82 Cos & Lagune, 83 Lalande, 73 Mouton, 86 Gruaud & more
Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 7:41 pm
The Fort Collins winos staged a serious Bordeaux tasting this past week. None of the wines were decanted, but we were able re-taste the wines repeatedly over the course of the evening. The Lalande was the run-away WOTN, but all the wines were great and as such, the scores are better seen as relative rankings.
1986 Château Gruaud Larose
This came out of the gates ready to go, surprisingly. I found this bottle somewhat soft compared to the stellar bottle we had at the '86 Horizontal in October, but it was still really good. The bouquet was nicely aromatic with sweet notes. It came across as nicely balanced and old school, with lovely earth and cedar. Good finish. (93 pts.)
1982 Château Cos d’Estournel
At first, this wine was marred with a nasty smell and taste of sulfur, which finally blew off after an hour or so. Once cleaned, it had great sweet raspberry fruit and very nice texture. It still seemed a little young. Wish it had been decanted as it was hard to get past the memory of the sulfur. (92 pts.)
1982 Château La Lagune
This one needed 30 minutes to blow off some funky notes. It has a great, complex mature bouquet of black tea, cinnamon, and cedar. The palate is medium-bodied with impressive sweet fruit, old leather, lots of tangy acids, a glycerin-infused silky texture and a long finish. I loved the complexity of this wine. This began to fade after a while. (94 pts.)
1983 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
This was just great, with a terrific core of tangy dark fruit (best fruit of the old wines). The bouquet was classic Lalande, with exotic notes of menthol, coffee and black tea, lactic aromas. There was a compelling sweet-sour interplay on the palate to go with a long layered finish. I thought this was still somewhat primary, but it was rich and fresh. (96 pts.)
1973 Château Mouton Rothschild
Bouquet of sun-tan lotion (coco butter), menthol, and black tea again, with still great palate intensity dominated by bright acids. This was surprisingly good in my book, with great length and tons of complexity of a very mature wine. It faded quickly with air, but I thought it was terrific at first. Others liked it much less than me, but I am fan of old school, mature claret. (94 pts.)
2000 Château d’Issan
This was really excellent, in a totally different gear than the '80's wines. It was rich and full-bodied in comparison with oodles of ripe cassis fruit, great length and balance, and wonderful aromatics. There was a core of minerally, sweet fruit that was awesome (someone said, "Priorat" and I agreed). Still very primary, but delicious today. (94 pts.)
2003 Château Montrose
This was served blind- I guessed a 2005 Left Bank (Leoville Poyferre), as it didn't have the tell-tale praline so many 2003's possess (others guessed the 2003 Pavie if that says anything!). This wine was clearly young but not hard at all. The fruit was primary but evident. If I had to call the style, I would have said a really high quality Cali syrah, as the fruit was spicy and exotic, not akin to Cab/Merlot in profile. Some called it a "monster"--I thought its weight was only moderate (concentration of fruit, mouth-feel, structure and length), but that will undoubtedly change with 10-15 years in the bottle. It was definitely very pure and clean (no brett or funk), and while I enjoyed it, I wasn't wowed after all the great wines in the line-up. Perhaps it was a bit inscrutable. This bottle was double decanted 13 hours prior to drinking. (92+ pts.)
2000 Château Giscours
Starts out muted, but eventually shows espresso, minerals, and lots of spicy fruit. I found this lovely, with grip and sweetness, some oak and a really spicy profile. Kept building with air. Straddles the stylistic divide between traditional and modern. This is drinking well now, and showed better than a bottle I had last summer. (92 pts.)
1990 Château Suduiraut
A dark amber color, this possesses lots of toasted spice and oxidized brown sugar aromatics, full body and an enjoyable finish. Very Madeira in style. There’s nice sweetness, low acidity and a full, lush texture but it lacks complexity. (92 pts.)
