Graduation wines: Saint Emilion, Margaux & other French

[Ramon_NYC]

Wines brought to nephew David’s graduation dinner at Riverpark NYC. We had excellent all-around service and food, as always.

2006 Domaine Pierre Matrot Meursault “Les Perrieres” 1er Cru
Lively acidity, lemon, refreshing, lean and drinking very nicely. Last of 6-pack purchase and easily the one that drank the best as far as I can remember the others. A-

1996 Domaine Weinbach Clos des Capucins Cuvee Sainte Catherine Pinot Gris
Gold tint. Some petrol, lemony, but quite oily. Perhaps, off its optimal drinking phase. B

1990 Ch. Canon, Saint Emilion
Excellent bouquet featuring blueberry pie, roast herb, and tobacco. Medium bodied, with a tinge of green vegetable that I thought worked very well with
the overall structure. I honestly think that this can further improve with a few more cellar years. Good length. B+

1966 Ch. Malescot Saint Exupery, Margaux
Last of 3 auction-won bottles. Excellent showing, just as earlier bottles did. Everybody commented on how youthful the appearance and taste was. Leather, dried fruit, cigar and earth in a very appealing bouquet. Lively with red fruit acidity, smooth, and pure. What a pleasure to drink. Re-tasted after dessert and the wine pretty much held up its freshness in the decanter. A

1988 Ch. de Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape
Consistent with previous bottles, this Beaucastel only showed a hint of brett, contrary to most older Beaucastel that I’ve had. Ripe with red and blue fruit. Finesse and good balance. I’m impressed with the way this wine had aged. Matched well with my crispy sweetbreads appetizer. A-

1994 Domaine de Marcoux Chateauneuf du Pape “Vieille Vignes”
Slightly medicinal, ripe and concentrated. Big and sweet. Not as elegant and as balanced as the 1988 Beau. B

edited: to correct for typos/spelling of producers

[DavidG]

Congratulations to your nephew Ramon. Sounds like you opened some seriously good bottles. Thanks for the notes - especially the '88 Beaucastel. Don't see TNs on that one too often. Got a double mag waiting to be opened for our 25th anniversary next year. The '66 Malescot sounds like it's aged beautifully as well.

[Claudius2]

Ramon
Interestng that you liked the green tinges in the Canon.
I thought it under-performed in 1990 and found that green tinge too vegetal.
Maybe the food affected it.

cheers
Mark

[Ramon_NYC]

Mark,

I didn't think that the green taste was intrusive, nor out-of-whack, within the context of the whole structure. I just scanned CT and noted what I thought may be similar descriptor, such as "bitterness", "tea leaves", "forestfloor?" and yet these TNs gave 90+ ratings. The green stuff was really very slight, to my taste. Perhaps it could have been affected by the food too. The only recent tastes I had of '90 Canon were during tastings in 2011 and 2010 and according to my notes, both times the bottles were corked/cooked! Prior to that, I can't recall my notes to see if green was present. I have a couple of bottles left and hope that, at the very least, they turn out like this recent one.

On the other hand, just to put in the context of individual tastes and preferences, I have enjoyed most Sociando Mallet where vegetable notes were/are reported to be more prevalent.

Ramon

[Houndsong]

I'm thinking there's just one Matrot, be it labled Joseph or Pierre or just Matrot? Anyway, not having the time or the money ( and now the space) to scrounge around that area, I've liked Matrot wines, both white and red, and they hold forth the tiny Meursault/Blagny corner of my cellar.

[Ramon_NYC]

I've just recently had a couple of Matrot reds from 2005, don't remember which was which but just to add to the Matrot confusion, one was from Pierre and the other was from Thierry/Pascale. The Volnay-Santenots and the Blagny. Both were drinking nicely. Good pinot that I found to be slightly on the (shall I dare use it?) "elegant" side.

[Ramon_NYC]

Congratulations to your nephew Ramon. Sounds like you opened some seriously good bottles. Thanks for the notes - especially the '88 Beaucastel. Don't see TNs on that one too often. Got a double mag waiting to be opened for our 25th anniversary next year. The '66 Malescot sounds like it's aged beautifully as well.

Thanks David.
That double mag of the '88 Beau will serve you and a lot of people well.