. Textured, restrained.
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With the exception of the wines from the 1980s, all of these bottles could rightly be said to be well into the back nine of life with the eighteenth hole in sight. That being said, none of them were expired, off, or even especially tired, and despite the oldest ones being very tertiary, they all showed some degree of aged fruit. In finality, all of the wines fell somewhere on a spectrum between the upper end of “poor” and the lower end of “very good.”
From a bottle purchased at auction with a base neck fill. This bottle was young by comparison to the ancient things we had been drinking, but all I can say is that it had a good amount of relatively primary fruit and seemed balanced. It seemed solid, but nothing much stood out, unfortunately. 12.5% ABV (lower very good/above average/15.5/89)
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Bob's cellar. Fine ruby red, hints of bricking but very faint. Just decanted nose is musty (blows off), spiced forest floor and fruits, lilac, and red fruits too/ Fine of tasting, some of the mustiness carries through, acidity good. a tartness, some black fruit, and hidden tannin. Falls away reasonably quickly. An hour later, nose has softened into a warm wash, black fruit and pepperiness has risen to the fore. Taste is more fruit forward, black cherries, hints of black pepper, warm forest fruits, tannins are tight and structured supporting the fruit. this is very enjoyable as noted by others, drinking perfectly now.
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Opened about 1 hour before tasting. Fully mature, no tanin, with full fruit and good color. Sediment very tight and survived an accidental bottle shake and decanted very well despite the usual cork crumble. It did not fade over the course of a meal. Good color and fruit. No obvious tanin and did not seem faded. A very fine wine for a celebration.
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Another great vintage for GPL. Feels like it’s just reached its maturity, at the peak now. Well balanced, smooth, with black fruits, prune, sweet spices. The structure is delicate, acidic-based
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This is at a nicely mature spot but certainly reflects the austerity of the vintage. Purchased at auction, decanted 30 minutes.
Color is garnet, slight translucence with a bit of browning around the edges. Nose shows limited fruit and is quite leather and pencil lead driven. On the palate there is some nice red fruit, a lot of cracked leather, light cigar notes, and some cedar. The fruit is there, but it feels a bit around the edges vs being the core of the wine. Tannins, while not dominating are still certainly there - this must have been a beast in its youth. Fairly light bodied at this point with moderate acid.
This was perfectly fine, but nothing amazing.
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From a moldy bottle with an atrocious soaked through cork that was raised 2-3cm on one side but came out clean with a Durand. Deep ruby color with a bit of rusty bricking. Lots of leather on the nose with a hint of unsmoked cigar and some wood shop aromas. Medium bodied with medium acid and still some decent grip on the tannins. Palate felt a little faded with dried cherries and blackberries, along with some soy sauce with some spiciness and tobacco on the finish. Really elegant wine that went great with our dinner (braised short ribs), but a bit past its prime, perhaps due to poor storage.
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Absolutely marvelous. Deep purple color. Vegetable and earthy nose. Soft, supple. Rounded tannins, leather, tobacco, vanilla, oak and cassis. Decanted for about 45 minutes and drank over the next two hours. This has been perfectly cellared since original release with neck still filled
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Another perfect bottle with in neck fill and a clean work with only the bottom few mm stained. Dark garnet with translucent rim. In the glass a serious Pauillac was h dark fruit and plenty of iron. Drink now or keep for a few decades now problem.
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11th of 12, opened 2 hours, decanted one, level into neck just, soaked cork, previous notes from 96 fine or better, couple of corked bottles and one lacking fruit in 2011 marked VG - dark quite dense garnet, lightening browning rim, leggy; cassis turning to mulberry, nice mineral core, some cedar box, quite complex; fullish, long, persistent, concentrated and structured, fruit just enough to master tannic structure, just lacking the nuance of the best, surprisingly silky, fully mature but no rush. F+ (18)......one of the better 86s, Barton, Las Cases, PL, Cos and the firsts (except Latour) to be preferred.
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35 years old. Immaculate cork. Excellent preservation direct from chateau to cellar. Bold wine, at peak. Earthy notes on the nose opened to black currant and berries and chocolate. This is a big boy to accompany big food, better on a cooler day. High complexity and keeps evolving after an hour. Drink it slowly. You still have 10 more years on this wine. Fantastic effort from Pauillac.
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Not the healthies bottle and hence we will not rate albeit the wine felt quite dense and with lots of fruit still. There was though a bit of a worrying smell at times and we wonder if time and cellaring moves have not been very kind to this wine. Everything looked very solid from level to cork to label but just there was something that cried out wrong. Pfff maybe next time if we are lucky this will be pristine cause the basic materials underlying the wine all felt very solid. ( at best a 90-91 but not sure what glimpse of the wine we had)
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First time drinking the 86 GPL, and was a bit worried seeing the rather low scores here. I love the 86 Bdx vintage and I really like GPL, so only thing that I imagined could go wrong when 86 meets a top Pauillac, is an overly hard and tannic wine that dries out - but that is absolutely not the case here. The kind of bottle I like with perfect in neck/bottom neck fill and a somewhat soiled and scratched label. Dry and clean cork top. Dark garnet with a translucent rim, no browning. Muted on the nose initially so slow ox’ed for about 1h and then decanted. The nose is more open now but it’s the palate where this really shines. Layered and deep dark fruit, iron, some pencil lead. Tobacco and just a touch of leather emerging. First growth like fruit concentration. Medium (-) tannins are matching nicely. Medium finish. With the Palmer, the best 86 I have had. Glad I have another 2 bottles and will report back. Must be bottle variation leading to some of the very mediocre scores here.
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I have a bias to old (style) Bordeaux and this 1986 bottle I opened during the "quarantine" weekend was fantastic. Classic nose of cedar, black currants, cherries, wood and vanilla. In the mouth it still showed lots of fruits (to my surprise), and rich and cedar concentrated flavours with fine and velvety tannins. This was a great bottle. If you get your hands on some of these bottles, I would still buy (as long as properly stored).
