1990 Bordeaux at Fabios

[Comte Flaneur]

Look out! The Martin brothers are in town! Lock up your daughters…

…so a group of ten of us gathered at ‘our local’ – Fabios for themed tasting of 1990 Bordeaux.

To wet the whistle:

Jobard Meursault Blagny 2001 – not premoxed – (hurls hat up in the air…yeeeh!) – nice chablis-like chalkiness and lemony-chalky. 91

Amiot Puligny Montrachet Les Desmoiselles 1990 – Norwegian blue (dead parrot). Hello Polly! Anybody home? The only reason why it was sitting on its perch was because it had been nailed there. NR

Trrimbach Gewurztraminer Cuvee Des Seigneurs de Ribeaupierre 1990 – TCA on the nose but this was otherwise vibrant, voluptuous and lively with exotic fruits – guava, lycees and melons 91

Flight one

La Fleur De Gay 1990

A bit of brett on the nose, which soon blew off. Then this wine started to unfurl with meaty, smokey, gamey notes allied to an exotic Pomerol plumminess. It slides across the palate with more cured meat and is a touch bumptious and rustic. It really delivered a lot of pleasure. 93

La Conseillante 1990

Very complex nose of beets, cured meats, game, mushrooms, cigar box and tobacco leaf. On the palate it was incredibly silky, smooth and voluptuous with rich Belgian chocolate and lots of burgundian tertiary nuances. Quite low acidity. Drop dead gorgeous wine. It unfurled like a silk scarf this foxy wine is the equivalent of Angelina Jolie in the Tourist. Marvelous. 98

Flight two

Rausan Segla 1990

Nose initially shy and then became sweet and candied. Nicely perfumed, silky refined and sophisticated but somehow it somewhat flattered to deceive. It lacked stuffing. 89?

Mouton Rothschild 1990

Sweaty horse saddle and coffee nose – then downhill from there right? Wrong, because there is a lot going on here and while it is quite austere on the back of the palate it had an impressively long finish. And it was vibrant on the palate with complex mushroomy notes. While this is not a ‘great’ Mouton, this was the best showing of this wine yet. It is a lot better than Pichon Lalande in this vintage based on our June tasting. 90

Sociando-Mallet 1990

This was similar to wines in the next flight. It had a young colour, and was somewhat monolithic on the palate, which made it less interesting than the Mouton but this is clearly the superior wine. Re-tasted at the end of the night it had come out of its shell and was quite delicious. In 5-10 years this will be superb. 94+

Flight three

Pichon Baron 1990

Disappointing somewhat bretty and yoghurty nose. This wine was awkward all night perhaps because it hadn’t been open long enough. I just don’t think it was a great bottle and it may have been flawed. NR

Montrose 1990

Rather than go into a detailed analysis, everything about this wine is perfect. The nose is intoxicating (no brett) the palate is expansive and delicious with a lot going and the finish was long and luxurious. However this wine is still primary. It lacks secondary/tertiary development, so the best is yet to come. I should imagine that in 20 years time this wine will be a legend. It lays a strong claim to be wine of the vintage. 99+

Cos D’Estournel 1990

Actually a very similar wine in many respects, not far behind the Montrose and also still primary. It opened beautifully over the night, keeping pace with - but a respectable distance behind - the Montrose. 96+

To finish...

Chateau D’Yquem 1990

(It was funny that seven out of ten on the table went out for a smoke before this…not including me)
Needs 30 years, incredibly unevolved. But a treat to taste. 96+++

And then…

Off down to the pub for a (few) cleansing ale(s)

Then off to catch the last train home

We had a brilliant night with the hard core of Patrick, Brendan, Ramon, Sandy and myself batting on. Sandy…the (tall) thin white duke.

[Comte Flaneur]

I forgot to mention that we had two Caifornian wines as well after the third flight;

Laurel Glen 1990
Montelena 1990

Both were perfectly sound, but both were missing something - a 'je ne sais quoi' - both were well made with minty confected fruit, but they tasted a bit uni-dimensional after what came before.

