Sat night blind: 1989 Lynch vs Pichon Baron vs ???

[DavidG]

We had a stupendous evening at the Metropolitan Club last night - best venue we've ever had for one of our Sat night main events. The people and the wines they brought were memorable and outstanding. I will let others post on that and add my two cents.

But I thought it important to get the news about the legendary rematch between 1989 Lynch Bages vs 1989 Pichon Baron out as quickly as possible, as I know that BWEs everywhere are anxiously awaiting the results. In addition to 3L bottles of exah of these, thanks to the BD and Rob Dayton, we also had a 5L of what was eventually revealed to be 1983 Leoville Las Cases contributed by Michael P. The tasting was blind, with large enough pours to sample the wines throughout the night.

Written ballots were distributed, with instructions to rank the wines. Three points were awarded for a first place vote, 2 points for a second place vote, and 1 point for a third place vote. The votes were tallied by former Arthur Anderson accountants, and in true AA fashion, things didn't add up the first couple of times around. Eventually, however, a consistent count was obtained, and it turned out that the Lynch Bages beat out the Pichon Baron by the slimmest of possible margins: 1 point. This was identical to the outcome 10 years ago in Chicago, where the Lynch edged the Baron by a single point.

However, the story wasn't quite over. As a faithful BWE manager, it is my sworn duty to report all of the facts. And indeed, the facts revealed that our simple country lawyer had fallen back on his old tricks. Within minutes of announcing the vote, Rob Dayton indicated that Jim had asked Rob's daughter Claire, who hadn't even tasted the wines, to vote for the Lynch Bages. Claire and Jim both confirmed this, in front of witnesses, and Jim further confirmed that he knew which wine was the Lynch Bages from the first sniff. In fact, several of those present easily identified the wines blind, as a group of us had had the '89 Lynch just two nights previously. So the 1-point margin was, once again, manufactured by the BD's shenanigans.

Seriously though, the vote was incredibly close, and it was great to see that these two wines were stil neck and neck after all these years, regardless of which one actually won.

[William P]

Thanks for the note David. Glad you had a wonderful time.

[dstgolf]

David,

I think you've only got part of the shenanigans outlined. I'm no math professor but the vote final tally for 35 attendees was 79 LB;78PB and 35 LL for a total of 192 points. If my math is correct there were 210 points available. Were there spoiled ballets,non voters etc. It would seem three votes were not accounted for!!??

It was a great night and a wonderful long weekend in the windy city. Many amazing wines to be had but best of all was the friendship and generosity displayed thoughout the long weekend. A memorable time was had by all and we very much appreciate the time and efforts put in by the event planners. The Metropolitan Club was a perfect venue with service,space and views second to none.

Highlights of the night were the 59 Talbot brought along by Tim and the 78 Pichon Lalonde brought over to the table by Werner. 90 Yquem was special but unfortunately Ed and Howard the 67 enjoyed two nights earlier blew this one out of the water!

Piano playing by Jim,Kathy and Werner added that extra closing touch a wonderful night with the BWE singers strutting their stuff in the background with Tessa getting the majority of attention.

Thanks to everyone for adding to our most enjoyable weekend. Looking forward to our next encounter.

Danny

[DavidG]

The voting was only part of the entertainment. Rick's friend Jimmy plays a mean piano, and Kathy is no slouch either. Jimmy, Kathy and Jan had a bunch of us into the music for a while. Bringing in the piano was a such a great idea, and another way in which this was just so wonderful a venue. I am struck by how every year this becomes more and more of a more-than-just-wine social event, with couples and not just 100% wine geekiness. That said, on to the wine geekiness part...

I agree that Tim's '59 Talbot was a standout. Other standouts for me were a bunch of '82s: Haut Brion and Margaux fought it out for my favorite '82, and the '82 Canon and Gruaud Larose from Stuart and Ed were also outstanding. So was the '86 Gruaud. And the '78 Pichon Lalande Werner brought. I thought these were all better than the '89 Lynch or '89 Pichon Baron that we tasted blind. I thoroughly enjoyed both the '90 Filhot and the '90 Yquem - very different but each great in their own way.

Another wine that was quite good was the Pape Clement blanc - don't recall the year. I drank it with the crab cake. The food at the Metropolitan Club was quite good, but the crab cake wan't really a "Maryland crab cake" - too spicy. Loved the rack of lamb, though.

[tim]

Yet again an incredible event, well fitting for the 10th anniversary. And starting off with the 86 Gruaud Larose toast was perfect.

I'll have to say that I'm surprised that the Lynch and Pichon Baron was so close, I thought the Lynch was simply heads and tails above the Pichon. I didn't get the structure from the Pichon, it had a beautiful nose but didn't stand up on the palate. Then again, the great thing about wine is that everyone has a unique view.

