TN: Christmas dinner - 2004 Pontet Canet and 1986 Ch Beychevelle

[Gerry M.]

Had a casual dinner later in the day after hosting an open house. There were only five of us including my son and his girlfriend. Unfortunately, other than my wife, my family does not share my passion for wine. My son's girlfriend has been drinking more red wine lately so when I asked who would like to have a glass with dinner she happily took me up on my offer. Much to my surprise, my son piped up that he would also like to partake. I quickly saw an opportunity to expand his palate a little and decided to start off with a 2004 Ch Pontet Canet figuring it would be more familiar to Cali Cab palates. For a second bottle I opted for the 1986 Ch Beychevelle to show off the added complexity age brings to a wine. Hey, he liked it! Hopefully he'll show a continued interest going forward.

• 1986 Château Beychevelle - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (12/25/2018)
  Much more expressive than the last bottle. Rich, deep tertiary notes on the nose. Tobacco, mild floral and dark fruit on the palate. Elegant finish lingers on for what seemed an eternity, probably 30 sec lol. Fully mature but no rush to finish remaining bottles. (92 pts.)
• 2004 Château Pontet-Canet - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (12/25/2018)
  Relatively short decant of 30 min. Still very young on the nose with balsamic notes. Moderate tannic structure but did note overpower the fruit. Probably needs about 3 to 5 years to really reach its potential. (90 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

[JimHow]

Thanks for the update Gerry, I have a case each of 2004 and 2006 Pontet Canet sitting in my cellar.
Hope you have a happy new year, we need to get together in 2019.
Go Pats!

[Blanquito]

Love, love 80’s Beychevelle. The 82, 83, 85 and 86 have all been exceptional for my tastes over the past 10 years or so (with the occasional off bottle). Sounds like your 86 was a good one.