[Blanquito]

Great notes, Ian. Thanks for a great evening, as always.

I'll add my thoughts/notes later, but wow, that Montrose! I can still taste it.

[jal]

Sorry I missed it, it sounds like a blast and I wish I could have been there with you guys.

[DavidG]

Mmm... Montrose and Conseillante. Two of my favorite '90s. And of course Yquem. Glad to see they were all killer. Sounds like a great evening.

[JonoB]

Well 90 La-C strikes again. Brilliant wine but I still prefer the 89 when on form.

Mouton is better than Lalande in 90, but I still think it is poor in comparison to the vintage and other Moutons... 88, 89 are far superior even 84 and 87 are good. 90 is worse than 91 and 93!!!

Need to try Cos and Montrose... More evidence of their star quality.

Thanks for the notes! Don't suppose you'll be anywhere near London between 7th and 14th Jan?

[Ramon_NYC]

Bordeaux Vintage 1990 at Fabio’s
12/17/2010

Brothers Patrick and Brendan are on their annual holiday visit and just as in his prior NYC visits, Patrick made sure to get us together by organizing a very enjoyable wine-dinner and 1990 Bordeaux was the chosen theme. Thanks to all for the terrific wines and for the very pleasant and engaging company,

The white wines:

2001 Jobard Meursault Blagny, Burgundy
Off theme, but as Ian had emailed us that he’ll be at the restaurant much earlier than our appointed group start time, and since I was in the neighborhood, I grabbed this bottle from my refrigerator and met up with him. Steely, mineral, high citrus component, others commented about being quite Chablis-like. I like the lean, dry and compact structure, and some point, even had that young dry-Alsace Riesling a la Trimbach CFE kind of thing to it. B+

1990 Domaine Guy Amiot et fils Puligny-Montrachet Les Demoiselles, Burgundy
This bottle was pretty much way beyond it’s best drinking days. Gold, brown sugarish tint, Old, woody nose. NR

1990 Trimbach Gewurztraminer Cuvee Des Seigneurs de Ribeaupierre, Alsace
Some old musty, rubbery smell. This blew off with glass time to show a little more fruity, earthy notes. In spite of the nose, the wine showed a lot of ripe white fruit, slight petrol notes, and semblance of a good overall balance, Tartness at the short finish. B


The red wines:

Flight 1

1990 Ch, La Fleur de Gay, Pomerol
Younger in appearance and taste than a bottle that I recently had in another 1990’s horizontal. An alluring Pomerol nose with dry earth, leaves, and chocolate. Lean fruit, slight green, meat, quite acidic, layers of red and blue fruit. B+

1990 Ch, La Conseillante, Pomerol
That bretty, funky nose that I distinctly remember from previous La Conseillante from same vintage (and the 1989, as well), but much less so with this bottle. With glass time, the brett completely blew away and I noted fresh baked croissant. Classy, ripe, and elegant. Smooth, with complexity exuding grilled meat, blueberries, and tea. Very well rounded. A- (Group: WOTF, 3rd Place WOTN)

Flight 2:

1990 Ch. Rauzan-Segla, Margaux
Floral, sexy and feminine bouquet. There’s a slight harshness, non-detracting, on the approach, sour cherries. A softer fruitier element with air time. B/B+

1990 Ch. Sociando Mallet, Haut Medoc
A compelling yet very attractive nose with leather, tobacco, and wet leaves. The Sociando vegetable notes was there, with soft tannin. A classic SM and was a brute when compared to the Rauzan-Segla B/B+ (Group: WOTF)

1990 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, Pauillac
Lots of leather on the nose. Dull, uninteresting, but I would definitely drink if offered. B-


Flight 3

1990 Ch. Pichon Longueville Baron, Pauillac
A Pauillac nose with some gravel, cigar and leather. Slight brett. Young, Tannic, acidic, and sweet ripe black fruit. Power with fine craftsmanship. A-

1990 Ch. Montrose, Saint Estephe
Even with the slight horse sweat on the bouquet, there was also the appealing mix of underbrush, ripe fruit, grille meat and tobacco. A seamless, silky, powerful, classic Bordeaux. A complete wine. A (Group: WOTF and WOTN, my 2nd Place WOTN)

1990 Ch. Cos d’Estournel, Saint Estephe
Very secondary on the bouquet with leather and cigar. This was a forceful and muscular wine that at times evoked its lean black fruity component within a medium-bodied structure. Others liked it more than I did. B


Flight 4
We wanted to add some ringers and blind mystery wines to mix, but since the following were brought in uncovered for most to see, we rightfully decided to just put them in as a flight by themselves.

