‘Best of the best’ first growths dinner

[Comte Flaneur]

Last night at La Trompette in Chiswick west London, where some BWERes have been, and the culmination of seven of ‘first growth’ dinners in London starting with Lafite in the spring of 2018 and finishing with Cheval Blanc in the autumn of 2023. The idea of this dinner was, if possible, to have a line up to include the wines from those dinners which showed best, and while we did not quite get the perfect line up based on this criterion, we ended up with at least one wine from each of the seven chateau.

To get the ball rolling we enjoyed two champagnes, matching a twenty year old and a sixty year old (nothing wrong with that…?) with smoked mackerel rillettes and English muffin:

Comtes de Champagne 1964

Quite an ominous sludgy brown colour with some initial sherry notes, this really improved and was very much alive and kicking. Super on the palate with a lot of drive and lovely tertiary notes of marzipan and Christmas cake and a compelling nuttiness….just lovely…after an hour it faded a bit, but overall a revelation, bravo!…93

Salon 2004

Couldn’t be more different, this twenty year old is still pubescent, but this Blancs de Blanc was beautifully elegant with laser-like focus. A joy to behold. Salon gets a bad rap but both our champagne experts on the table loved it too…93

On to the serious stuff…

Flight one with veal tartare, truffle cream, Norfolk asparagus, crisp hens egg and dressed leaves:

Chateau Margaux 1983

Sniff, sniff…oh no! It’s corked! No doubt in my mind even though some around table were not so convinced that it was …shame because there was a brilliant and remarkably vibrant and youthful wine beneath the dreaded TCA, that really would have given the Mouton a run for its money…ah well…NR

Mouton Rothschild 1982

We meet again. Dark and inky. Tad of high-toned volatility, with a trademark Mouton nose of soy, rich red berry fruit and coffee notes, and on the palate initially uncharacteristically lean, austere and somewhat brooding, with the acidity coming to the fore. Then it began to unfurl, showing a new side to its personality that had a captivating elegance and finesse, whereas good bottles of younger versions of this wine were defined by their energy, drive and fireworks and could be described as epic. The middle-aged, grown up version of Mouton 82 has a seamless texture and just got better and better as the night wore on, good bottles have decades to go…magnificent…98

Cheval Blanc 1964

When we last had this about half a year ago, it was nigh on perfect and it was my wine of the year in 2023. This bottle was also in good shape especially judging by the colour, which was about the same as its circa 20-years-younger flight mates, but while it was a nice drop it didn’t have the magic of that last bottle. Holding on tenaciously, and well into its tertiary phase, it tastes like an old wine with overwhelming caramel notes…well you don’t hit the jackpot every time…93

Flight two with rabbit ravioli with white onion velouté, wild garlic, trompettes and pancetta

Haut-Brion 1989

Now we are talking. At last. A bottle of Haut-Brion 89 that lives up to its reputation. Some slight bricking, the surreal bouquet soars from the glass with scorched earth, gravel, graphite, herbs, olives, berries, cigar box and tobacco, and it follows through on the medium-bodied, taut, racy palate; a racehorse. It didn’t fall off as one or two naysayers were predicting and was riveting throughout. My wine of the night, and the group’s runner up … 99

La Mission Haut Brion 1989

A wine that often comes out on top in a head-to-head with 89 Haut-Brion, and can sometimes ‘shoot the lights out’, I uncorked and decanted this at 430pm. It had quite a bit of funkiness but I was pretty sure it was not corked, but it was less expressive than usual. When it was poured about four hours later it still did not have much to say for itself, was still somewhat listless and had a bitter finish. But then it picked itself – not quite like Lazarus - and became more interesting, but it trailed its flight mates by a long way…92

La Mission Haut Brion 1990

The 1990 which went toe-to-toe with the 1989 at our La Mission dinner in the autumn of 2022 put a marker down as to where the 89 should have been last night. Still remarkably youthful, more serious and less sybaritic than the example 18 months ago, and just brimming with energy, with bright fruit, scorched earth and exhilarating tension and grip. While the 89 Haut-Brion was in the sweet spot, this wine’s best years lie ahead of it…97
Flight three with aged beef rump cap, oxtail and bacon fondant, pickled walnut and red wine

