Waterloo Sunset: Mature St-Julien tasting dinner
Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2016 11:42 am
Last night ten of us met to taste some mature St-Julien over dinner near Waterloo Bridge.
Sharpeners:
Carbonnieux Blanc 2005
This is 70% Sauvignon Blanc, 30 % semillon was a dreary limpid wine. There is nothing wrong with it but it is on a slow boat to China and I was hoping for better from what I regard as a reliable producer. 86
Taittinger contes de champagne 1994
An unexpected pleasure thrown in by Alino. It really was a treat. Quite evolved with rich brioche and buttery notes. 92
Flight one:
Leoville Las Cases 1978
Carpet, and unmistakably LLC. Exhilarating earthy, soily, mineral notes, as the vines do a deep dive into the layers of whatever lies below, allied to a languid cool fruitedness, overlaid with an austere note but with an underlying lushness and elegant layered complexity. At 38 years of age this is moving up through the gears. My, and the group's, wine of the night by a comfortable margin. 96
Clos du Marquis 1982
These days the estate will tell you that this is not a second wine but a wine in its own right. Made on the west side of the D2 further away from the river today, it now has its own second wine. Back in 1982 it really was a second wine, and this is holding up remarkably well. Probably something to do with the GV being immortal. This wine was marked by a peppery gravelly note, some beefiness and a richness on the palate. It was drying out ever so slightly. 90
Ducru Beaucaillou 1982
This wine remains an enigma. It has considerable bottle variability including a disturbingly high proportion of faulty bottles. Thankfully this one was not flawed. But it remains a painfully shy wine, which is difficult to coax. On the palate it has great substance, density and class but the whole package remains somewhat cocooned. It is rich and poised, but unlike many other 1982s it does not thrill. 92
Flight two
Talbot 1983
Glorious entry with roasted chestnuts, hints of autumn bonfire and leafy notes. On the palate it is beautifully resolved in an understated way. This is classic Englishman's luncheon claret, which would find fewer admirers across the pond. After a while the mid-palate became a bit loose knit and diffuse. A lovely wine but drink these up over the next 1-2 years. 90
Talbot 1985
A similarly glorious entry with the accent a little more on minerally notes, but with the same Guy Fawkes aura. The mid-palate was a little tauter, with a nice tension holding it together, and providing scope for this wine to continue drinking well for another five or more years. Some on the table complained about a slight greenness. I didn't find that problematic but you couldn't accuse this of being over-ripe. 91
Talbot 1986
It was really useful to compare these side by side, and in my book the 1986 was at a higher plane. This is also well resolved now but has plenty of years left. It has more power and density than the other two Talbots and a smoother more velvety palate with a wonderful cool fruitedness which exudes class, allied to a much longer and glorious finish. My second favourite wine. 95
Gruaud-Larose 1985
A beautifully resolved Gruaud, with more power and complexity that the 1983 and 1985 Talbots, and so much going on with mineral notes, meatiness, spiciness and other nuances. It is a wine in the perfect place. It doesn't taste old, nor would it benefit from extended cellaring. This was the middle of this estate's best ever period (1982-88). But it could not match the lush power and density of either the Talbot 1986 nor the LLC 1978. My third favourite wine. 94
Flight three
Langoa Barton 1996
It came across as quite merlot-y on the nose and had attractive cool fruit and a mellow well resolved palate, even if it does taste notably younger than the first two flights. Pleasant though this is I have come to understand that there is quite a gulf between Langoa and Leoville-Bartons, which would be clear if they were side-by-side, but we didn't have any of the latter. The former tastes more forward but simpler too. The reason is in differences in the soil so that the Leoville vines have to burrow deeper, and the wine gains more complexity in the process. 90
Lagrange 1996
I was struck by how, to me at least, this seemed to be dominated by primary fruit, which was of impressive quality. Strange because this wine had been drinking well by nearly a decade. This is a vibrant exciting wine, and has more verve than the Langoa. 92
Ducru Beaucaillou1996
Another enigmatic wine from Ducru. It too was difficult to coax, and the wine appears to be in an awkward phase of its evolution. It is still in its adolescence. But it has an abundance of raw materials to come together into a great wine, an abundance of fruit, power and density, it is one for future decades and requires great patience. 93
Les Fiefs De Lagrange 1996