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Has a certain lack of charm that is consistent with the vintage. Quite austere, structure outweighs the nice fruit that is there. Tertiary notes of leather, underbrush and herbs follow. Good length and complexity.
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A very different magnum from last night, this shows much more blackberry and blackcurrant character - altogether darker fruit profile from the redcurrant dominated mag from last night (same source). Firm overall with just a hint of a flirtatious side but undeniably deep and pure. Leathery, loamy accents. I like this quite a lot.
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From magnum, the 1986 GPL shows a bloody, redcurrant nose accented by old leather and dusty books. Very, very old style and more than a little bit hard. The winemaking has come a very long way since 86 at GPL. Not bad, but not enticing either.
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Brick-red color with no hints of brown along the rim. Long legs. Unfortunately, a corked bottle. Of the 7 bottles of this vintage that I have opened, 4 have been corked. Disappointing, to say the least.
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Stored in a cold cellar since release. Fill just below neck. Soft cork. Perfect condition. Superb bouquet. Rich and intense. Huge depth and power. Still young. Archetypal Pauillac from a great vintage. First Growth in quality. Will see at least 50 years without a problem if cellared properly. The old truism: there is no great wine only great bottles of wine!
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Stored in a cold cellar since release. Fill just below neck. Soft cork. Perfect condition. Superb bouquet. Rich and intense. Huge depth and power. Still young. Archetypal Pauillac from a great vintage. First Growth in quality. Will see 50 years without a problem if cellared properly. The old truism there is no great wine only great bottles of wine!
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Dark crimson very little rim variation bordering raspberry in color. Thick viscous slow moving tears, gorgeous perfumed nose; aromatics wet fresh soil, slate lead wet stone. Black tar cassis green pepper alcohol medium +, acid medium +, tannin drying dropping out yet just enough to bind/hold it together. Missing voluptuous fruit, no red fruits more leather tobacco. Searching. Drink asap, three years max.
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From magnum. We opened two consistent bottles. Nose showing cool black fruit, pencil shave and hints of leather and cigar box. First whiff also showed some figs, but that blew off quickly. Cool and quite firm dark berry fruits in the mouth, with some sweet tannins towards the finish. Good body and lenght. A solid and really fine claret, that still feels young in this format. 91-92p.
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Excellent! Opened two bottles for a lamb-centric meal with identical and stunning results. Deep nose of cassis, leather, tobacco and dirt. On the palate the balance was spot on, rich smooth long with mature fruit and spice. Lovely long finish.
These two bottles were stored almost perfectly for the past 20 years so that may account for some of the success we had avoiding what seems like an increasing problem among other recent tasters finding bottle variability and signs of spoiling all to common.
If you have good conditions, no need to open right away - this wine has many years ahead of it still.
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Drank at Ned's French wine dinner from magnum. Cork was a bit on the dry & crumbly side. Nose was a bit off-putting--I detected ammonia, but also plenty of leather, tobacco & cigar box. Medium bodied, still some fruit here-tasted much better than it smelled. Also, the nose improved with airing. This was likely a very nice bottle a few years ago, but it's past its prime. Still plenty of interesting tertiary elements here--leather, tobacco, coffee and some black fruit, but it's definitely seen far better days.
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Drank very well. Cork was about 1/3 saturated and pulled cleanly. No formal notes taken, but recall fruit being well integrated. Still a little tannin present. Very balanced. Crowd pleaser.
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Cork was dry and crumbly but the juice was in good condition, it just never brought the goods. Nice nose with hints of classic, mature Bordeaux but even that seemed soft/muted/faded. Absolutely nothing bad about this bottle, just nothing at all memorable. Probably better five years ago. Drink now.
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Clean. Developed nose. Dark fruits and plums, touching on boullion. Sweetish fruit. Very sleek fruit, but the '86 tannins are present. Good length on the finish.
I suspect this wasn't a very good bottle.
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Fully saturated cork with no sign of leakage. Decanted for 3 hours. Blackberry, cedar, and musty basement aroma. Nice layers of complexity with soft tannins. Medium/full body with lengthy, well integrated finish.
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Rustic, beefy, tannic, but not completely without some charm, this old style, still youthful, tobacco, cedar, earth and cassis laden Pauillac is best enjoyed by tasters dismayed by the direction Bordeaux has taken today.
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a little disappointing given that I just paid $165 for it...starts off a little young and tight, but quickly mellows out after being in the decanter for 30-40 minutes. not too much barnyard or tobacco, nor traditional pauillac characteristics...pencil-lead, dark fruits, and layers of velvety, soft cotton with regard to structure and mouth-feel. gets a little bit flabbier as it opens up more.
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From a 750 in great condition, this wine still has a good deal of black berry/currant fruit with cedar and underbrush notes on both the nose and palate. Tannins are well integrated, but this is still a firmly structured wine. Medium-full bodied with good palate coverage, and a long finish. If it had been decanted sooner, I suspect it might have shown even better.
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Finally after nearly 30 years strating to show signs of maturity. However this was a very green/herbacious bottle that rather masked the cassis fruit thT was there.
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decanted the bottle 5 hours prior to drinking. nose of a typical Paulliac, sweet red fruit, marmalade like, little leather, still with power. Color dark red in center, little but noticable sign of aging. On the palate lots of black currant, berries, marmalade. Soft tannins, medium bodied. Will probably hold this stage for another 5 plus years. very nice and shows how long a well cellared Claret can age. Look forward to another 8 bottles in the cellar.
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Garnet with edge thinning and medium viscosity in the glass. Strawberry, mushroom, olive, cherry, earth, cedar and raspberry on the nose. Medium body and near full integration with strawberry, boysenberry, raspberry, earth, mushroom, olive and pine on the palate. Secondary hide and mint. Still vibrant fruit. A touch of bitterness mid to back-palate. Medium finish. A pleasing aged treat, but nothing mind-blowing.
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Early 1986 tannins melted away, the wine showed medium body and dark garnet color. Bright and better than I remember. Classic Pauillac nose and cab based flavors. I believe this will continue to improve.