David, the Pape Clement Blanc was a 2004. I also thought this went very well with the crab cakes. And I wish we did more white Bordeaux at our events. Perhaps next year we can have a special white tasting

As far as standout wines, I thought that the 2003 Cos d'Estournel was incredible, and it was interesting to compare it to the 89 (thanks again Ben for sending that over!). Also the 99 Pavie was a nice surprise, as I hadn't tried it before. Also agree that the 59 Talbot was showing spectacularly. It had a great fill (high shoulder, almost to the neck) and came from a very reliable source in Paris. Among the 82's, I was quite impressed with the Sociando Mallet. The Margaux was excellent, but I didn't get any really special feelings from it. I know others commented that they liked it better than the Haut Brion (which I didn't get a chance to taste).

Ed's 90 Yquem was stunning, as always. Liquid gold is an understatement, and I hope to have the opportunity to try the 67 someday.

The other great thing about the evening was that we had a bunch of new people there. Since we haven't really seen a significant expansion of BWE in a few years, it was really nice to see some brand new faces. I hope everyone can come back to some of the offlines and events in the future.

Finally, please, if anyone is visiting Paris, let me know. If I'm in town, I would love to get together and try some restaurants and wines. Just send me a private message via email.

Thanks again everyone for a great night!

[Nicklasss]

Seems like a great event!

I wanted SO MUCH to be there, that I had a less than ordinary Saturday, being a bit down. But I called Jim before the dinner and could feel the energy of Jim, MichaelP, dstgolf, Danielle and Howard Marc Spector.

I'm happy it was a success. I have planned to drink a good Bordeaux on Saturday night, at the same time as the BWEers in Chicago, but on my own, I could not make it! I opened a 2005 Trimbach Tokay Pinot Gris that was good, but nothing like an aged Bordeaux. And a 2005 Domaine de Courteillac (Bordeaux Supérieur) on Friday night was quite good, but nothing to challenge a Cru Classé.

I'm also happy that the 1989 Lynch Bages won. Probably the BD was happy, even if I know he has a reputation to ''influence'' the vote sometimes...

These events/conventions are special, because it is an instantaneous friendship between wine lovers.

See you soon, I hope....

Nic

[DavidG]

TIm, I missed several of the wines you mentioned, but that's always the case at these events. Thanks for the info on the Pape Clement blanc. It was quite good - I don't drink enough white Bdx and am always pleasantly surprised. I think you nailed the difference (nose vs. palate) between the Pichon and Lynch.

[RDD]

Well we are home safe and sound.
The voting was great fun.
I to identified the wines.
And had originally voted the Baron as one. It was indeed stronger out of the gates. But the wines evolved and I thought the Lynch was a tad stronger so I voted with my heart and switched.
Now I do have a 3 liter of the 90 Pichon Baron and think it is much better than the 90 Lynch Bages.
So the gauntlet has been thrown down for next year!

Also Claire is having a long slow bus ride home from Chicago!
Just kidding.
I'm very proud of her maturity and they way she behaved at dinners the whole weekend.

[RDD]

TIm, I missed several of the wines you mentioned, but that's always the case at these events. Thanks for the info on the Pape Clement blanc. It was quite good - I don't drink enough white Bdx and am always pleasantly surprised. I think you nailed the difference (nose vs. palate) between the Pichon and Lynch.

I somewhat disagree.
At first the nose of the PB was stronger and palate of the LB was better.
But after a while things completely reversed and the nose ofthe LB knocked me off my feet (to quote John Lee Hooker ...Boom Boom Boom).

[JimHow]

Just got home.

What an unbelievable dinner.

Rob, I know why you are extremely proud of Claire, she is really remarkable. Once I get settled back in I'll report on the blind tasting.

[Rick]

Great fun!!! to continue the fun I drank the rest of a bottle of 86 GL and the 82 SM tonight - a small pour of each was left.

Maybe it was because I was not overwhelmed with dozens of great wines. I was so delighted to have a few mouthfuls of each of the wines tonight. To me each was better than last night.

The old Arthur Andersen partner was again done in by shady dealing he could have no knowledge of!!!

Kathy and I had the privledge of having dinner with Rob Sue and Claire on all three nights ....Claire is a great kid and smart!!

My WOTN was the 59 Talbot and second was the 90 Lynch and then the 90 Filhot

Tim I enjoyed the Blanc with the salad and it went well.

I like the idea of having a Blanc tasting of some type

We had 5 dinner ; 2 on Thursday and 2 on Friday and of course the convention on Saturday..........from all reports every meal and the associated wines were wonderful. Stefan did not even need the Rhones to thicken the weaker Pinot grapes

Rick

[Kat]

Hi all. Since I don't post very often, (usually just to comment on the covention every year which i love!) this is Kathy (rick's wife).

For the record, I didn't vote in the blind tasting, because I only tasted one of the wines.

It was GREAT to see everyone again in Chicago!