Lafite Rothschild 1986

Oh so serious, big-framed, structured and youthful… but alas, sadly, it was corked …NR

Lafite Rothschild 1996

It is difficult to put into words but this wine sets a benchmark and the standard for which other Bordeaux wines should aspire. Every bit as good as the bottle that edged out Chateau Margaux 1996 for wotn at our 25th anniversary 1996 tasting in 2021, it has an expressive nose of red and black fruits, minerals herbs; it is rich but racy and precise, with a such a refined texture and layered intensity on the palate, impeccable poise and a marvellous finish. The only reason why it was not my wotn was because it is still at least a decade away from its plateau and will go on for decades after that, while the Haut-Brion is right in the sweet spot...99

Chateau Latour 1996

In many ways similar to the 96 Lafite the 96 Latour just about kept its flight mate in its sights, it is a youthful, structured Latour for the long haul, but already provides enormous pleasure. Compared to the Lafite it comes across as a simpler Cabernet-based wine and perhaps lacks a bit of complexity, but this is a great effort from Latour at a time when the Chateau was not on good form.
With Yorkshire rhubarb, crisp wafers, vanilla diplomat, honey and stem ginger ice cream

Chateau d'Yquem 1990

A sublime wine with a sublime dessert – a match made in heaven – another superb showing for 90 Yquem, it is has perfect acidity and is magnificent now and will last for decades…96

I have always maintained that when it comes to the first growths Lafite is the first among equals. Our first dinner in this series which mainly featured less lauded vintages of Lafite was extraordinary, and set a benchmark, which Latour at the next dinner fell well short of, while Mouton and Margaux both showed well at the third and fourth dinners respectively, they could not match the pedigree of Lafite. The Haut-Brion dinner was disappointing with the 1989 not showing particularly well, while La Mission was on fire and so was Cheval Blanc, both challenging Lafite for the ascendancy.

But this dinner again showed that Lafite sets the bench mark, the best of the best:

***Chateau Lafite-Rothschild 1996***

Prices have come down a lot in the last year or two, so it is a wine to seek out, as there is still quite a bit of it about.

[JimHow]

Oh yeah. Sadly I only have 3 bottles of 1996 Lafite left. I remember when my buddy Steve and I drove from Maine to Springfield, Mass., I think it used to be called the Big Y, they must have had 20 cases of the stuff out back there, I bought ten bottles for myself and I think I bought 3 bottles for JScott, which I brought to him at Chicago '01. So this purchase would have been in late 2000. The price was $180 per bottle.

[JimHow]

Cellartracker values mine at $958, that is indeed off the high.

[Nicklasss]

Superb report Comte and with good details.

It is surely a sad thing to have corked 83 Margaux and 86 Lafite... and 64 Cheval Blanc with 89 Mission Haut Brion not delivering their top qualities... i feel almost happy with my last great red Bordeaux tasted, the 2016 Domaine de Chevalier!

82 Mouton is a great wine, happy that your bottle showed that.

89 Haut Brion and 96 Lafite are surely dream wines, and everybody here with enough money should buy some i guess as way cheaper than Rousseau, DRC, Leroy or Coche-Dury... sorry that the 89 Haut Brion that sdr brought in Denver in 2019 was corked...i guess i will never see a real bottle of this again.

Lafite is surely a high pedigree red Bordeaux Pauillac, as it is really a wine that is classic, complex, serious, with an extreme élégance and length. The dinner before our wedding, we had the 2002 and 2008 Lafite, and they were great and genuine to what Lafite is, and can both wait an extra 10-15 years.

[Nicklasss]

Personally, my hypothesis is that 2016 is an improvedc 1996... so good move Jim with these 2016 Lafite!

[JimHow]

Agreed, Nicola. 1996 is a Cabernet lover's dream. 2016 is a more balanced.