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La Commanderie de Bordeaux à Vancouver - Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste Vertical (Bistro Pastis): Decanted 45min prior to serving. Medium red. Most youthful looking wine of the flight. At first the nose here had quite a bit of greenness to it but after 20-30min in the glass more classic notes of cigar box, cassis and blackcurrants. This nose was the fruitiest with the least amount of development and that carried onto the palate where this was masculine, structured and showing quite youthfully. Tannins are firm and grippy with acidity to match with dense dark fruit flavours, hints of oak and a long finish. I would leave this for another 5 years or so. Excellent. 90+
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The fill was base neck and the cork was sound; popped, poured and consumed over the course of 6 hours. I am a huge fan of Grand-Puy-Lacoste, but honestly there was not much to like about this wine. Quite ordinary on the nose, with notes of old barrels, hints of dark fruit and earth. Very stern, tannic, and high-toned on the palate. Even for an '86, this wine did not offer much in terms of texture, charm or complexity.
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Deep colour; a mature red but not brown. Nose of blackcurrants and cream, with spice and cigar box; the palate is full, intense, round and long. Great length and elegance; mature but not at all old. Very fine.
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personally cellared since release as a future. Cork tight and moderately crumbly no obvious seepage. Decanted well with some bitterness but good bouquet. After 2 hours, the bitterness was almost gone and the wine became fully open, almost dramatically at 21/2 hours after decanting. Good bouquet and even fruit with no tannins present. Very drinkable and enjoyable, a good example of an aged Bordeauxr
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Two magnums for Sunday lunch with rib of beef; Anthony & Hilly, Harry & Isabel, Tom & Willa. Fully ready but far from entering its decline. Deep colour, lovely Pauillac taste of pencil and fruit. Perhaps a little four square in mid-palate, but fruit re-asserts itself to give a satisfying and quite long finish. Tannins and acidity well-balanced. Stayed in same condition for 24 hours in part-empty magnum without air extraction. Another '86 which has definitely justified the long wait for the tannins to resolve, like the Montrose (but sadly not the Pichon Lalande).
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A half bottle shared with my sister during dinner from the Robuchon A Galera restaurant in Macau (they have a remarkable wine list that simply made me drool all over). Decanted
Color: Ruby core with dark orange rim. Attractive legs
Nose: Initially the nose showed a profile of a mature Pauillac wine - A medley of flowers, blackberries with hints of oak and lead. Vaguely similar to the 1990 Duhart Milon I had earlier in the week, only more intense. After 30 minutes in the glass, the nose started to close down and became more subtle. Too bad the nose never really revived to the initial 15-20 minutes throughout dinner
Palate: I was amazed that this wine, at 23 years of age and in the half bottle format, can still be so backward and tannic. The palate initially showed a strong attack with intense tannins masking the black fruits and lead pencil profiles. After about 45 minutes or so in the glass, the wine started to become more volatile, with tannins dominating the mid-palate. Definitely an awesome food wine as it matched perfectly with the French chicken and foie gras main course.
Starting to feel a bit astringent after an hour, but this started to mellow down substantially after about 1.5 hrs. The finish was about 20 seconds
This wine is still relatively backwards and I would like to try again in the standard bottle format in 2 - 3 years. But will the tannins ever resolve completely before the fruits fade?
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A very nice bottle, decanted for two hours and much better than the previous one (from last months from the same case). Very dark, still lots of fruit, intense. Truly outstanding.
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Label partly eaten by insects but vintage identified from the cork. The best showing so far of this wine. It needs 2-3 hours in the decanter and then shows a typical Pauillac profile of cassis and a bit of menthol - very cabernet dominated. Good cassis flavours too, less cloaked in tannin than previous bottles but still tastes youthful. Years ahead of it still but starting, finally, to drink well.
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Has the nose of a really old bordeaux at the end of its time. Tasted the same: musky and dead leaves. However, there is this beautiful fruit once you get thru the aging flavors. Can only be enjoyed by old world wine lovers. Drink up!
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Xmas Eve 2008: decanted; rubin color; slight red fruits accompanied with stronger aromas/flavors of chocolate, coffee and cigar box; noble austerity on the palate; light/medium body; round texture.
Already mature and surprisingly light and open for a 1986 Grand Cru Classe. Maybe high temperature storage before I bought this bottle in Nov 2008?
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On the decline now, with plenty of funk. Still, beautifully balanced for drinking now, with enough stuffing and backbone to make it delicious with duck confit a l'orange. With J&K at our house.
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Very dense texture; still fairly tannic; blackcurrant and creamy vanilla notes. The fruit is now mature but it is still vigorous and it may yet soften further.
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Showing some signs of development - a bit of amber at the rim but still a dense garnet core. Subtle nose, occasional green note but generally classic Pauillac cassis albeit a little subdued. Good flavour, cassis again, tannins integrated but still a bit matt and youthful a very typical 1986 - a solid, chunky wine that is now drinking well but will probably always be just good rather than great. Still years of life left.
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Don't know what's up with these. Last one was clearly corked and this one was so stinky I couldn't drink it. This had a massive dose of what might have been TCA but there was plenty of leathery cherry fruit absent from the last corked one. I'll give another a try in the next few weeks.
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Polygamists Dinner at Michael's (Winnetka, IL): Dark ruby with a purple core. The nose offers mellow dark fruits and coffee. Palate has smooth restrained fruits. Only light-to-medium bodied. Red currant and cedar. Fruit appears to be fading with plenty of structure. A nice drink now, though I question whether this will hold long-term.
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This wine took 8-10 hours to open up when consumed in may of 2004 but once opened up it was fabulous. lead pencil leather and fruit very intense like ball of fruit and richness. looking forward to drinking this bottle again in 2021 very soon
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Presented in double-blind fashion to the Friday tasting group at Vintage Wines, Ltd. Decanted and tasted over a 3-hour period. My taste was from a Spiegelau Burgundy stem. Bright disc. Deep-to-opaque garnet robe with brick rim. Clean nose, opening over 90 minutes to show a pleasant bouquet of spice box (clove-dominant), plum, leather, tobacco and mint. Medium-bodied on the palate, with relatively high acidiity, soft residual tannins, an oily mouth-texture and similar flavors as for the nose. Long, slightly tart finish. Ready to drink now.
