Meanwhile, from another vintage ending in "9"

[Houndsong]

1989 Ch. du Moulin Rouge Haut-Medoc.

Well worth the $15 price tag (ex premium). At 23, this wine seems to be in a good spot, with mature flavors and plenty of vigour in the structure.Medium-bodied, it shows a kind of cedary, blood-iron bouquet and it has a slightly minty cast to the palate. It's lithe and not terribly concentrated but it has a nice balnce of sweetness and acidity. It's very dry and sports some tingly tannins. Hard to say what will happen with air with this one. It might fade just as well as gain. I've had a lot of success with these cru bourgeois and "off vintage" crus classes that others have been cellaring for me.

[Chasse-Spleen]

Wow! I would never have thought that a Ch. Moulin Rouge would last that long, even a 1989.

[Houndsong]

This was very enjoyable and went down very easily. It did gain a little volume and fatty richness with air although it was definitely claret-scale. I chalk this up to the magic of that unique Bordeaux recipe of structured balance + good storage + a very sound cork = a mature yet vital wine in its third decade.