A Lynch Bages kind of evening

[AlexR]

Tim Mc Cracken came down from Paris for Vinexpo and was free to come to our house for dinner on Friday. There were 6 of us (including a Franco-American couple, she works for a négociant). Tim was kind enough to bring 3 wines with him.

We started off with one of his, an Austrian wine, more exactly 1983 Burgenland Saint Magarethen Muller-Thurgau/Grüner Veltliner spätlese from St. Bonifatius (headquartered in in Rüdesheim). This was a medium-deep golden color and had a lovely resolved nose with honeyed fruit. It had a kiss of sweetness on the palate and was enjoyed by everyone. There is no way anyone would have guessed this wine to be 30, or even 20 years old. It was a nice start to the evening.

So, when I speak of a Lynch Bages evening, I am not referring to some gigantic kind of vertical tasting. Nope. We had just 2 wines. We started off with a white 2010. This was vibrant and attractive, the kind of wine that is good very young, but will also age gracefully and be good in a different sort of way. The grape varieties here are 45% Sauvignon Blanc, 45% Sémillon, and 10% Muscadelle. However, the Sauvignon Blanc dominated the bouquet, with grapefruit and quince aromas as well as the usual varietal ones. The wine showed oak on the palate, but this was under control and there was a smooth, suave mineral finish. Tim and I reminisced about drinking this wine on the BWE tour in 2005 and sharing lunch with JM Cazes. Already 8 years ago now!

We had 3 red wines. The first was a 1959 Gevrey Chambertin and I’m sorry I can’t remember the name of the producer. This was tired, but interesting, with rose petal and earthy aromas. The second Burgundy Tim brought was a 2002 Chambolle Musigny premier cru. “Les Sentiers” from Domaine Robert Groffier. This was altogether different and very classy with smooth tannins and some toasty oak on the palate. Although not near its peak, it is a treat to drink now. A really fine, enjoyable wine with length and poise.

As opposed to all that preceded, the last red wine was served blind: a 1986 Lynch Bages. No one at table came anywhere close to guessing its age, which I quite understand. This bottle was in perfect condition and seemed tremendously youthful. The color especially gave no indication that this was a 27 year-old wine, that’s for sure. The bouquet was classic (ethereal blackcurrant) and the wine had all the hallmarks of ripe Cabernet. The saying goes that LB is the poor man’s Mouton, and this wine definitely seemed to fit that description. We also laughed that Haut-Bages-Libéral in turn is said to be the poor man’s Lynch Bages! Anyway, apart from the astonishing color, this wine showed no hardness or asperity to go along with its youthfulness. In other words, slow-maturing most definitely does not mean tough.
I went to New York, must be 3 or 4 years ago now, to attend a BWE tasting of 1986 great growths. These did not show as unyielding and immature as received wisdom leads one to expect. However, this 86 LB need another 10 years easily, if the bottle we had on Friday is anything to go by!

We ended with a 2010 Château Richard, a sweet white wine from Saussignac, a pretty esoteric appellation from within Bergerac. I was quite surprised by the quality of this wine, that had not only retained its fruity freshness to a remarkable degree, but also had a very long aftertaste.

Then it was then time for some marc de Bourgogne and cigars. Tim told us about the auction he had gone to of wines from the Elysée Palace (http://www.spiegel.de/international/eur ... 02765.html) and the treasures he picked up there.

All in all, a very good evening.

[OrlandoRobert]

We ended with a 2010 Château Richard, a sweet white wine from Saussignac, a pretty esoteric appellation from within Bergerac. I was quite surprised by the quality of this wine, that had not only retained its fruity freshness to a remarkable degree, but also had a very long aftertaste.
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Nice write-up, Alex, thanks.

Ch. Richard is a cool little find. My local retailer carried it for years and my Dad and I bought everything he put out on the shelves. It was a baby Sauternes at half the price.

The Chateau also makes a decent rouge.

I wish my local guy still carried it. Seems like a very small, artisanal, organic producer.

[tim]

Many thanks, Alex, for hosting a splendid evening!

Ran into JM Cazes at Vinexpo. Jim, he wanted me to tell you hello from him.

Cheers,

Tim

[JimHow]

You're killing me!

[AlohaArtakaHoundsong]

Jim, have you ever thought of moving to Bordeaux (or Italy even), letting your hair grow out, wearing scarves, smoking little brown cigars, and driving fast cars?

[jmccready]

Pristine storage conditions make guessing older vintages difficult when dealing with great Bordeaux, at
least to my(and most of my fellow tasters) palate. Most of us miss by 10 years when dealing with vintages from
the 80s. Structural staying power, these classics are. Great post. JM

[JimHow]

No Hound but I have an official Brad Marchand Boston Bruins home jersey ready for tonight's big game!!