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5/11/2024 - Papies wrote: 93 Points
A Savage Bday (67 Pall Mall, London): Dare we say this is young.. and frankly with highlight we should have decanted it for a good hour as the wine took its time to shine. It definitely developed and opened up and albeit was out gunned by the beautiful nose of the 1978 GPL ( Papies 94-94) still was ever the beautiful and classic wine. 1986 but recently recorded at the chateau too so ever the healthy bottles ( two on the day) and showed that intensity that good 1986s have. Long live the beautiful 1980s and this one specific has an easily a good decade of love to give. Very solid 93
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1/31/2024 - Cremuel Likes this wine: 93 Points
Bob's cellar. Mid garnet red, hints of bricking but little. Nose is swirls of wild forest fruit, black cassis, damson, quite austere and rigid wind blowing through. Lots of fruit, little bit of forest floor funk, serious and good. Taste shows a dry, austere side, tannins pointed and present, fruit is dry and receded. After some air, not keen to open up, remains harsh and restrained. Bit disappointing after last year's bottle.
Day 2, a completely different wine. Nose has rich sweet forest fruit, lovely liquorice and menthol, red fruit. Flavours are red fruit to the fore, fine tannins and black cherry, grip, delicious and really good. Note to self - open the day before for the remaining 3 bottles. Could drink this all day as an aged Bordeaux.
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1/28/2024 - boillatm wrote:
Bought in an auction a couple of years ago. VTS (see picture). Opened shortly before serving.
The thing I liked the most about this wine was its very lively deep ink red color.
Other than that, this bottle was pretty unremarkable: not bad but rather anonymous as well. Disappointing
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12/11/2023 - galewskj wrote: 90 Points
Annual holiday get-together (St. Genevieve): Unknown treatment, drank a small glass over at least an hour. My experience seems consistent with several other notes here. This is easy drinking and pleasant, it doesn't have any sparkle or great interest as you would expect from a decent 1986 bordeaux. It would have been great with duck or a mushroom tart, not next to 1986 Gruaud Larose and hanger steak.
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5/25/2023 - Shrewsram Likes this wine: 93 Points
Roasted… oak? walnut? Sweet iodine and small black berries, damp smoke and a general reserved feel. Notes of oyster shell, more roasted notes too. Prettier with air and showing notes of olive, raspberry, spicy oak, and graphite.
Light side of medium-bodied, feels like a ripe vintage there is a sense of coalescing to the core… good acidity, resolved tannins, sweet red notes, iodine, smoke and fire. There is a sweet succulence here and freshness.
Almost ethereal, iodine, plasters, roast (beef), molten liquorice… sweetness on palate. What a treat!
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4/30/2023 - jmbladen wrote: 96 Points
Captains Club
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4/16/2023 - Cremuel Likes this wine: 95 Points
Bob’s cellar. Deep inky red, no bricking at all. Forest floor blackcurrants nose, light spices, reticent. Pnp tasting opens with some redcurrants, damsons and plums, warm and fine, lace of tannins, a bit underwhelming but nice. Three hours later, this has all tightened up. It is more obvious that as a lot of the tannins have dropped out, it is beautifully integrated, brambles and wild forest fruits, with a fine acidity support. Plenty of fruit, structure, refined and polished, superb.
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4/5/2023 - ccn Likes this wine: 91 Points
Ex chateau. Took a while to open up At first a bit thick and unbalanced with tannins blocking the end. After 30 minutes really blossomed. Not a bit wine at all but a lot going on. Textured, restrained.
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1/21/2023 - Jake Barnes Likes this wine: 89 Points
One of five wines I served to friends as part of a ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s Bordeaux retrospective that also included the following:
1961 Calon-Segur
1966 Lascombes
1970 Gruaud-Larose
1982 Grand-Puy-Lacoste
With the exception of the wines from the 1980s, all of these bottles could rightly be said to be well into the back nine of life with the eighteenth hole in sight. That being said, none of them were expired, off, or even especially tired, and despite the oldest ones being very tertiary, they all showed some degree of aged fruit. In finality, all of the wines fell somewhere on a spectrum between the upper end of “poor” and the lower end of “very good.”
From a bottle purchased at auction with a base neck fill. This bottle was young by comparison to the ancient things we had been drinking, but all I can say is that it had a good amount of relatively primary fruit and seemed balanced. It seemed solid, but nothing much stood out, unfortunately. 12.5% ABV (lower very good/above average/15.5/89)
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1/7/2023 - Cremuel Likes this wine: 94 Points
Bob's cellar. Fine ruby red, hints of bricking but very faint. Just decanted nose is musty (blows off), spiced forest floor and fruits, lilac, and red fruits too/ Fine of tasting, some of the mustiness carries through, acidity good. a tartness, some black fruit, and hidden tannin. Falls away reasonably quickly. An hour later, nose has softened into a warm wash, black fruit and pepperiness has risen to the fore. Taste is more fruit forward, black cherries, hints of black pepper, warm forest fruits, tannins are tight and structured supporting the fruit. this is very enjoyable as noted by others, drinking perfectly now.
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12/31/2022 - A&C Likes this wine: 91 Points
This wine is all fruit at the moment. No real backbone. Time to drink up.
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12/31/2022 - blackdog Likes this wine: 94 Points
Opened about 1 hour before tasting. Fully mature, no tanin, with full fruit and good color. Sediment very tight and survived an accidental bottle shake and decanted very well despite the usual cork crumble. It did not fade over the course of a meal.
Good color and fruit. No obvious tanin and did not seem faded. A very fine wine for a celebration.