Most pleasant, it clearly has more merlot in the blend, and was a tad warm for my liking. 89
Sharpeners:
Carbonnieux Blanc 2005
This is 70% Sauvignon Blanc, 30 % semillon was a dreary limpid wine. There is nothing wrong with it but it is on a slow boat to China and I was hoping for better from what I regard as a reliable producer. 86
Taittinger contes de champagne 1994
An unexpected pleasure thrown in by Alino. It really was a treat. Quite evolved with rich brioche and buttery notes. 92
Flight one:
Leoville Las Cases 1978
Carpet, and unmistakably LLC. Exhilarating earthy, soily, mineral notes, as the vines do a deep dive into the layers of whatever lies below, allied to a languid cool fruitedness, overlaid with an austere note but with an underlying lushness and elegant layered complexity. At 38 years of age this is moving up through the gears. My, and the group's, wine of the night by a comfortable margin. 96
Clos du Marquis 1982
These days the estate will tell you that this is not a second wine but a wine in its own right. Made on the west side of the D2 further away from the river today, it now has its own second wine. Back in 1982 it really was a second wine, and this is holding up remarkably well. Probably something to do with the GV being immortal. This wine was marked by a peppery gravelly note, some beefiness and a richness on the palate. It was drying out ever so slightly. 90
Ducru Beaucaillou 1982
This wine remains an enigma. It has considerable bottle variability including a disturbingly high proportion of faulty bottles. Thankfully this one was not flawed. But it remains a painfully shy wine, which is difficult to coax. On the palate it has great substance, density and class but the whole package remains somewhat cocooned. It is rich and poised, but unlike many other 1982s it does not thrill. 92
Flight two
Talbot 1983
Glorious entry with roasted chestnuts, hints of autumn bonfire and leafy notes. On the palate it is beautifully resolved in an understated way. This is classic Englishman's luncheon claret, which would find fewer admirers across the pond. After a while the mid-palate became a bit loose knit and diffuse. A lovely wine but drink these up over the next 1-2 years. 90
Talbot 1985
A similarly glorious entry with the accent a little more on minerally notes, but with the same Guy Fawkes aura. The mid-palate was a little tauter, with a nice tension holding it together, and providing scope for this wine to continue drinking well for another five or more years. Some on the table complained about a slight greenness. I didn't find that problematic but you couldn't accuse this of being over-ripe. 91
Talbot 1986
It was really useful to compare these side by side, and in my book the 1986 was at a higher plane. This is also well resolved now but has plenty of years left. It has more power and density than the other two Talbots and a smoother more velvety palate with a wonderful cool fruitedness which exudes class, allied to a much longer and glorious finish. My second favourite wine. 95
Gruaud-Larose 1985
A beautifully resolved Gruaud, with more power and complexity that the 1983 and 1985 Talbots, and so much going on with mineral notes, meatiness, spiciness and other nuances. It is a wine in the perfect place. It doesn't taste old, nor would it benefit from extended cellaring. This was the middle of this estate's best ever period (1982-88). But it could not match the lush power and density of either the Talbot 1986 nor the LLC 1978. My third favourite wine. 94
Flight three
Langoa Barton 1996
It came across as quite merlot-y on the nose and had attractive cool fruit and a mellow well resolved palate, even if it does taste notably younger than the first two flights. Pleasant though this is I have come to understand that there is quite a gulf between Langoa and Leoville-Bartons, which would be clear if they were side-by-side, but we didn't have any of the latter. The former tastes more forward but simpler too. The reason is in differences in the soil so that the Leoville vines have to burrow deeper, and the wine gains more complexity in the process. 90
Lagrange 1996
I was struck by how, to me at least, this seemed to be dominated by primary fruit, which was of impressive quality. Strange because this wine had been drinking well by nearly a decade. This is a vibrant exciting wine, and has more verve than the Langoa. 92
Ducru Beaucaillou1996
Another enigmatic wine from Ducru. It too was difficult to coax, and the wine appears to be in an awkward phase of its evolution. It is still in its adolescence. But it has an abundance of raw materials to come together into a great wine, an abundance of fruit, power and density, it is one for future decades and requires great patience. 93
Les Fiefs De Lagrange 1996
Most pleasant, it clearly has more merlot in the blend, and was a tad warm for my liking. 89