1985 Bordeaux dinner: Lynch Bages rules, ok?

[Comte Flaneur]

At Noize the venue for BWE 3/25/23

These 1985s generally showed extremely well notably better than some of the 1982s last November in the same room, albeit with one or two notable disappointments.


Vilmart Coeur de Cuvee 2007 - 80/20 Chardonnay Pinot Noir. Enjoyable fizz, though a bit meaty and clunky, not very finessed? - 90 pts

Chateau Canon - soft, a bit diffuse, some mocha, faint cherry and plums with tobacco notes. Low key and lacking vitality. Not a great bottle, but not corked either as some round our table initially suggested. Disappointing but was enjoyable enough to finish what was in my glass - 88

Chateau Palmer - sadly corked

Domaine De Chevalier - this was a great bottle firing on all cylinders, quite thick textured and medium to full bodied with glorious savoury gravesy gravel and tobacco notes. Perfectly resolved - 93

Off the subs bench: L’Arrivet Haut Brion 1985 - similar aromatics to the DDC but a much leaner palate profile. This played to its advantage after a while as it grew on me as it came across as a gloriously dexterous wine, which suddenly made the DDC come across as a bit soupy and even clumsy by comparison - it at least caught up with the DDC and possibly pipped it to the post - 93

Chateau Beychevelle en magnum. Dusty with saddle leather and tobacco, and a pervasive bell pepper green streak to go with its cool-fruited, old school, persona. This bottle was not a tip top example - Beychevelle from this era can be highly variable - but one thing I can say - having quaffed three glasses of it - was that it was not corked as Simone in the other table claimed. I really enjoyed it but it was not a contender for wotn - 91

Chateau Leoville Barton - youthful, taut and expressive; just a great bottle and notably better than the magnum we had in December, which was showing its age. This bottle was impeccable in every way and supremely quintessential claret - 95

Chateau Langoa Barton - the sibling was another flawless and youthful bottle but is a notable step down in quality, lacking the detailed complexity of the Leoville and coming across as monolithic by comparison - 90

Lynch Bages - I was confident that the Leoville Barton could not be bettered but this pristine bottle of Lynch did exactly that. A wine notorious for its bottle variation this bottle was not only immaculate like the Leoville Barton it had fireworks too, an alluring rocky minerality and exhilarating energy. Simply brilliant - Lynch Bages 1985, what a legend! 96

Cos D’Estournel - another pristine bottle, this was surprisingly closed, and difficult to coax apart from graphite and charcoal notes. Similarly structured to the Lynch but without the thrills, but nevertheless a very good wine - 92

Suduiraut 2009 - no notes, excellent - 93

[JoelD]

Lovely. Great to get a bunch of quality 1985's all together at the same time. I backfill this vintage whenever possible now.

I couldn't agree more about the 1985 Lynch. It might subtly be my favorite Lynch. Especially considering the price it goes for at close to half of the 1989. Although I have yet to have tried the 1983 or 1988 that many on here love.

I had a similar bottle of the Cos, although it was a bit more open than yours. It ended up being a bit one dimensional though. The Lynch complexities and energy showed out and beat it handily by the end of the night for my tastes.

Too bad about the Vilmart. I had that bottle recently and have had the 2007 Grand Cellier d'Or twice. All showed extremely well. Although the CdC needed about 2 hours of bottle air to blow off some of the clunky ox notes and balance out really well for my tastes.

[JimHow]

Mmm, good bottles of 1985 Lynch and Leoville Barton, it doesnt get much better.

[Comte Flaneur]

We had two tables. I was on table one.

We had a couple of drop outs including the person who was going to bring LLC.

Table two had a good line up including LLC, PLL … and another bottle of Lynch-Bages. It seems like their bottle was as good as, or even better than, ours!

This is my friend Chris’s notes:

Delamotte 2008: I arrived 40 minutes late by which time this had lost much of its fizz, which is obviously the ideal state in which to drink Champagne. But even so you could tell it was an extremely vinous wine with a fair amount of red fruit and in a nice spot of maturity. Full and rich. Very tasty. 6-/7

Domaine de Chevalier (Rouge) 1985: Bright nose, the most classic of the flight but a tiny bit narrow and quite light - possibly starting to fade a little. But an extremely nice wine and once the overt charms of Malescot begin to pall, my favourite of the flight. 5+/7

Malescot St Exupery (magnum) 1985: Odd nose - combination of slight greenness (very 85) but also, with time, some sweet/confected notes. Again sweet and lush on the palate, a bit fat. the flavours become a bit artificial, even new world. Crowd pleasing. Nick came up with "pink blancmange" which to my taste is spot on. 5/7

Marquis de Terme 1985: Light but quite fine and delicate. Slightly metallic finish and takes on that cola/coffee note of mishandled or disintegrating oak. Not a great wine but not a bad one. 5-/7