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12/24/2022 - martin_e Likes this wine: 93 Points
Another great vintage for GPL. Feels like it’s just reached its maturity, at the peak now. Well balanced, smooth, with black fruits, prune, sweet spices. The structure is delicate, acidic-based
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11/23/2022 - A&C Likes this wine: 94 Points
Took to an over-the-top feast at Friendsgiving. This was wonderful. Accolades all around. A signature Bordeaux wine drinking great right now.
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11/8/2022 - chatters wrote:
Cellartracker in the flesh with Pjaines (Paul), Porkandsalmon (Richard) and Vintomas (Tomas) (Various venues, London): Medium minus intensity, earthy, savoury, quite closed on the nose, with time starts to show some brambly fruit, leather, forest floor. medium plus intensity acidity, fruit more wild and slight sour, still has some drying tannins and a smidge of fruit tea. fresh, juicy but, for me, just beginning to fade a little.
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8/14/2021 - HFLED Likes this wine: 91 Points
This is at a nicely mature spot but certainly reflects the austerity of the vintage. Purchased at auction, decanted 30 minutes.
Color is garnet, slight translucence with a bit of browning around the edges. Nose shows limited fruit and is quite leather and pencil lead driven. On the palate there is some nice red fruit, a lot of cracked leather, light cigar notes, and some cedar. The fruit is there, but it feels a bit around the edges vs being the core of the wine. Tannins, while not dominating are still certainly there - this must have been a beast in its youth. Fairly light bodied at this point with moderate acid.
This was perfectly fine, but nothing amazing.
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7/11/2021 - KendraK wrote:
Not much fruit left but still enjoyable. Stayed steady for three hours then started to breakdown
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6/2/2021 - timothynbond Likes this wine: 90 Points
From a moldy bottle with an atrocious soaked through cork that was raised 2-3cm on one side but came out clean with a Durand. Deep ruby color with a bit of rusty bricking. Lots of leather on the nose with a hint of unsmoked cigar and some wood shop aromas. Medium bodied with medium acid and still some decent grip on the tannins. Palate felt a little faded with dried cherries and blackberries, along with some soy sauce with some spiciness and tobacco on the finish. Really elegant wine that went great with our dinner (braised short ribs), but a bit past its prime, perhaps due to poor storage.
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5/25/2021 - Rugan wrote: 92 Points
Full body for such an old win, soft tannins, mature colour, lovely nose
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5/22/2021 - Robwild Likes this wine: 94 Points
Absolutely marvelous. Deep purple color. Vegetable and earthy nose. Soft, supple. Rounded tannins, leather, tobacco, vanilla, oak and cassis. Decanted for about 45 minutes and drank over the next two hours. This has been perfectly cellared since original release with neck still filled
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4/21/2021 - pavel_p Likes this wine: 93 Points
Another perfect bottle with in neck fill and a clean work with only the bottom few mm stained. Dark garnet with translucent rim. In the glass a serious Pauillac was h dark fruit and plenty of iron. Drink now or keep for a few decades now problem.
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3/19/2021 - liber Likes this wine: 93 Points
11th of 12, opened 2 hours, decanted one, level into neck just, soaked cork, previous notes from 96 fine or better, couple of corked bottles and one lacking fruit in 2011 marked VG - dark quite dense garnet, lightening browning rim, leggy; cassis turning to mulberry, nice mineral core, some cedar box, quite complex; fullish, long, persistent, concentrated and structured, fruit just enough to master tannic structure, just lacking the nuance of the best, surprisingly silky, fully mature but no rush. F+ (18)......one of the better 86s, Barton, Las Cases, PL, Cos and the firsts (except Latour) to be preferred.
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3/14/2021 - joseduca Likes this wine: 93 Points
35 years old. Immaculate cork. Excellent preservation direct from chateau to cellar.
Bold wine, at peak. Earthy notes on the nose opened to black currant and berries and chocolate.
This is a big boy to accompany big food, better on a cooler day. High complexity and keeps evolving after an hour. Drink it slowly. You still have 10 more years on this wine. Fantastic effort from Pauillac.
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2/23/2021 - Papies wrote:
Not the healthies bottle and hence we will not rate albeit the wine felt quite dense and with lots of fruit still. There was though a bit of a worrying smell at times and we wonder if time and cellaring moves have not been very kind to this wine. Everything looked very solid from level to cork to label but just there was something that cried out wrong. Pfff maybe next time if we are lucky this will be pristine cause the basic materials underlying the wine all felt very solid. ( at best a 90-91 but not sure what glimpse of the wine we had)
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12/31/2020 - pavel_p Likes this wine: 94 Points
First time drinking the 86 GPL, and was a bit worried seeing the rather low scores here. I love the 86 Bdx vintage and I really like GPL, so only thing that I imagined could go wrong when 86 meets a top Pauillac, is an overly hard and tannic wine that dries out - but that is absolutely not the case here.
The kind of bottle I like with perfect in neck/bottom neck fill and a somewhat soiled and scratched label. Dry and clean cork top. Dark garnet with a translucent rim, no browning. Muted on the nose initially so slow ox’ed for about 1h and then decanted. The nose is more open now but it’s the palate where this really shines. Layered and deep dark fruit, iron, some pencil lead. Tobacco and just a touch of leather emerging. First growth like fruit concentration. Medium (-) tannins are matching nicely. Medium finish.
With the Palmer, the best 86 I have had. Glad I have another 2 bottles and will report back. Must be bottle variation leading to some of the very mediocre scores here.
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6/24/2020 - AntoZ23 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Great claret, need time in decanter to open up. Still very young, long time ahead! Love it!!
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3/23/2020 - Anchun wrote: 93 Points
I have a bias to old (style) Bordeaux and this 1986 bottle I opened during the "quarantine" weekend was fantastic. Classic nose of cedar, black currants, cherries, wood and vanilla. In the mouth it still showed lots of fruits (to my surprise), and rich and cedar concentrated flavours with fine and velvety tannins. This was a great bottle. If you get your hands on some of these bottles, I would still buy (as long as properly stored).
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3/22/2020 - Philip67 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Has a certain lack of charm that is consistent with the vintage. Quite austere, structure outweighs the nice fruit that is there. Tertiary notes of leather, underbrush and herbs follow. Good length and complexity.
