Thanksgiving wines including 1978 La Mission Haut Brion

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michael
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Thanksgiving wines including 1978 La Mission Haut Brion

Post by michael »

Some briefs notes on wines from Thanksgiving. Glad the 78 La Mission showed well. Tawny ports are really growing on me, I'd love to give a 30 or 40 year example a shot.

* N.V. Gruet Brut Rosé - USA, New Mexico (11/26/2009)
Very pink color with quite a bit of fizz/bubbles. Strong raspberry notes on the palate, good balance, a little short and one dimensional. Good, and fairly priced under $15, but nothing to get super excited about. (87 pts.)

* 1978 Château La Mission Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (11/26/2009)
The cork on this was entirely soaked and crumbled coming out of the bottle, which I never take as a good sign. Decanted to remove sediment and cork, let sit for 30 minutes before drinking. In the glass this showed a healthy purple color still, although the edges were turning brick red. Drinking, it showed no signs of oxidation or stewed fruit consistent with poor storage. Shows as medium bodied, smooth tannins, and good balance. Notes of asphalt and smokiness, with a hint of raspberry and dark chocolate lingering on the medium-short finish. This is still holding together, but I wouldn't push my luck any further if I had more bottles. It's always exciting when you run across good bottles of old Bordeaux. (92 pts.)

* N.V. Taylor (Fladgate) Porto 20 Year Old Tawny - Portugal, Douro, Porto (11/30/2009)
This is very nice. Shows a reddish-amber color in the glass. On the palate there's cinnamon, brown sugar, and pecan notes, finishes smooth with nice balance between acidity and alcohol.
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johnz
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Re: Thanksgiving wines including 1978 La Mission Haut Brion

Post by johnz »

I've not had the '78 La Mission, but a few weeks ago Chris Bublitz provide me and several other Twin Cities winos with several 78s at a lovely lamb dinner. Nothing was decanted in advance. We had Domaine Chevalier, Lascombes, Ducru, Pichon Lalande, Haut Brion and Margaux. Sadly, the Haut Brion was off or just worn out (I had a really interesting bottle 4 years ago). The Lascombes was drinkable but dull. DChevalier was surprisingly good yet (I've had others of these not as good). Ducru had the complex, compelling nose, maybe slightly fading mouth fruit. Pichon Lalande was very good -- very complex nose, fruit still hanging, and I've had 2 or 3 others just as good. The Margaux clearly in the best shape of the bunch -- good color, strong fruit, and surprisingly still changing and improving in the glass. Don't count those 78s out yet!

--Gary Rust
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michael
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Re: Thanksgiving wines including 1978 La Mission Haut Brion

Post by michael »

I had a couple bottles of the 78 Ducru about 5 years ago. I thought it was good but didn't have much time left before decline. 78 LLC had maybe 3 years ago was in similar shape. I also remember having a 78 Palmer about that same time frame that was better, but it came straight from the chateau. I'm always on the lookout for good examples of my birth-year vintage, but I fear in another 10 years or so, most of the examples from Bordeaux will be will into their decline. Guess I'll have to branch out and try some Rhones :)
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