1990 Laurel Glen Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma Mountain
The nose emoted Bordeaux with some secondary leathery notes, but was also emitting sweet ripe fruit. High in acidity, with the ripe fruit gently spreading itself in the palate. At some point, other than fruit and more fruit, this did not posses the high level of complexity that the Old World stuff did. Not bad, though. B

1990 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvingnon, Napa Valley
Unlike other Montelena that I had before, this one had that musty old wood smell to it. Mint, oaky, with lots of sweet fruit. It thinned out with 20 minutes in the glass. B-


Dessert

1990 Ch. d’Yquem, Sauternes
Brown sugary, peach, apricot, crème brulee that explodes in a most wonderful way in the mouth. An unforgettable experience. Outstanding. A (Group: 2nd Place WOTN, My WOTN)

[Michael-P]

Wow! What an evening.

I can almost taste them all thanks to Ian and Ramon's TNs. Interesting the differences.

Yummy!

Michael-P

[Houndsong]

On the off theme topic, except for the compact part you describe very well the Meursault-Blagny http://www.bordeauxwineenthusiasts.com/ ... gny#p15935 I had recently (different producer). Maybe it's terroir but it was stony/minerally and reminiscent to me of Chablis (though I'm not experienced in these wines at all).

[AlexR]

Sorry I wasn't with you guys at such a memorable evening.

Please: is there any sort of consensus as to where most of the wines were with regard to their dinking window 20 years down the line?

TIA,
Alex

[Comte Flaneur]

Hi Alex

In my opinion all of these wines, apart from the Yquem, can be drunk now and none were over the hill. The two Pomerols were in a perfect place and it is hard to see how they can improve, just evolve. The Mouton and the Rausan are on a slow boat to China.

Other wines like the Sociando, the Montrose and the Cos, will undoubtedly continue to improve as they evolve and gain more complexity with age.

The Yquem, was ridiculously youthful. I suspect it will be drinking very nicely in the year 2100.

My two cents

Ian

PS the 1990 BWE horizontal event is tentatively scheduled for October 2015, so put that in your calendar.

[Ramon_NYC]

Please: is there any sort of consensus as to where most of the wines were with regard to their dinking window 20 years down the line?

+1 on what Ian said above.

Just adding $0.02 here, and fwiw. 1990 Laurel Glen was in good shape and can probaly stay that way for the next few years. But not the same case with 1990 Ch. Montlelena - this one had seen better days.

[Nicklasss]

Nice TN guys. Count me too as a big fan of the 1990 La Conseillante. Probably one of my top Bordeaux wine until now. As olid TN of 98.

For the Rauzan-Ségla, a bottle I had in Ottawa with dstgolf some years ago, was better than your one. A nice TN 93 bottle of wine, but it was beated the same night by the 1990 Pichon Baron, with a TN of 95-96. I even preferred that 90 Baron to it 89 conterpart.

The Sociando-Mallet, for the price, is just unbeatable. And I agree, will be better in 10 more years... a TN of 94+, when I had it, 2-3 years ago.

Finally the 1990 Yquem is stellar and something special, like all the Yquem.

Nic

[Blanquito]

Sorry for the delay in posting my notes... I've been on the road with Christmas travel ever since...

First off, another great night with the regulars. We've really built a terrific NYC-based group over the last 3 years with a core of 5-7 guys who show up, bring great wine and consistently have a blast. I've really come to value the company and companionship of this group. Too bad I live so far away, but the bi-annual pacing definitely keeps the group dynamics fresh...