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3/12/2020 - liteagilis wrote: flawed
So corked I wouldn’t even taste it to see what might have been p
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6/20/2019 - englishman's claret wrote: 92 Points
A very different magnum from last night, this shows much more blackberry and blackcurrant character - altogether darker fruit profile from the redcurrant dominated mag from last night (same source). Firm overall with just a hint of a flirtatious side but undeniably deep and pure. Leathery, loamy accents. I like this quite a lot.
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6/19/2019 - mattiasjansson wrote: 93 Points
Grand-Puy-Lacoste tasting (Gordon’s): From magnum
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6/19/2019 - englishman's claret wrote: 90 Points
From magnum, the 1986 GPL shows a bloody, redcurrant nose accented by old leather and dusty books. Very, very old style and more than a little bit hard. The winemaking has come a very long way since 86 at GPL. Not bad, but not enticing either.
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6/1/2019 - Euoinos wrote: 92 Points
Vibrant with notes of cedar, lead pencil and tobacco. Elegant palate of black cassis with a silky texture.
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4/6/2019 - Nels+ Likes this wine: 90 Points
Still alive but lost somehow fruityness. Drink up
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1/21/2019 - WAAM wrote: flawed
Brick-red color with no hints of brown along the rim. Long legs. Unfortunately, a corked bottle. Of the 7 bottles of this vintage that I have opened, 4 have been corked. Disappointing, to say the least.
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12/28/2018 - Thoughtful Likes this wine: 95 Points
Stored in a cold cellar since release. Fill just below neck. Soft cork. Perfect condition. Superb bouquet. Rich and intense. Huge depth and power. Still young. Archetypal Pauillac from a great vintage. First Growth in quality. Will see at least 50 years without a problem if cellared properly. The old truism: there is no great wine only great bottles of wine!
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12/28/2018 - Thoughtful Likes this wine: 95 Points
Stored in a cold cellar since release. Fill just below neck. Soft cork. Perfect condition. Superb bouquet. Rich and intense. Huge depth and power. Still young. Archetypal Pauillac from a great vintage. First Growth in quality. Will see 50 years without a problem if cellared properly. The old truism there is no great wine only great bottles of wine!
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2/12/2018 - Bacchus&Ceres Likes this wine: 91 Points
Dark crimson very little rim variation bordering raspberry in color. Thick viscous slow moving tears, gorgeous perfumed nose; aromatics wet fresh soil, slate lead wet stone. Black tar cassis green pepper alcohol medium +, acid medium +, tannin drying dropping out yet just enough to bind/hold it together. Missing voluptuous fruit, no red fruits more leather tobacco. Searching. Drink asap, three years max.
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12/16/2017 - BSA Likes this wine: 92 Points
From magnum. We opened two consistent bottles. Nose showing cool black fruit, pencil shave and hints of leather and cigar box. First whiff also showed some figs, but that blew off quickly. Cool and quite firm dark berry fruits in the mouth, with some sweet tannins towards the finish. Good body and lenght. A solid and really fine claret, that still feels young in this format. 91-92p.
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7/4/2017 - Robwild Likes this wine: 92 Points
Blackcurrent nose and fruits. Started out a bit lackadaisical , but opened up nicely within an hour of decanting. Still some good life in this bottle.
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5/16/2017 - Vinoevelo wrote:
tannic & vegetal. Not even a hint of browning at the rim. okay i suppose but way below where i had expected for the house.
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8/16/2016 - Marc wrote: 89 Points
1986 Bordeaux and Related 1986 and 1987 Cabernet Merlots (Villa Maria Winery, Mangere, Auckland, New Zealand): Beautiful modulated mature hue. Cedar nose, NZ acids = good presence in the mouth. Lean body, but a nice purity of fruit. Alive and structured. This is drinking well.
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5/30/2015 - UpfromtheCellar wrote: 92 Points
Excellent! Opened two bottles for a lamb-centric meal with identical and stunning results. Deep nose of cassis, leather, tobacco and dirt. On the palate the balance was spot on, rich smooth long with mature fruit and spice. Lovely long finish.
These two bottles were stored almost perfectly for the past 20 years so that may account for some of the success we had avoiding what seems like an increasing problem among other recent tasters finding bottle variability and signs of spoiling all to common.
If you have good conditions, no need to open right away - this wine has many years ahead of it still.
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3/31/2015 - cephomer wrote: 87 Points
Drank at Ned's French wine dinner from magnum. Cork was a bit on the dry & crumbly side. Nose was a bit off-putting--I detected ammonia, but also plenty of leather, tobacco & cigar box. Medium bodied, still some fruit here-tasted much better than it smelled. Also, the nose improved with airing. This was likely a very nice bottle a few years ago, but it's past its prime. Still plenty of interesting tertiary elements here--leather, tobacco, coffee and some black fruit, but it's definitely seen far better days.
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12/31/2014 - rwilk_2000 wrote: 92 Points
Drank very well. Cork was about 1/3 saturated and pulled cleanly. No formal notes taken, but recall fruit being well integrated. Still a little tannin present. Very balanced. Crowd pleaser.
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12/25/2014 - dkstar1 wrote: 87 Points
Cork was dry and crumbly but the juice was in good condition, it just never brought the goods. Nice nose with hints of classic, mature Bordeaux but even that seemed soft/muted/faded. Absolutely nothing bad about this bottle, just nothing at all memorable. Probably better five years ago. Drink now.
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11/19/2014 - WMWG wrote: flawed
Corked
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11/19/2014 - salil wrote: flawed
Corked.
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10/25/2014 - jtech wrote:
Clean. Developed nose. Dark fruits and plums, touching on boullion. Sweetish fruit. Very sleek fruit, but the '86 tannins are present.
Good length on the finish.
I suspect this wasn't a very good bottle.
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10/26/2013 - davidspieker wrote: 92 Points
Fully saturated cork with no sign of leakage. Decanted for 3 hours. Blackberry, cedar, and musty basement aroma. Nice layers of complexity with soft tannins. Medium/full body with lengthy, well integrated finish.