2003 Château Guiraud
This was a bit over the top for me, but others loved it. Totally tropical in style, with coconut and mango, and loads of border-line cloying sweetness with low acidity, a fat, lush texture, and a long finish. Very young and good, but not my style. (90 pts.)
1986 Château Gruaud Larose
This came out of the gates ready to go, surprisingly. I found this bottle somewhat soft compared to the stellar bottle we had at the '86 Horizontal in October, but it was still really good. The bouquet was nicely aromatic with sweet notes. It came across as nicely balanced and old school, with lovely earth and cedar. Good finish. (93 pts.)
1982 Château Cos d’Estournel
At first, this wine was marred with a nasty smell and taste of sulfur, which finally blew off after an hour or so. Once cleaned, it had great sweet raspberry fruit and very nice texture. It still seemed a little young. Wish it had been decanted as it was hard to get past the memory of the sulfur. (92 pts.)
1982 Château La Lagune
This one needed 30 minutes to blow off some funky notes. It has a great, complex mature bouquet of black tea, cinnamon, and cedar. The palate is medium-bodied with impressive sweet fruit, old leather, lots of tangy acids, a glycerin-infused silky texture and a long finish. I loved the complexity of this wine. This began to fade after a while. (94 pts.)
1983 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
This was just great, with a terrific core of tangy dark fruit (best fruit of the old wines). The bouquet was classic Lalande, with exotic notes of menthol, coffee and black tea, lactic aromas. There was a compelling sweet-sour interplay on the palate to go with a long layered finish. I thought this was still somewhat primary, but it was rich and fresh. (96 pts.)
1973 Château Mouton Rothschild
Bouquet of sun-tan lotion (coco butter), menthol, and black tea again, with still great palate intensity dominated by bright acids. This was surprisingly good in my book, with great length and tons of complexity of a very mature wine. It faded quickly with air, but I thought it was terrific at first. Others liked it much less than me, but I am fan of old school, mature claret. (94 pts.)
2000 Château d’Issan
This was really excellent, in a totally different gear than the '80's wines. It was rich and full-bodied in comparison with oodles of ripe cassis fruit, great length and balance, and wonderful aromatics. There was a core of minerally, sweet fruit that was awesome (someone said, "Priorat" and I agreed). Still very primary, but delicious today. (94 pts.)
2003 Château Montrose
This was served blind- I guessed a 2005 Left Bank (Leoville Poyferre), as it didn't have the tell-tale praline so many 2003's possess (others guessed the 2003 Pavie if that says anything!). This wine was clearly young but not hard at all. The fruit was primary but evident. If I had to call the style, I would have said a really high quality Cali syrah, as the fruit was spicy and exotic, not akin to Cab/Merlot in profile. Some called it a "monster"--I thought its weight was only moderate (concentration of fruit, mouth-feel, structure and length), but that will undoubtedly change with 10-15 years in the bottle. It was definitely very pure and clean (no brett or funk), and while I enjoyed it, I wasn't wowed after all the great wines in the line-up. Perhaps it was a bit inscrutable. This bottle was double decanted 13 hours prior to drinking. (92+ pts.)
2000 Château Giscours
Starts out muted, but eventually shows espresso, minerals, and lots of spicy fruit. I found this lovely, with grip and sweetness, some oak and a really spicy profile. Kept building with air. Straddles the stylistic divide between traditional and modern. This is drinking well now, and showed better than a bottle I had last summer. (92 pts.)
1990 Château Suduiraut
A dark amber color, this possesses lots of toasted spice and oxidized brown sugar aromatics, full body and an enjoyable finish. Very Madeira in style. There’s nice sweetness, low acidity and a full, lush texture but it lacks complexity. (92 pts.)
2003 Château Guiraud
This was a bit over the top for me, but others loved it. Totally tropical in style, with coconut and mango, and loads of border-line cloying sweetness with low acidity, a fat, lush texture, and a long finish. Very young and good, but not my style. (90 pts.)