1996 Bordeaux/Cali horizontal

[hautbrionlover]

Last weekend a bunch of us had a 1996 horizontal tasting which included 9 Bordeaux and 3 California reds. Being a devoted Bordeaux lover, I was surprised that 2 of my top 4 were from California:

Lafon Rochet: this struck me as a very easy to enjoy, crowd-pleasing wine, even though it was not terribly complex. It featured soft Cabernet fruit, a little earth with fine tannins and a nice finish. 17/20

Haut Batailley: Deep crimson color, earthy and a little minerally. The mouthfeel was not nearly as full and expansive as its fellow Pauillac, below. In fact, I would never have guessed it for a Pauillac had it been served blind. 17 1/2

Grand-Puy-Lacoste: Beautiful Cabernet nose explodes from the glass. Deep color. Classic Medoc Cabernet. A hint of pencil shaving. This was great Pauillac, and a pleasure to drink. 18

Lagrange: A pretty, and typical, St. Julien nose. Lush fruit. To my surprise, still a little firm. Good finish. 17 1/2

du Tertre: Nose is odd - you can smell the Cab, but something is just a little off (hopefully just in this bottle). The "attack" is fine, but then the wine was, again, oddly off in the finish. 16 - 16 1/2

Sociando Mallet: A BWE favorite - that '96 Sociando Mallet continues to show that it earned its place as the BWE WOTY so long ago! It featured a very pretty Cab nose, with elements of creme de cassis. Excellent balance. Fabulous structure, but still delicate in mouthfeel. I love this wine. 18 1/2

Pape Clement: Another perennial favorite of mine. Nose of cherries and black currant. Very elegant. Great texture and structure. Feels soft on the finish, almost velvety. 18 1/2

Le Bon Pasteur: Whiff of vanilla on nose; very soft and expansive on palate, but ultimately comes through as mid-weight, rather than full-bodied. Plummy. Nice finish. 17 1/2 - 18

Canon-La Gaffeliere: Beautiful deep ruby color, bright scent of cherries and red currant. Explodes on palate, but is then just a little diffuse. Very pleasant finish. (Oddly, I liked this even better 2 days later.) 17 /1/2 - 18

Quintessa: Plummy. Soft nose, Expansive and velvety on palate. Long finish. I suspect there's some Merlot here, but no one knew the blend of grapes. 17 1/2 - 18

Montelena Estate Cab: My personal favorite of the night. Deep color. Huge Cabernet, black-curranty nose. wow! Bold, big ripe fruit. Long finish. Deep flavors and fun to drink. (Almost hedonistic.) I love this wine. 19

Dunn Cabernet: The favorite of many other people at the tasting (although there was no clear winner). Cherries and vanillin on nose. Very pleasing, big mouthfeel. More complex than Montelena, but not better, just different. 18 1/2

So the four top wines of the night seemed to be the Dunn, Montelena, Sociando Mallet and Pape Clement, but there wasn't a bad wine in the group.

[JimHow]

Great update, HBL, it has been a long time since I've had the '96 Pape Clement but I remember liking it a lot early on.

[JCNorthway]

I had the 96 Sociando Mallet not too long ago, and found it very enjoyable. And I'm glad to see your comments on the GPL; I have about 8 that I've been keeping in hiding to keep my hands off them. I may need to try one out.

Jon

[Houndsong]

That's a nice cross-section, and seems like they were all pretty enjoyable.