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10/11/2013 - falp wrote: 94 Points
really elegant!!!!
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9/17/2013 - markellen.foodies@gmail.com Likes this wine: 92 Points
Brown Bag Wine Dinner at Two Chefs - Double Blind; 9/17/2013-9/18/2013 (TWO CHEFS, MIAMI, FL): The wine looks Garnet colored. The legs are Slow. It smells like Blackberry, Black currant (cassis), Violet, and Lead Pencil. The body is Medium/Full. The wine has Polished texture. The wine finishes Medium. Barry's wine.
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5/23/2013 - Jeff Leve wrote: 89 Points
Rustic, beefy, tannic, but not completely without some charm, this old style, still youthful, tobacco, cedar, earth and cassis laden Pauillac is best enjoyed by tasters dismayed by the direction Bordeaux has taken today.
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5/19/2013 - richshoes Likes this wine: 93 Points
a little disappointing given that I just paid $165 for it...starts off a little young and tight, but quickly mellows out after being in the decanter for 30-40 minutes. not too much barnyard or tobacco, nor traditional pauillac characteristics...pencil-lead, dark fruits, and layers of velvety, soft cotton with regard to structure and mouth-feel. gets a little bit flabbier as it opens up more.
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5/2/2013 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine:
medium red with bricking, old mature nose, medium to light bodied, lovely old wine, so much joy
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3/6/2013 - vinchien Likes this wine: 92 Points
From a 750 in great condition, this wine still has a good deal of black berry/currant fruit with cedar and underbrush notes on both the nose and palate. Tannins are well integrated, but this is still a firmly structured wine. Medium-full bodied with good palate coverage, and a long finish. If it had been decanted sooner, I suspect it might have shown even better.
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2/23/2013 - kevin h wrote: 87 Points
Finally after nearly 30 years strating to show signs of maturity. However this was a very green/herbacious bottle that rather masked the cassis fruit thT was there.
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2/16/2013 - Wolfgang60 Likes this wine: 93 Points
decanted the bottle 5 hours prior to drinking. nose of a typical Paulliac, sweet red fruit, marmalade like, little leather, still with power. Color dark red in center, little but noticable sign of aging. On the palate lots of black currant, berries, marmalade. Soft tannins, medium bodied. Will probably hold this stage for another 5 plus years. very nice and shows how long a well cellared Claret can age. Look forward to another 8 bottles in the cellar.
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12/21/2012 - mike l. wrote: 94 Points
125$ a bottle excellent integration at 5 hour decant. just lovely
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12/1/2012 - christophee Likes this wine: 91 Points
Garnet with edge thinning and medium viscosity in the glass. Strawberry, mushroom, olive, cherry, earth, cedar and raspberry on the nose. Medium body and near full integration with strawberry, boysenberry, raspberry, earth, mushroom, olive and pine on the palate. Secondary hide and mint. Still vibrant fruit. A touch of bitterness mid to back-palate. Medium finish. A pleasing aged treat, but nothing mind-blowing.
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11/3/2012 - ron m wrote:
Sadly, this was somewhat oxidiesed and not very enjoyable.
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4/14/2012 - spillwine wrote: 91 Points
Great, classique.
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3/18/2012 - WinoRick wrote: 90 Points
Early 1986 tannins melted away, the wine showed medium body and dark garnet color. Bright and better than I remember. Classic Pauillac nose and cab based flavors. I believe this will continue to improve.
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2/16/2012 - godx wrote: 90 Points
La Commanderie de Bordeaux à Vancouver - Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste Vertical (Bistro Pastis): Decanted 45min prior to serving. Medium red. Most youthful looking wine of the flight. At first the nose here had quite a bit of greenness to it but after 20-30min in the glass more classic notes of cigar box, cassis and blackcurrants. This nose was the fruitiest with the least amount of development and that carried onto the palate where this was masculine, structured and showing quite youthfully. Tannins are firm and grippy with acidity to match with dense dark fruit flavours, hints of oak and a long finish. I would leave this for another 5 years or so. Excellent. 90+
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11/19/2011 - tbabes wrote: 84 Points
The fill was base neck and the cork was sound; popped, poured and consumed over the course of 6 hours. I am a huge fan of Grand-Puy-Lacoste, but honestly there was not much to like about this wine. Quite ordinary on the nose, with notes of old barrels, hints of dark fruit and earth. Very stern, tannic, and high-toned on the palate. Even for an '86, this wine did not offer much in terms of texture, charm or complexity.
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9/5/2011 - Paul D wrote: flawed
Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste (The Ledbury, London): Corked
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7/21/2011 - La Grappe wrote: 94 Points
Deep colour; a mature red but not brown. Nose of blackcurrants and cream, with spice and cigar box; the palate is full, intense, round and long. Great length and elegance; mature but not at all old. Very fine.
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2/22/2011 - blackdog wrote: 93 Points
personally cellared since release as a future. Cork tight and moderately crumbly no obvious seepage. Decanted well with some bitterness but good bouquet. After 2 hours, the bitterness was almost gone and the wine became fully open, almost dramatically at 21/2 hours after decanting. Good bouquet and even fruit with no tannins present. Very drinkable and enjoyable, a good example of an aged Bordeauxr
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1/30/2011 - Remony wrote: 92 Points
Two magnums for Sunday lunch with rib of beef; Anthony & Hilly, Harry & Isabel, Tom & Willa. Fully ready but far from entering its decline. Deep colour, lovely Pauillac taste of pencil and fruit. Perhaps a little four square in mid-palate, but fruit re-asserts itself to give a satisfying and quite long finish. Tannins and acidity well-balanced. Stayed in same condition for 24 hours in part-empty magnum without air extraction. Another '86 which has definitely justified the long wait for the tannins to resolve, like the Montrose (but sadly not the Pichon Lalande).
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10/6/2010 - K_F_o_l_e_y wrote:
Slightly corked, but otherwise excellent.