Werner, the song that Tessa liked dancing to was Rondo Alla Turca by Mozart.

[JimHow]

I agree with David above, this convention was as good as any we've had.

Wow! It went by waaay too fast....

[JimHow]

I also have to agree with Tim:
I thought the Lynch was clearly better.
I voted for the Lynch because it was the better wine.
I could tell which wines were which even before I tasted them, merely by looking at them and sniffing them.
Rob and I were sitting at the same table, we were having quite a playful discussion....

[stefan]

It was a great weekend and a particularly great convention dinner. I had a slight preference for the '89 Lynch over the '89 Pichon Baron, but the '90 Lynch Bages we were drinking alongside those two was decidedly better than both for my taste. The '59 Talbot was a treat to try, and all the '82s were special.

Most of all, we had a wonderful time visiting with old friends and making some new ones.

[DavidG]

Rob it was great to see you and Susan again and get to meet Claire. You should be very proud of her. I don't disagree with your assessment of the Lynch vs Baron - especially at first. I liked the Baron better for drinking now but think the Lynch is still on the upswing. It almost caught the Baron by the end of the evening but not quite, at least on my card. But then I wasn't sitting at the table under the influence of that simple country lawyer...

I forgot about the '99 Pavie but I liked it a lot. Didn't try the '90 Lynch on Saturday but we had it on Thursday along with the '89 and it was outstanding. I thought that the '90 was better than the '89 for the first hour, but the '89 got better and better and was the better wine by the end of the evening.

[aimeedogdogdog]

I thought the lynch was way better than the Pichon. The latter was flat on taste and had a weak aftertaste. The lynch was always around and full, rich and deep; that being said it's somehow contained in a cage and couldn't show its full color. Eventually it opened up but it's too late for the vote to be counted that I could have picked it as my 1st. I did pick the '83 las cases as my 1st for the count because it showed really good for its rich set of herbs and drinking quite nicely, up to the end of the night which just fell apart and the lynch just opened up. Yes, the '83 was just medium-bodied and the finish was decent, but for me to pick a wine over another in a situation like this, I had to pick one which shows the best for drinking at the moment, but not the one with great potential. And it's the logic behind my vote.

When it comes to the wine of the night, I had to pick the '78 Lalande because it's probably one of the few wines of the night which really went well with the food at the table (in this case it's the read meat. I had the lamb.) But on the technical point of tasting, the '82 Margaux got my nod for the wine of the night.

Kathy,

Thanks for finding out the music piece! Tessa has been listening and dancing to it because one of the music toy instruments at home plays. I had no idea what it was. Now I know. Maybe I could find the music score sheet and learn to play the piece myself.

Thank you everyone who came to the convention, which enriched our lives greatly with all the love, friendship and sharing! Tessa was blessed with all the love anyone could find in this group. Thank you all!

We are still in Chicago now enjoying the city. I will jump in the discussions from time to time in the next few weeks.

Werner

[DavidG]

Werner:

Thanks for bringing the '78 Pichon Lalande. It was a standout and a delight.

The sheet music is available as a fee download. I tried to attach a PDF but the BB wont allow it. You can find the file at:

http://www.lespartitions.info/free/moza ... g-205.html

[aimeedogdogdog]

Thanks, David! I will look into it.

Werner

[DavidG]

Oops, I meant FREE download...

[AlexR]

Hi guys,

I went to the UGC tasting of wines from the St. Julien, St. Estèphe, and Pauillac appellations from the 2009 vintage at Ch. Batailley on Tuesday.

What was interesting is that both my Swiss friend and I (tasting separately) had exactly the same impression: that Lynch Bages and Pichon Baron were the best of all the wines in the room (and there was some pretty tough competition in St. Julien, believe me!)

If you like Lynch Bages, I would strongly suggest purchasing it in the 2009 vintage. It is splendid.

Like your "shootout", it is hard to decide which is better: LB or the Baron!

I'd love to replay the gunplay featuring wines from the 2009 vintage in a few years.
BUT, I'd also like to include Pontet Canet - very different style, but oh so good!

If I'm really, really good, I'll write my tasting notes from the barrel tastings this weekend...

I have a big line-up this afternoon: Lafite, Latour, Margaux, and Palmer.

All the best,
Alex R.

[DavidG]

Keep us posted from the front lines, Alex! Twenty years on, a generation in human time, the descendants of the LB and PB are still battling it out for supremacy.

[JCNorthway]

Thanks, Jacques. I remembered it was a bottle from MichaelP, but I could not recall what it was. What an historical BWE thread!

[Racer Chris]

I thought I had posted a comment on this last night after Jacques found the old thread, but it seems to have been lost in outer space.

You did, and it wasn't.

[JimHow]

That was a great night in the Willis Tower.
As I recall the evening started out cloudy, then the skies cleared and we had a great view.
We need to go back to Chicago at some point.