TN: Pilgrimage to S. Florida- '82 Bordeaux with Stuart

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Blanquito
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TN: Pilgrimage to S. Florida- '82 Bordeaux with Stuart

Post by Blanquito »

I was in Fort Lauderdale for a conference this week, and Stuart and I met up on Wednesday night for a flight of 82 Bordeaux at a terrific farm-to-table restaurant. My brother was flying in to join us, so I brought the 82 GPL, and white and a stickie, and Stuart was bringing "3 reds". I admit, the combination of "Stuart", "82 Bordeaux" and "3 reds" in the same sentence quickens the pulse and focuses the mind. I wondered if my GPL would stand a chance. As we sat down to the table and enjoyed a glass of the 2007 Carbonnieux blanc (full notes below), I received a text from the brother that his airplane had made an emergency landing in Tampa as one passengers was having a heart attack! Stuart and I realized he'd never make it to dinner in time, and seeing as Stuart's wines were already open and decanted for sediment, he graciously said I should save my GPL for another day. We moved on to the reds.

The first bottle was the 1982 Ducru Beaucaillou. This showed really well. Stuart mentioned it has been a little musty on opening, and there was still a touch of old cellar on the bouquet, but this blew off and a regal, refined, seamless claret open up before us. I really enjoyed this and I would go to 93 pts on this bottle, but it was quickly eclipsed by bottle #2, the 1982 Haut Brion. All I can say is "wow", this first growth did not disappoint. It has an utterly captivating nose, tremendous charm and pitch-perfect balance. This bottle seemed at its absolute apogee, still showing some richness and fruit but with plenty of complexity and mature smoothness. I've had Haut Brion in maybe dozen times now, and this was the best yet, surpassing the wonderful 1978. And then came bottle #3, the 1982 Lafleur, a legend, a unicorn wine, one that I had read was enjoyed in Fort Lauderdale before (10+ times before as I learned), and of which I was the very fortunate recipient of this evening. This was my first Lafleur of any vintage, so I may have been a little star struck. Stuart didn't seem quite as impressed as I was, but I fell in love. Yes, this is an exotic, sexy, perhaps singular 34 year-old wine from Bordeaux, but this bottle was also old school claret through and through. And it got better and better over the course of the dinner. Stuart mentioned that this was more flamboyant 5-10 year ago, and that was easy to imagine, but I was blown away by the depth of this wine, I could imagine it providing immense enjoyment for a long time to come, albeit in a different, quieter gear.

All in all, a great night and a real pleasure to enjoy Stuart's company and generosity. Incidentally, we polished off all 3 bottles of red, half the white and most of the stickie, and we closed the restaurant down! Like a BWE tasting of yore.

2007 Château Carbonnieux Blanc
Lovely, wide open blanc. Combines some of the grassy, citrusy style of New Zealand with Graves. Lots of meyer lemon. There was also a engaging tropical note of ginger and passion fruit. Still has good fruit but starting to show some more mature notes of almonds. Good verve and length, paired perfectly with Florida Wahoo. Not a profound blanc, but I really enjoyed it and it delivers terrific QPR as always. 91-92 pts.

1982 Ducru Beaucaillou
Lovely, refined, resolved, completely mature, perhaps just past peak in this instance. 93 pts.

1982 Haut-Brion
Quintessential Graves bouquet of smoke, warm brick, forest floor, cedar, black fruits. So expressive, complex, distinctive and compelling, pretty close to a perfect nose. The palate was resolved and silky, giving a tremendously classy and seamless display, though still a notch down from the bouquet. I kept coming back this and it seemed better each time. A real treat and worthy of a mature 1st Growth in a great year. 97 pts.