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10/10/2009 - Chisato wrote: 90 Points
A half bottle shared with my sister during dinner from the Robuchon A Galera restaurant in Macau (they have a remarkable wine list that simply made me drool all over). Decanted
Color: Ruby core with dark orange rim. Attractive legs
Nose: Initially the nose showed a profile of a mature Pauillac wine - A medley of flowers, blackberries with hints of oak and lead. Vaguely similar to the 1990 Duhart Milon I had earlier in the week, only more intense. After 30 minutes in the glass, the nose started to close down and became more subtle. Too bad the nose never really revived to the initial 15-20 minutes throughout dinner
Palate: I was amazed that this wine, at 23 years of age and in the half bottle format, can still be so backward and tannic. The palate initially showed a strong attack with intense tannins masking the black fruits and lead pencil profiles. After about 45 minutes or so in the glass, the wine started to become more volatile, with tannins dominating the mid-palate. Definitely an awesome food wine as it matched perfectly with the French chicken and foie gras main course.
Starting to feel a bit astringent after an hour, but this started to mellow down substantially after about 1.5 hrs. The finish was about 20 seconds
This wine is still relatively backwards and I would like to try again in the standard bottle format in 2 - 3 years. But will the tannins ever resolve completely before the fruits fade?
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9/21/2009 - mwanasheria wrote: 92 Points
A very nice bottle, decanted for two hours and much better than the previous one (from last months from the same case). Very dark, still lots of fruit, intense. Truly outstanding.
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8/17/2009 - Keith Levenberg wrote: flawed
Corked.
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7/27/2009 - kevin h wrote: 91 Points
Label partly eaten by insects but vintage identified from the cork. The best showing so far of this wine. It needs 2-3 hours in the decanter and then shows a typical Pauillac profile of cassis and a bit of menthol - very cabernet dominated. Good cassis flavours too, less cloaked in tannin than previous bottles but still tastes youthful. Years ahead of it still but starting, finally, to drink well.
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1/1/2009 - bluevespa wrote: 88 Points
Has the nose of a really old bordeaux at the end of its time. Tasted the same: musky and dead leaves. However, there is this beautiful fruit once you get thru the aging flavors. Can only be enjoyed by old world wine lovers. Drink up!
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12/24/2008 - Fatty Cat wrote: 92 Points
Xmas Eve 2008: decanted; rubin color; slight red fruits accompanied with stronger aromas/flavors of chocolate, coffee and cigar box; noble austerity on the palate; light/medium body; round texture.
Already mature and surprisingly light and open for a 1986 Grand Cru Classe. Maybe high temperature storage before I bought this bottle in Nov 2008?
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9/20/2008 - petitblanc wrote: 91 Points
On the decline now, with plenty of funk. Still, beautifully balanced for drinking now, with enough stuffing and backbone to make it delicious with duck confit a l'orange. With J&K at our house.
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8/13/2008 - La Grappe wrote: 89 Points
Very dense texture; still fairly tannic; blackcurrant and creamy vanilla notes. The fruit is now mature but it is still vigorous and it may yet soften further.
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6/22/2008 - kevin h wrote: 89 Points
Showing some signs of development - a bit of amber at the rim but still a dense garnet core. Subtle nose, occasional green note but generally classic Pauillac cassis albeit a little subdued. Good flavour, cassis again, tannins integrated but still a bit matt and youthful a very typical 1986 - a solid, chunky wine that is now drinking well but will probably always be just good rather than great. Still years of life left.
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1/17/2008 - thomaskeil wrote: flawed
Don't know what's up with these. Last one was clearly corked and this one was so stinky I couldn't drink it. This had a massive dose of what might have been TCA but there was plenty of leathery cherry fruit absent from the last corked one. I'll give another a try in the next few weeks.
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2/12/2007 - Cracker Barrel wrote: 85 Points
A little over the hill, but interesting, not alot of fruit, tanins there, started with a stinky nose, but blew off after awhile
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12/13/2006 - Jeff Leve wrote: 87 Points
Brawny, tannic and austere in style, this steely wine lacks charm and elegance.
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9/18/2006 - Ericpe wrote: 91 Points
Needs more time, not sure the fruit will outlast the tannins. Still youthful and one dimensional.
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8/8/2006 - Nanda wrote: 89 Points
Polygamists Dinner at Michael's (Winnetka, IL): Dark ruby with a purple core. The nose offers mellow dark fruits and coffee. Palate has smooth restrained fruits. Only light-to-medium bodied. Red currant and cedar. Fruit appears to be fading with plenty of structure. A nice drink now, though I question whether this will hold long-term.
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1/24/2006 - Spencer wrote:
Another oxidated bottle puchased from WineBid.
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2/15/2005 - MRichman wrote:
Grand Puy Lacoste Vertical (Inside, NYC): Licorice. Soft. A little too much.
B
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10/1/2004 - Rani wrote: 89 Points
A herbal, close-knit nose. A very tannics and sharp wine, backward and still way too young. Also suffered from following the 1982 Gruaud Larose.
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5/15/2004 - mariano42 Likes this wine: 96 Points
This wine took 8-10 hours to open up when consumed in may of 2004 but once opened up it was fabulous. lead pencil leather and fruit very intense like ball of fruit and richness. looking forward to drinking this bottle again in 2021 very soon
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4/2/2004 - La Cave d'Argent wrote: 93 Points
Presented in double-blind fashion to the Friday tasting group at Vintage Wines, Ltd. Decanted and tasted over a 3-hour period. My taste was from a Spiegelau Burgundy stem. Bright disc. Deep-to-opaque garnet robe with brick rim. Clean nose, opening over 90 minutes to show a pleasant bouquet of spice box (clove-dominant), plum, leather, tobacco and mint. Medium-bodied on the palate, with relatively high acidiity, soft residual tannins, an oily mouth-texture and similar flavors as for the nose. Long, slightly tart finish. Ready to drink now.
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3/1/2000 - sdr Does not like this wine: 80 Points
I noted powerful and opening up, but not why this was a failure.
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