All we are is dust in the wind…. 2018 Latour Martillac.

[JimHow]

Lenny Breau’s drummer, Dick Demers, died today. For those of you who may not know Lenny’s work, he was considered by many to be the greatest guitarist ever to set foot in the planet… And he was from my hometown. (Well, via western Canada.) We used to go see him on Wednesday nights in the seventies at a local club. I represented his brother, Denny, another legendary guitarist. I highly recommend this documentary of Lenny’s tragic life….

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DDNrlGq0PbY

Gonna uncork something nice tonight….

[JimHow]

I've had limited experience with Latour-Martillac, but I really liked the 2016. Let's see how this 2018 matches up....

[JimHow]

Man, these 14.5% alcohol 2018s are awfully sweet, at least at the outset....

[JimHow]

By the way...

I knew 2016 Lilian Ladouys.
I drank 2016 Lilian Ladouys.
2016 Lilian Ladouys was a friend of mine.

You, 2018 Lilian Ladouys are no 2016 Lilian Ladouys....

[William P]

Man, these 14.5% alcohol 2018s are awfully sweet, at least at the outset....

Which is why you and I like the 2016s better.

Bill

[JimHow]

Amen my brother. it really is that simple.

[Nicklasss]

Like Yoda would say : that simple, it really is".

Jim, reading your reflexion on Lilian Ladouys, i think exactly the same about Capbern.

[JimHow]

The Earth really did tremble a little today, at least in the music universe, when Lenny Breau's drummer died, right here in Lewiston, Maine. When artists like George Benson, Chet Atkins, Andy Summers, and NUMEROUS others tell you this was the GREATEST guitarist ever to walk the planet, one should take notice. I believe Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder said so as well, although I'm trying to confirm my references. These are huge, huge, enormous losses to our culture, on our streets, in settings unknown by almost the entire population. not much we can do about it, I guess.... All we are is dust in the wind.....

Like the 2018 Siran, the 2018 Latour-Martillac is settling down into a very nice 90-point wine. But I'm sorry. We should not have to deal with this rollercoaster. It's way too volatile for me. 2016 may be the Rubicon of Bordeaux, the point of no return.

[JimHow]

At the 10:30 mark of the documentary are a few images of Lewiston, Maine, including the Libbey Mill, since burned down, where my father worked in the weave room for 40 years, and his father, a Polish immigrant, worked for 48 years before him....

We really did touch genius here.

[stefan]

Best guitarist of all time? Andres Segovia. No second choice, even if I can name many that followed him who are more proficient technically (John Williams, Eliot Fisk,...).

[JimHow]

I will check out the work of Andres Segovia, Stefan.

[JimHow]

14.5% is just too much, no matter what GBF and Leve and RMP say. 13.5% is about the max I can tolerate. I’ll search out a few more bottles of 13.5% Cantemerle from 2018, but otherwise this vintage seems just way too hot and alcoholic for me. It’s like Parkerizatiom has reached its epitome in 2018. Too much. No mas. It was exhausting drinking this wine tonight.

[Jay Winton]

Wow, Lenny Breau. A sad sad life but an incredible talent. I have a recording with Tal Farlow that really swings. I saw him in college playing his seven string guitar at the famous Bluebird Cafe in Nashville.

[Claudius2]

14.5% is just too much, no matter what GBF and Leve and RMP say. 13.5% is about the max I can tolerate. I’ll search out a few more bottles of 13.5% Cantemerle from 2018, but otherwise this vintage seems justbee way too hot and alcoholic for me. It’s like Parkerizatiom has reached its epitome in 2018. Too much. No mas. It was exhausting drinking this wine tonight.

Jim
Not that familiar with the guitarist to be honest.
Will try and see if I can watch a few clips.
However arguing who is the best guitarist ever is something I gave up some decades ago and I’ve been playing electric guitar for 50 odd years - actually never owned a classical or acoustic guitar in my life
Anyway I am a bit old fashioned as I like the 60s guitarists (some of course kept playing for much longer) and Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton inspired me learn guitar. There is always a guitar case or two in the lounge room - at the moment a violet burst PRS McCarty 594 which I call purple haze.

Regarding alcohol levels, I’ve been decrying high ABV since the 90s when the Aust wine industry started pursuing monster wines. I’d say that Syrah and Grenache can handle 14.5% in some cases but that is too high for most wines.