The wines were terrific. Though I must say, the overall quality wasn't really any higher for me than what we had in July in our "80's Bordeaux Tasting" (http://www.bordeauxwineenthusiasts.com/ ... 981#p12974). The best of the 1990 Left Bankers have a long way to go, but both Righties seemed like they should be drunk sooner than later...

La Fleur De Gay 1990
A lighter, lovely wine, fairly Burgundian. Much better on the nose, with the palate seeming borderline light, but still very lovely. Has a fresh bouquet of strawberries, ash and smoke. The palate is a lighter style with some very drying tannin on the finish. Old school, very nice. 91

La Conseillante 1990
Takes a little while to come to life, but once open, lovely notes of black tea, freshness… better depth than the Fleur with a some sour cherry… overall, a light palate presence, very smooth. Very complex bouquet. I was definitely in the minority in thinking is merely excellent rather than other worldly.. 93

Rausan Segla 1990
Big, layered wine, still ample tannins, but lots of fleshy fruit, long tangy. Raspberry nose (very Margaux), ripest but still restrained compared to the wines of 2010. Imminently drinkable, but this will hold and perhaps improve for a while. I liked this much more than most at the table, and it was my #3 in the WOTN voting. 94

Mouton Rothschild 1990
One sentence: excellent bouquet, disappointing palate. 89

Sociando-Mallet 1990
I really liked this one. A classy claret bouquet of lead pencil, cranberries, perfume, leather and smoke. The palate is smooth and rich, but still buttoned-down. Seriously layered and deep, a classically-styled claret in ever respect. There’s the signature green note of SM, but it adds character and complexity, rather than distraction. One can only hope that the 2003 develops as well as this. My #4 WOTN and in the running with the Cos as the youngest wine at the table. 94

Pichon Baron 1990
I actually disliked this wine, and concur with Ian's note. There was an off-putting sour yogurt aromas and sour-bright palate. Hugely disappointing. NR

Montrose 1990
My first 1990 Montrose. It did not disappoint. Gorgeous, gorgeous bouquet with 100-pt complexity of soy sauce, hotel-lobby lilies, new patent leather, Christmas, truffle-sweetened cranberries, beef blood, and much more. Zero funk/bret/etc. The palate was sweet, long, resolved and lovely, but again, this is Bordeaux from 20 years-ago, so the palate impression is dry and classic compared to the Post-Rolland world. That all said, and this was one of the best wines I've ever had ever, I found the concentration merely adequate and so, it was a step down from the 1986 Mouton and 1986 Lafite for me-- those '86's were infinitely deep, and as such, more complete wines. Still, easily my #1 WOTN. 96

Cos D’Estournel 1990
Probably the tightiest wine, it came to life only after extended air in the glass. Inscrutable and then wide-open, rich and deep, long and layered with slowly emerging aromatics and palate-presence which promise greatness. My #2 WOTN. 95+

The cali cabs, despite a rep as French lookalikes, stood out as markedly different in style after so many great Bordeaux...
Laurel Glen Sonoma Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 1990
The bouquet comes across immediately as a bird of a different feather, with some caramelly-oak, confectioner’s sugar, and lots of cool menthol-minty notes. But much more Bordeaux-like to taste, dry with good acids and excellent depth without heaviness. Still some greenness which intones "Cabernet" with a light French accent. I liked this, but I am sympathetic to wines like this which can still be found for $40 twenty years on. But it can't rival the best Bordeaux for complexity. I tried the dregs on Day 2 and it was still going strong, much better on the palate. 92

Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 1990Surprisingly light and superficial, perhaps it was indeed past its prime. It seemed sweet, superficial, minty and simple next to the Bordeaux. 87

Chateau D’Yquem 1990
Young, young, young, but sooooo good and classy. Not over-the-top at all, shading more towards elegance than power, but with endless sneaky depth and length. See Ian's note. This was included as a WOTN candidate, but I didn't include it in my voting, as it's on its own for me. 95 today, 100 pt potential.

[JonoB]

Last time I had 90 Lynch, it is very much as you describe the lefts that you tasted... Definitely be stunning still in 10-20years.