TN: A couple of second growths
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 4:40 pm
Last night, with steak au poive, mashed potatoes and snow peas, we drank:
1993 Chateau Pichon Baron: Opened and decanted ten minutes prior to dinner. Not much on the nose here. Mushrooms and some black fruit. Still holding some color, but much more amber colored than the Montrose. Although there was some disagreement on this, there were no tannins to speak of and very little fruit left. "Hollow" is a phrase that comes to mind. Possibly a bad bottle, but more than likely just over the hill.
1996 Chateau Montrose: Opened and decanted a little over an hour prior to dinner. A little dusty on the nose immediately but that blew off, revealing notes of cedar, graphite and berries. Gorgeous purple color. Drank beautifully. Very seamless combination of fruit and tannins. Wonderful wine. I'm going to hold off a couple years on opening my remaining bottle, but I would say that this is now open for business. Love this chateau and need to buy more.
1993 Chateau Pichon Baron: Opened and decanted ten minutes prior to dinner. Not much on the nose here. Mushrooms and some black fruit. Still holding some color, but much more amber colored than the Montrose. Although there was some disagreement on this, there were no tannins to speak of and very little fruit left. "Hollow" is a phrase that comes to mind. Possibly a bad bottle, but more than likely just over the hill.
1996 Chateau Montrose: Opened and decanted a little over an hour prior to dinner. A little dusty on the nose immediately but that blew off, revealing notes of cedar, graphite and berries. Gorgeous purple color. Drank beautifully. Very seamless combination of fruit and tannins. Wonderful wine. I'm going to hold off a couple years on opening my remaining bottle, but I would say that this is now open for business. Love this chateau and need to buy more.