I also dispute anyone’s view that hi ABV wines keep. If a wine does not offer freshness and balance young, most often it will fall apart with bottle age as the alcohol will be more obvious when the fruit mellows out, so the balance of components simply does not happen. Okay there are some exceptions but I’ve tried numerous monster Aust wines (and many were quite expensive) that disproved any theory that they keep. Further hi alc St Emilions develop the same way and the soft plummy Merlot is unfortunately badly affected and starts tasting like a nondescript warm climate red.

So I am placing a moratorium on wines with hi alc and have cleared out some wines via auction that were too hot or tarry. Oh well. Yet if others like them they are quite entitled to them.

Cheers
Mark

[JimHow]

Yes, you have to be hip like Mr. Vino to know who Lenny Breau was, Claudius. We cool people extend our horizons beyond Jimi Hendricks and Eric Clapton. Although, I liked the Super Bowl hip hop half time show this year and I think Mr. Vino was surprisingly down on it, I thought a hipster like that cool cat would have recognized the greatness of Dre, Snoop, and Marshall. I agree with you on the high alcohol, 14.5% is just too much... It gives me a headache. I don't know if I've ever tasted more over the top Bordeaux than these 2018s.

[Jay Winton]

Yes, you have to be hip like Mr. Vino to know who Lenny Breau was, Claudius. We cool people extend our horizons beyond Jimi Hendricks and Eric Clapton. Although, I liked the Super Bowl hip hop half time show this year and I think Mr. Vino was surprisingly down on it, I thought a hipster like that cool cat would have recognized the greatness of Dre, Snoop, and Marshall. I agree with you on the high alcohol, 14.5% is just too much... It gives me a headache. I don't know if I've ever tasted more over the top Bordeaux than these 2018s.

Yeah, too much "get off of my lawn" from me. A hiphop halftime was way overdue. Honestly, I'm a long way from hip but I really try to listen to artists that aren't dead.

[Nicklasss]

I'll try to find a cd or vinyl of Lenny Breau. Always looking for more music, and more wines!

Believe it or not, if i would have to choose between music or wine, i would choose suicide? Or if i can't die, or in my afterlife, i would go with music.

[stefan]

>>
I really try to listen to artists that aren't dead.
>>

Sure, but I wish that I could listen to some who have been dead for centuries. I will be able to once I adjourn to That Great Tasting Room In The Sky.

[JimHow]

I'll try to find a cd or vinyl of Lenny Breau. Always looking for more music, and more wines!

Here's another documentary about him, Nicola...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BvvC0Vnlcg

There's a fair amount of his stuff on YouTube, especially with Chet Atkins.

[Racer Chris]

I never heard of Lenny Breau but I did get to see Andres Segovia in concert at the Hartt School of Music in the late '60s. It prompted me to learn finger picking.

[Claudius2]

>>
I really try to listen to artists that aren't dead.
>>

Sure, but I wish that I could listen to some who have been dead for centuries. I will be able to once I adjourn to That Great Tasting Room In The Sky.

Well, maybe you should listen to the Grateful Dead and walk thru the morning dew… and try some wine with what us Aussies call Dead Fruit character. Happy to give you some recommendations. Gerry Garcia would approve.

I’m pretty pretty sure that Eric Clapton and some of the other sixties greats like Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Pete Townsend, Mick Taylor, John Fogherty and Ritchie Blackmore are still alive. To my amazement Keith Richards is still alive which challenges the theory that a truckload of drugs shortens your life expectancy.

Jim
I listen to dead classical artists and even some live guitarists all the time. Yet in junior school, I was moved by Hendrix and Clapton to the point I wanted to play a white Stratocaster and LP custom. There have been so many great guitarists since. And I also learned to play bass after listening to Jack Bruce. I’m a bit of a tragic when it comes to electric blues.

Cheers
Mark

[stefan]

Well, I do listen to the Grateful Dead from time to time, Mark.

Lucie wonders why no one has mentioned Stevie Ray Vaughan, whom she loves.

When it comes to blues, my favorite guitarist is Lightning Hopkins, who of course only played acoustic guitar.

[Claudius2]

Stefan
SRV is absolutely one of the all time greats.
I think Change It on the Soul to Soul album is one of my all time favourite tracks.

When I think of my fav guitarists I normally think of at least thirty as there are so many greats.

I do like acoustic guitar sometimes but the range of sounds from electric guitars are virtually unlimited when you consider the amount of pedals, amplifier settings and techniques that can be used. But I also listen to a broad range of music from Baroque to Black metal.

Cheers
Mark

PS if you look up my Facebook page, my photo is of me playing my old Stratocaster.