1982 Lafleur
Distinctive and exotic bouquet with notes of cinnamon, Christmas mulling spices, prune, truffle, red wine reduction, and a tiny bit of old world funk and earthiness. It truly smells like a dry vintage port, in a good way. Better depth and length than the 82 Haut Brion next to it, if not quite as seamless and elegant, but this has a near endless finish and a lingering bit of old-school tannins gives this a slight ferrous note. With air, this got more and more exotic, and the depth was truly exhilarating, but at the same time, I really enjoyed how its exoticism Pomerol-ness was contained in a overall package of restraint and elegance. My first (and probably last) Lafleur and what a treat it was. 97 pts

1999 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Clos Jebsal Vendange Tardive
A sweet bouquet with scents of toffee, burnt orange, black tea, honey, ginger candy. Quite sweet and even a little viscous, yet held together by terrific verve and a refreshing bitterness. Overall, decadent and delightful. 92-93 pts.
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Nicklasss
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Re: TN: Pilgrimage to S. Florida- '82 Bordeaux with Stuart

Post by Nicklasss »

Nice report Blanquito. SdR is always very generous when we stop by his city. Unfortunatel, the counterpart is that you'll find all wines dull in the next week or two.

I concur: 1982 Chateau Haut-Brion and 1982 Chateau Lafleur are amazing wines.

I was amazed by the 1982 Chateau Lafleur that SdR opened when I was in town, in 2012. Was better than the 1982 Petrus that night. What a souvenir! And the appetizer, the 1996 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet was just top white. Was a fun night for sure. Even the sticky from Loire, I brought that night, showed really well. As SdR point out that night, he doesn't drink much more than a glass of sticky normally, but that special day, had minimum 2!

Nic
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AKR
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Re: TN: Pilgrimage to S. Florida- '82 Bordeaux with Stuart

Post by AKR »

Very nice. I remember reading that RP served up an 82 Lafleur to NM when he was 'wooing' him to come write for the WA.
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dstgolf
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Re: TN: Pilgrimage to S. Florida- '82 Bordeaux with Stuart

Post by dstgolf »

Patrick,

The wines sound fantastic and I wouldn't expect anything less when getting together with Stuart and Kathy in FLL. Their generosity is second to none and one of the sites extended treasured family members that manny here have enjoyed unbelievable wines with but even more importantly is their company. 82 Lafleur amazing and up against the 82 Haut Brion ....wow! The thing that you/we all remember most though is the company that we keep and Stuart is second to none. My encounters have always too short and the evenings just fly by. Hats off to Stuart and thanks for sharing the experience.
Danny
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JimHow
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Re: TN: Pilgrimage to S. Florida- '82 Bordeaux with Stuart

Post by JimHow »

Of all my many Stuart experiences, perhaps my favorite was when he, Kathy and I drank Spanish wines on a Friday night in SF at one of the BWE conventions.
The wines were great, the company superb.
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Comte Flaneur
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Re: TN: Pilgrimage to S. Florida- '82 Bordeaux with Stuart

Post by Comte Flaneur »

What a treat Patrick and how generous of Stuart. Poor old Brendan, I guess you reluctantly had to drink his share.

Last time I attended a 1982 event in 2012 we had most of the heavy hitters - but not Lafleur, Petrus or Le Pin - and Haut-Brion came in the top three with Cheval Blanc and Latour, eclipsing Lafite, Mouton, Margaux, Pichon Lalalnde and Leoville Lascases. We are doing another one here in October, with La Mission substituting in for LLC.
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sdr
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Re: TN: Pilgrimage to S. Florida- '82 Bordeaux with Stuart

Post by sdr »

It was a treat to host Patrick in my home town. I had not seen him in a long time and I did not remember him as well as I should have, but in the usual BWE tradition we reacquainted easily and quickly. He proved to be an engaging guest, conversing well on a variety of topics.

Great notes from Patrick and I am glad he enjoyed the wines. Since he was bringing a Pauillac, I decided to bring examples from three other regions of Bordeaux and learning from other threads he was interested in Lafleur and his favorite vintage was 1982, the choice of '82 Lafleur was obvious. I was concerned when I first sampled it at home because it was moody but fortunately it eventually opened in the glass although not as kinky as several years ago.

It was really unlucky that Brendan missed the dinner but fortunately our server Robin helped us finish the wines :roll:

Thanks to all for your kind words.

Stuart
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Winona Chief
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Re: TN: Pilgrimage to S. Florida- '82 Bordeaux with Stuart

Post by Winona Chief »

Sounds like a wonderful time. Very sorry I was not able to participate. Those 82s sure are great. Haut Brion didn't get big scores early on but I have loved it every time I've had it.

Chris Bublitz
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