TN: A '96 Bordeaux, a Chablis and a Barbaresco

[Ramon_NYC]

Wines with braised Ox Tail dinner.

2008 Louis Michel Montee de Tonnerre Chablis 1er Cru, BurgundyLove the mixing confection, mineral and ripe citrus nose. There are enough citrus, apples and tropical fruit flavor, but lacked that crusty and crunchy side that I look for in young Chablis. Soft in acidity. B-

1996 Ch. Smith Haut Lafitte, Pessac Leognan
P-n-P’d but should have decanted for an hour or so prior to dinner. Plenty of Graves smell association with the cigar, herb and wood components. Opened up sufficiently, revealing the wine to be leaning more on the modern side with creamy, chocolate notes, a good level of sweet ripe blue/black fruit and sweet tannin. Good but plenty of other better Bdx 1996 out there. B

2004 Agricola Ronchi di Giancarlo Rocca Barbaresco Ronchi, Piedmont
Opened this to try and complement our Braised Ox Tail supper at which the 1996 SHL was falling quite short on. This came across as a thin and lean Mick Jagger to the SHL’s Meatloaf (the singer and part-time actor). I think that this is sufficiently food-friendly but was no match for the bold dish. Good QPR but I stuck mostly with the SHL with my meal. B-