Rausan Segla 1985: Really driven nose, meaty, complex, undergrowth, herbal, very interesting. Palate a notch below that - needs a bit more intensity and is slightly loose. But delicious. 6/7

Palmer 1985: Richer nose but more restrained, touch iodine. More complete but also has quite a tannic structure still - it works brilliantly with the food but is slightly drying without. Grows on me (from a strong start) and feels young. One to have in the cellar. 6+/7

Leoville Las Cases 1985: As always with LLC as very deep nose that doesn't feel fully open. Totally immaculate build, smooth as silk. All about reserved power and classicism, this really is a fabulous wine. Love it. 7/7

Pichon Lalande 1985: Of course much more flamboyant than LLC, that green pepper thing, fragrant, very PL, very 85, exciting and enticing. Richer feel than LLC, this is an arrogant, showy wine without losing its line and length - in fact fans out beautifully on the end. Just adorably drinkable. 7/7

Lynch Bages 1985: Even better nose, intense, multi-dimensional, something like a cross between LLC restraint and PL flashiness. Truly a spectacular bottle of this wine it has build and precision but also vitality and fun. Close to a perfect Bordeaux. Matthieu was absolutely raving about this bottle as we paid and left. 7+/7

Meyney 1985: My back up wine. This really is a super, Bordeaux that's around Rausan quality but is much more classic and correct. Really lovely. Sadly my last bottle from a case bought in 2019 at the princely sum of £18.23 per bottle all in. That is a bargain. 6/7 or even 6+.

Suduiraut 1983: Proper mature Sauternes, quite a bit of weight here. Slight touch of sweatiness but doesn't detract much. Still sweet and very long, extremely good. 6/7

[jckba]

7+ out of 7 does change the scoring dynamic

Had my last bottle of ‘85 Lynch with Jacques, Jill and Jim in New Rochelle pre covid and it was fully resolved and glorious and left the ‘89 that we also had in the dust. Granted Jim who had the last glass of the ‘89 did say that with extended aeration the race was considerably closer than at the onset. Fun night.

[jal]

Wonderful tasting Ian, the Palmer, Pichon Lalande and Rauzan Segla sound amazing. I hope you snuck up to the other table to have a sip. You didn't make out too badly though with the Bartons and the two Graves.
Jean Christophe, that was an epic night! The 1985 Lynch was so good that evening!

[Comte Flaneur]

I didn’t get a sip of any of those Jacques, even though we sent them a large glass of Beychevelle which they immediately claimed was corked. It wasn’t.

But what struck me was how youthful some of these wines were - the Langoa and Leoville, the Lynch and the Cos. The 1985 vintage keeps on surprising to the upside.

Tragically I only have a few single bottles left. But I would say 1985 is not far behind 1982, especially below FG level.

[Blanquito]

Great write-up and what a wonderful way to end a dry month!

Like most everyone, I am a big, big fan of the 85s and I've had many terrific bottles of the 85 Canon and 85 Beychevelle, it's a shame your bottles did perform like they can. I would note that the rate of TCA I've experienced with the 85 Canon has been unusually high, but the good bottles are 93-94 pts .

Ironically, the one great 85 I've never had a correct bottle of is the Lynch!

[Nicklasss]

Nice report Ian, and count meas a 1985 fan.

I remember when we had a lunch in Washington DC at Le Petit Bistro, and we order a glorious 1985 LLC for 70 $ if my memory is good...

Yes 1985 Lynch Bages is top in that vintage, as is PLL. And i remember bringing a good bottle of the 1985 Gruaud Larose to a Friday night dinner in DC, the first time i met Noah.

A strong vintage in Pomerol as well.

[Musigny 151]

I have had four 1985s in the last year. Three of them were at least the equal of their 1982 equivalents, Magdelaine, VCC and Cheval Blanc. The Gruaud was pretty good, not great, but the 1982 was arguably the best wine they ever made.

It may seem absurd to think about it now, but when the 1985s were released, I had sticker shock. They were 20% more than the 1982s, many of which were still on the market. I tasted a few, and realized the wines were lovely, had an easy balance, so splashed out for a case. Now like Ian, I think the vintage overall is in the same tier as 1982.

As for Lynch 1985, I find it a slightly Jekyll and Hyde wine. There is a definitely a herbaceous element in the wine. Some are lose to undrinkable, while some are utterly brilliant. Not sure what happened, and I have ruled out my part in the equation, as it quite literally a case by case problem. If one bottle has problems, so does the rest of the case. I have sourced my last case from England, and eight bottles in, they have all been superb.

[JimHow]

1985 Lynch was the Wine Spectator wine of the year a couple years later, I wonder if that has had any factor in pricing?

[Blanquito]

On the Right Bank, I fully concur the 85s are equals to the 82s, but I am not quite sure that is (or was) true in the Medoc-- as lovely and nuanced as the 85 Left Bankers are, for my palate they never had the power or depth of fruit of the 82s.

But like 82, 85 was strong in every commune.