[SF Ed]

Amazing evening. And two 1964s! I've never had a 1964 Comtes de Champagne but have had other great 1964 Champagnes. Certainly long in the tooth by now (along with lots of other things from 1964) but I love how Comtes de Champagne ages.

And pretty nice showings from some of the greatest Bordeaux of our lifetimes. Not bad at all.

SF Ed

[jckba]

Wonderful notes on what sounds like another wonderful evening of wine across the pond in London.

[stefan]

"Best of the best" is the right title! While it was unfortunate that some were not in good shape, having an excellent bottle of 1989 Haut-Brion is enough to make any event a huge success. However, with a current price of $2000 with no guarantee that the bottle will be good, it is now an easy pass.

[Jay Winton]

Thanks for another vicarious thrill. The Comte drinks well indeed.

[JimHow]

The best showing I've ever had of 1996 Lafite was with you, Mr. Vino, when you, Mrs. Vino and others came to Maine. I poured two half bottles into a decanter and decanted about three hours before you guys arrived. It was singing.

[Jay Winton]

The best showing I've ever had of 1996 Lafite was with you, Mr. Vino, when you, Mrs. Vino and others came to Maine. I poured two half bottles into a decanter and decanted about three hours before you guys arrived. It was singing.

That was an outstanding trip with lots of great memories.

[Claudius2]

Ian
Sorry the 83 Margaux was corked, and the 89 LMHB seemed out of shape some how.

I bought 81, 82 and 83 Margaux plus a few lesser vintages at auction in the dreaded recession in Australia (1990 to about 94/95) and importers, wholesalers and retailers were going broke. I wish I could buy them now at anything like the prices. I actually preferred the 83, and happily drank them in the mid to late 90's. The 83 was a more seductive, fruity wine. Similarly, I picked up top vintages of LMHB and HB for insane prices. And at the time, the AUD was worth about USD 0.50 and about 60Y.

There is one major auction house here in Singapore (Winefields) plus a few minor players who i won't buy from (as they are sourcing wine in HK and China which has a very high chance of being fake or out of condition. I've got to know the local staff pretty well and they have been telling me that the top French wones are not getting much demand here.

Singapore is an immature market compared to Europe or America (and even Australia for that matter) though the prices are a good indicator of the total Asian market as many wines are purchased here by customers in throughout SE Asia and mainland Asia. We've seen a 40% decline in prices of top Burgundies and about a 20% decline in premier Cru Bordeaux.

Anyway great tasting.

cheers
Mark

[Comte Flaneur]

Thanks for your comments Mark.

The fine wine market here in the UK is very soft too. In fact Bordeaux is going through another crisis. Simply put there is far too much overpriced wine - especially from the 2021 and 2022 vintages sitting around for the market to clear.

The 2023 EP season is coming up and prices could plummet by a third, even if 2023 turns out to be a decent vintage. That will leave people who bought 21 and 22 high and dry. Just as those who bought 2009 were left high and dry before the GFC.

The other thing of course is that interest rates are at 5% and not zero anymore. Which raises the opportunity cost of holding inventory, which is partly what is killing the negociants in Bordeaux. I am sure Alex will want to chime in with his thoughts as he is in the centre of the action.

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/ ... ing-point/

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/ ... be-enough/

[Comte Flaneur]

We did another ‘overflow’ dinner on Tuesday because the person who was going to bring 1985 Cheval Blanc had to drop out of the first dinner. But instead he brought a magnum of 1988 Lafite to this dinner and the two other participants at this smaller dinner bought the 1985 and 1990 Cheval Blancs. My contribution was 1988 Haut Brion and a half of 1990 d’Yquem.

