2nd growths @ Back40 9/11

[jckba]

Last week, I organized a second growth Bdx themed dinner amongst 10 wine enthusiasts from my Greenwich / Westchester wine group at Back 40 Kitchen in Greenwich CT. Pours were of a decent enough size and impressions were formed based off the snapshot of that pour and were probably influenced by both their flight mates and the respective food pairing. It’s always fun to get together and taste a bunch of Bdx, so here is how it went down;

1st course French Onion Soup; duck stock, onion, parsley

1986 Brane Cantenac - a beautiful red fruited nose with cigar and an herbal note that came across as feminine
but had a semi-awkward higher toned palate, not a clean btl (87-89)

1986 Leoville Barton - dog hair and metallic notes on the nose, marginally better on the palate but something was clearly wrong with this btl, not corked, not oxidized, not cooked but just not a representative btl (rating reserved)

1986 Pichon Lalande - another great mature nose of earth, tobacco, cedar and herbal tones but that fell short on the palate which was one dimensional and devoid of fruit, not a clean btl (86-88)

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1986 Brane Cantenac > 1986 Pichon Lalande DQ 1986 Leoville Barton

[jckba]

2nd course Cassoulet; braised duck, sausage, bacon, white beans, garlic

1985 Cos d’Estournel - this was initially served too cold but as it warmed up to room temperature the aromas came out to play with black cherry, earth, cedar and a distinct mineral note and that echoed on the sweet, red fruited and tobacco driven palate that finished with Asian spice. A classic Cos (93-95)

1995 Montrose - this took some coaxing to get it going but it was dark and brooding with a black fruited, cedar and leather nose and showed great grip on the structured, dark fruited palate and is still wearing some of that ‘95 austerity on its sleeve (92-94)

1986 Cos d’Estournel - stewed / cooked (rating reserved)

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1995 Cos d’Estournel > 1995 Montrose DQ 1986 Cos d’Estournel

[jckba]

In between dishes we poured the 1989 Haut Brion; this had a nose that was to die for with textbook Graves aromas of smoke, dark fruit, gravel, earth and tobacco and while this btl was showing just a little coiled / youthful on the palate, everyone could sense its lurking potential as it will undoubtably be a perfect wine someday 98++

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[jckba]

3rd course Duck; corn purée, blueberry, cumin

1990 Leoville Las Cases - this btl was classic and pure with a dark fruited with tobacco and leather on the nose and delivered pure unadultered cabernet flavors of ripe blackberry and cigar box that were seamless and lasted on the longish finish; a joy to behold (96-98)

1990 Pichon Baron - a little bit of a Dr Pepper nose with cedary tobacco notes that lead to a concentrated, dark fruited multidimensional palate and a long finish; a real deal Holyfield kind of Pauillac (95-97)

1996 Pichon Lalande - an aromatic dark fruited nose with cedar and an earthy herbal note and led to a dark red fruited and tobacco driven palate that seemed very youthful and I think that this suffered due to the 6 year age difference between it and its flight mates (93-96)

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1990 Leoville Las Cases > 1990 Pichon Baron > 1996 Pichon Lalande

[jckba]

4th course Rack of Lamb au Poivre; confit potato, zucchini, basil

2004 Ducru Beaucaillou - ripe dark fruited nose with tobacco and earth and leads to a plush, blackberry fruited palate (92-94)

2000 Gruaud Larose - a clean nose of dark fruits and cedar leads way to a lighter styled, dark fruited palate that was expressive and grew on me (92-94)

2000 Leoville Poyferre - dark fruited, cedar, earth and leather on the reticent nose and gave way to a similar palate. I think this could have used a longer decant (92-94)

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2004 Ducru Beaucaillou = 2000 Gruaud Larose = 2000 Leoville Poyferre

[jckba]

5th course Foie Gras Chaud; peach, honey, cinnamon, toast

2009 Rieussec - soaring nose of tropical marmalade and a lively sweet palate that is in perfect balance; outstanding and I absolutely love this (96-98)

1973 Coutet - honeyed apricot, creme brûlée and a clear mineral note on the nose and echoed on the palate. A perfectly stored example from an unheralded vintage surprises to the upside! (92-94)

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2009 Rieussec > 1973 Coutet

[DavidG]

Wow, quite a stellar lineup, and with an ‘89 Haut Brion! One of my all-time favorites. I’m also a fan of ‘85 Cos and glad it showed well. Dog hair and metallic notes on the Leoville Barton sounds like Brett. The 1990s and 2000s all sound great. LLC takes so long to come around, always fun to read a note on a mature bottle. Truly an awesome assortment of wines, thanks for sharing.

[JCNorthway]

Thanks for the notes - a lot of really good wines. Too bad the first course wines fared poorly; the Pichon Lalande should have scored around 95+/- if from a good bottle.

[Blanquito]

...the [1986] Pichon Lalande should have scored around 95+/- if from a good bottle.

That’s been my recent experience as well.

[Comte Flaneur]

Congratulations JC that was some line up with classic wines which have defined our lives.

I am a bit disturbed by some of the performances of older stalwarts. You know the old cliche which does not bear repeating ad nauseam....

We are doing 1985, 1989 and 1986 dinners over the next month and a half.

[jckba]

DavidG - good call on the Brett as I hadn’t really considered that possibility.

JCNorthway & Blanquito & Comte - I fully agree, good bottles of the 1986 Pichon Lalande are indeed awesome but I just think that we encountered a string of unclean / not representative bottles with each of the 1986’s that night, and by the way, from what was said none of those bottles were bought upon release so who knows where and what they were exposed too. And Ian, fully looking forward to reading about your upcoming 1980’s Bdx wine dinner series of events!

[marcs]

This writeup adds to my sense that Bordeaux gets a lot riskier once it gets much past the 30 year mark in age...

[DavidG]

That's likely true for most wines Marcs, maybe excepting Port, Madeira, Sherry and the like. A lot depends on provenance, though a percentage of even perfectly stored bottles will suffer some degree of cork failure. That said, if you discover any 30 year old Bordeaux in your cellar that have escaped your attention and are making you nervous, give me a call.

[Nicklasss]

Great notes jckba.

I appreciate the pictures too.

The 86 Léo Barton (2 times) and Pichon Lalande (2 times) have never been kind with me. The 1990 Pichon Baron, while exotic, is still Pauillac, and go figure how you do that?

I'm with you with your impressions on the two 2000.

I need to try the 1990 Léoville Grand Marquis de Las Cases, minimum two times in my life. Never tried it yet. The 1986 too by the way.

Nic