TNs: 1995 La Conseillante, 1996 Montrose, 1965 Mouton

[Michael Malinoski]

A little while back, there was a small get-together at one of the usual fine dining spots here in Boston, as four of us we hosted an out of town visitor and his brother to the region. We had a very nice meal and folks showed up with some delicious wines.

2000 Domaine Ramonet Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champs Canet. We started off with this lovely Puligny, which smells dense, rich and mildly exotic with its aromas of hazelnut, wood spices, yellow fruit, butter and cool stone. It is full of dense, juicy fruit in the mouth, where it feels fleshy and maybe even a tad oily in texture. It displays excellent depth and density of butterscotch, lemonball, hazelnut and woody spice flavors, and leaves a rich and lasting impression. It is still a tad oaky, but it sure delivers a ton of pleasure. The group’s #2 wine of the night.

1990 Domain Jean Tardy et Fils Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Boudots. This wine took a little while to pull itself together but then really stayed strong all through the course of the evening—really getting better as the night wore on. On the nose, it is nicely old-fashioned, with fine but generous aromas of dusty earth, red currants, soft licorice rope, liquid caramel and bits of funky dried sweat. It never approaches the beautiful aromatic heights of the 1998 Tardy Boudots I enjoyed about 16 months earlier, but it is superior on the palate, which sports warm-fruited sour cherry and mixed currant flavors that are gently pasty and accompanied by gently sticky tannins. It is rounded and earthier through the middle before turning a bit tart and well lifted on the finish. It offers a nice ride all the way through.

1965 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac. The 1965 Mouton was the first birth year wine I've been able to try. This bottle certainly shattered the pre-conceived notion that this wine has no pleasure to give (nor ever did, for that matter). This came from the restaurant’s cellar and I think Chris' pristine storage likely had a lot to do with this little surprise, as did his suggestion to pour it into smaller glasses to prevent it from immediately falling apart in bigger bowls. Although the wine gasped out its final breaths after just about 90 minutes, it was able to deliver a very appealing dose of wispy dried flowers, tobacco leaf and green pepper aromas on the nose with nary a sign of rot, stewed character, oxidation, etc. And though the acidity is pretty astringent toward the finish, the wine still shows off some gentle, soft, airy fruit and fun tertiary bits to keep one's interest on the palate. So, yes, it is somewhat fragile, lighter-styled and rather abrupt on the finish, but this bottle was just plain fun to drink perhaps in large part because it wasn't supposed to be!

1983 Pierre Barge Cote-Rotie. This is a rather rustic-smelling and old-fashioned wine, with lots of iron ore, beef blood, applewood smoke, hung game, wintergreen, bacon fat and funky peat aromas on the nose. For all that, it is a lot “cleaner” than the much brettier bottle a few of us really enjoyed a year earlier. In the mouth, it is rather gamy in nature, full of impressions of hung meat, bacon fat, wintergreen, black cherry, earth, leather and savory herbal notes. It is medium-weighted, well-balanced in its acidity and just delivering lots of regional varietal character that is really nice to experience. My and the group’s #3 wine of the night.

1989 Clos du Mont-Olivet Chateauneuf du Pape La Cuvee du Papet. This wine is full of warm kirsch, cherry paste, cocoa powder, saddle leather and dusty garrigue notes on the nose, which I liked a lot. In the mouth, it is warm-fruited, with all kinds of dusty herb and garrigue notes atop a texture that is smooth, layered and finely resolved, with a lot of red currant flavor on a medium-weighted frame. It doesn’t really jump out at you, nor does it really find that extra gear, but it is extremely drinkable right now.

2005 Domaine Paul Autard Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee La Cote Ronde. This wine is young and sleek and modern-styled on the nose—with silky blue and black fruits, cotton candy, chalk and oak aromas dominating. In the mouth, it is full of glycerin smoothness and lots of body up front, with youthful oak and slightly drying tannins coming on toward the back. Through the middle, though, it is sleek and polished and loaded with fruit flavor. It seems approachable now, but I suspect it will be more to my liking 5-7 years from now.

1978 Chateau Ste. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Cold Creek Vineyard Columbia Valley. Aromas of blueberries, steel, leather, cracked peppercorn, leather and a bit of charcoal lead to a palate that is fairly funky and definitely quite earthy in tone, but also full of vigorous black currant and blackberry fruit. It is perhaps a bit chunky and dull-textured at times, but it hangs together nicely and finishes with a good kick of spices.

1994 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Washington. This is pretty heady stuff on the nose, coming across as dense, rich and fully-blown—nearly coating the nostrils with its aromas of cherry, black currant, blueberry and black licorice accented by fine spices, leather and shaved cedar notes. In the mouth, it is lifted and rather vibrant, with lots of rich, spiced fruit—feeling finely-balanced and nicely-structured. The tannins are fleshy and well-rounded and overall this is just a rich, fully-flavored and distinctive wine to my tastes. It was my runner-up wine of the night.

1995 Chateau La Conseillante Pomerol. The nose here is totally plush and pillowy, with dense aromas of coffee grounds, dark mocha, plum, black currant and charcoal. In the mouth, it is velvety smooth and somewhat open-knit in texture, full of creamy plum and blueberry fruit. It flows slowly across the palate but never feels heavy or ponderous. I think it is still pretty young and I’d suggest holding another few years to let it gain some secondary nuances to go with all that pure, almost modern-styled fruit.

1996 Chateau Montrose St. Estephe. This is lovely, classic Bordeaux on the nose—with fantastic aromas of tanned leather, grilled meats, soy, bacon fat, tobacco leaf, green pepper, earth, horse fur, red currant, spice rack and pencil shavings. It is multi-dimensional and just really nice on a number of levels. On the palate, it is young but accessible, showing outstanding structure, verve and juiciness. It is rather meaty in texture and delivers savory sensations of iron filings, dried blood, earth and mineral to go with the masculine fruit. There’s a good long life ahead for this wine, but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend drinking it now. My and the group’s wine of the night.


-Michael

[Bacchus]

Holy cow, Michael, if that's the wine list you and a couple of friends come up with when someone drops by for a visit, I can fly out to Boston tomorrow!!

[JimHow]

I had Pullitzer Prize winning novelist Elizabeth Strout over at my house for a dinner party last month. The 1996 Montrose was our wine of the night that night as well, and it was up against some pretty heavy competition.

[Ramon_NYC]

Looks like a night of fun wines. Good to read about the '65 Mouton. From an availability standpoint, that's a tough Bordeaux vintage to source as I'm also tasked with keeping an eye out for 1965s for somebody. But encouraging to know that your bottle turned out well.