We started with the two 1988s. My expectations for the 1988 Haut-Brion, which has been sitting patiently in my wine fridge for the best part of a couple of decades, were suitably reined in…iirc the bottle we had at our Haut-Brion FG dinner during Covid was no great shakes. I could tell from opening it an hour before setting off that it was a good bottle. It did wax and wane a little over the evening, initially going into its shell, but was by no means humbled by the Lafite, and kept it honest. This bottle was totally resolved and harmonious, and in my opinion glorious. It was mellow and low key and it would have been an ideal foil to last week’s much edgier and powerful 1989 Haut Brion. It had beautiful finesse with its tobacco notes. A joy and a really classy bottle of Haut Brion, right in the sweetspot, 96 points.

The 1988 Bordeaux vintage will not be as long lived as the 1985 vintage and many (lesser) wines are on the downslope even though 1988s generally took much longer than 1985s to become drinkable. At the pinnacle of the 1988 Bordeaux vintage is Chateau Lafite-Rothschild. In bottle at our Lafite dinner six years ago 1988 Chateau Lafite was magnificent and I think I voted it wine of the night. In magnum format it is imperious. As is often the case with Lafite, it is not a showy wine and was slow out of the blocks …but it grew and built over the evening, and after about an hour it went up through the gears to another celestial level. It has a beautiful tobacco leafiness with hints of green, with ash and tobacco, but as always it is on the mid-plate where this wine excels. It still has a pleasing grippiness and an austere note to whisper to you that you don’t need to rush to drink any remaining bottles (or, if you are lucky enough, larger formats)…98 points.

The 1985 Cheval Blanc just seems to go from strength to strength. I sadly drank my last bottle 4-5 years ago, but I have been very lucky to have tried it a couple of times since. At our Cheval Blanc dinner a year ago it was deservedly voted wotn (even though I voted for the 1964) and on Tuesday we could share a whole bottle between just the four of us. The mellow nose of damson, plums and other tertiary aromas is a huge turn on, but again it is on the palate where it impresses. It is full-bodied, dense and seamless and comes at you in dizzying waves and waves. It transports you up into the stratosphere. It is spectacular. Sensational…99 points.

The 1990 Cheval Blanc was not dissimilar to the 1985. The bottle we had a year ago was ever so youthful, while this one showed a bit more evolution. But it is still youthful, with sweeter, riper, fruit than the 1985; it is grippier, more primary and more powerful. It is blue-fruited with mocha notes and pushes the boundaries. Rich and hedonistic, a thrilling wine which sadly I don’t own either. If you do own some it is still improving. It is surely a strong candidate for wine of the vintage, vying for that accolade with Ch Margaux. On the night my third favourite wine and 97 points, but with upside potential. The 1990 Yquem half was similar to the bottle we had five days earlier. I prefer it out of bottle format, but another good showing…95 points.

[jckba]

Attaching the picture for Ian and wishing I was there (yet again).

[stefan]

1988 Lafite is indeed wonderful, but the last time I drank it, around six years ago IIRC, my bottle was completely out shown by some of Francois' trophies and Tim's 1969 La Tache (which Tim bought & brought because he knew it was on my bucket list).

[Nicklasss]

Ok, too much is too much! (or when the 1988 Haut Brion is the lowest scoring wine of the night )

I have to go back to London sooner than later.

Great report.

Count me a fan of the 1988 Haut Brion, a super wine in that vintage. That remind me the first time i brought a bottle, brownbagged at the sunday lunch at Mr.Tang, at the 2003 NYC convention. I’m sure Mr Vino remember. Soooo good, it cut my hairs!

Also i brought another bottle at the 2007 DC convention Saturday night dinner. I met blanquito in person for the first time that night, and poured the first pour of the 1988 Graves in his glass. I think it was his first ever sip at a First Growth…

To conclude : Ian, not one but TWO great Cheval Blanc, wow!

[JimHow]

A brilliant report from Mr. Flaneur as usual.
1988 Lafite en magnum. OMG.
Stefan, that 88 Lafite sneaks up on you, more than once it has been under the radar but then as the night evolves, as appears to have been the case with the London tasting, it demonstrates its otherworldliness. It is one of my top three favorite Lafites.

Let me know when you're ready to go to London Nicola! I'll be in Paris next week but not available for BWE festivities....