Checking in on the 1986 Bordeaux vintage

[Comte Flaneur]

Last week our group in London checked in on a bunch of 86s:

First from the right bank:

Troplong Mondot 1986

Bitter chocolate and cold tea, this is wobbling on its perch and there is little left in the tank. Drinkable and dignified, but in terminal decline. * 1/2

Vieux Chateau Certan 1986

Alluring nose, big burly and brawny. Better with food. Great fun.***

Then from the left bank:

Sociando Mallet 1986

Austere, strapping, old school, ripe fruit a little overshadowed by the rumbustious tannins, tertiary earthy, dirt notes. A good example of this wine but I have had better bottles. ***

Palmer 1986

The nose. This time truffle-infused. Expansive palate it does not have the seamless elegance or finesse of great bottles of Palmer...I say ‘bottles’ rather than ‘vintages’ because I have had great bottles of the 1986, which is highly variable. This is middling in the context of the spectrum of Palmer 86, but still a highly pleasurable bottle. ****

Ducru Beaucaillou 1986

Corked...Oh no! Not again!

Talbot 1986 (came off the bench for the Ducru, aka ‘super-sub’ - think Chris Fairclough for Liverpool in the 1970s)...

Starts off with some Cordier funk, which is not obtrusive. Initially sweaty it opens up serenely like an accomplished ice skater. It is right in the sweetspot, with the fruit remaining vibrant but with the tannins having receded. It is beautifully resolved St-Julien and has more precision, finesse and elegance than the other wines and was perhaps least typical of the vintage. A complete bottle. *****

Gruaud-Larose 1986

My pre-match favourite but this bottle was a little bit below par, compared to previous examples I have drunk. It did not have the seamless mid-palate power and density that sets this wine apart from most other 1986s, which can taste hollow by comparison, and it played second fiddle to the Talbot last night. Having said that it gradually improved over the evening. ****

Leoville-Barton 1986

Old school, fiercely tannic and rustic, it was buttoned down and inexpressive despite being open for 24 hours. A recalcitrant brute, it was pleasurable in a masochistic kind of way. ***

Pichon Lalande 1986

A good bottle. This wine has taken an age to come round and is now open for business. It is noticeably more tannic and austere than other Comtessas from the 1980s because of its higher Cabernet content, and is therefore atypical. It is quite powerful with a vibrant green streak running through it, which gives the wine a pleasing nervosity. ****

Lynch-Bages 1986

Big-framed, rich, structured, seamless, fruit and tannins playing off each other in harmony, still youthful. Drinking very well, with great potential. More recognisably 1986 than the Talbot, slightly more thrilling than the Talbot too. Flat out great wine, and my wine of the night by a nose. *****

I wish I owned some of the Lynch as well, but that particular train left the platform a long time ago.

These wines were typical of the vintage. It is a classic, old fashioned, strapping, Cabernet, left bank vintage, which throws up a lot of variation.

[Racer Chris]

Thanks for the notes. I'm really looking forward to next month drinking the bottle of '86 Talbot that's in my cellar.

[jal]

I love this vintage, a 1986 Lynch Bages last year in Denver was singing, and I always loved the Talbot though i am sure you mean David Fairclough the original super sub and red haired assassin of my favorite pre Klopp Liverpool team

[DavidG]

Tannin pig that I am, I’ve always been a fan of 1986 and a believer that most would eventually come around.
Nice report as always Ian.

[Blanquito]

95 becoming the next 86?

[jckba]

Great tasting and great notes, thanks for sharing Ian!

[Comte Flaneur]

95 becoming the next 86?

It is easy to think that Patrick but I was struck more by the differences than the similarities. They both took ages to come around and they both can have fairly aggressive tannins but that is where the similarity ends. OK so they both need Blanquitoing.The quality of the wines on the right bank is one distinguishing feature. Another is the finesse and sophistication of some of the 1995s, which makes some of the 1996s appear to be Luddite by comparison.

[sdr]

Important tasting, great notes, so evocative in a few words.

I went light on ‘86s due to my trepidation about the vintage character, sounds like I made the right decision. I need to try out that Lynch-Bages, though.

Stu

[Blanquito]

Count me as (still) a big fan of the 1986 Medoc.

[hautbrionlover]

We served the 1986 VCC, Pichon Lalande, and Gruaud Larose at the same dinner last spring, and had the Sociando Mallet over the summer.
At this point, the Gruaud Larose is my favorite, although I did love the VCC and Pichon Lalande. The Sociando Mallet is solid, but it wasn’t in the same league. I’ve also had the Leoville Barton many times, but think it is a little past its prime.

[NoahR]

Great notes - thanks!

I came of age way too late to buy 80’s Bordeaux before they were stupidly priced, but had a 1986 Gruaud Larose maybe a year ago that made me want more, and as I’ve avoided the price gouging and ‘are-these-OTH’ concerns with the 82’s, there have been some opportunities to grab a few ‘86 Gruauds for around $120-150. Prices for the good 86’s have now risen to what 82 was a few years ago, so the word is out. Maybe select 85’s and 88’s remain a bargain relative to 86, 82 and 89/90.

Makes me wish I were 20 years older and had bought Bordeaux and DRC on release, and a large house. Of course, were I 20 years older, my back would hurt more, I’d be close to totally deaf, and I’d be even more grumpy as hell about the state of the world, but the wine would probably help.

[AKR]

Nice lineup!

[DavidG]

Noah, if you're going to mess with the time/space continuum just hop back to the 80s for a bit and load up.

[JimHow]

Back when he used to post here Roberto offered to sell me a case of 1996 DRC Grands Echezeaux at $200 per bottle.
I never got around to it....

[Blanquito]

Back when he used to post here Roberto offered to sell me a case of 1996 DRC Grands Echezeaux at $200 per bottle.
I never got around to it....

Oh man.

[AKR]

If you're getting in to your time machine de Lorean for a trip back to 1986, a few shares of MSFT might end up being even more attractive.

[Claret]

January has been a tough month for me. I planned on opening an older Bordeaux today to kick back, watch football and damn it I did!

86 Gruaud Larose was opened several hour in advance, and the Cordier funk was apparent. One of the very top 86's and drinking really well now with density and smooth texture.

The charcoal grilled and fruit wood chip smoked lamb chops with North African spice rub were a perfect pairing.

Funkalicous goodness and my last bottle of Cordier magic.

[stefan]

I bought a bunch of 1986 Gruaud Larose at auction last summer. We drank one last week; it was very good with no funk and resolved tannins.

[Blanquito]

The bottle of 86 Pichon Lalande we had in Denver last year was profound.

[Claudius2]

Folks
One comment about the Ducru Beaucaillou.
The vintages in the mid to late 80's were affected by taint which is very similar to TCA but turned out to be a type of anti-fungal treatment used in the chais.
This may sound like nonsense but I learned this from an insider many yrs ago.
The anti-fungal agent somehow reacted with the wine and a high number of wines were damaged, often to the point of being undrinkable.
It started in either 85 or 86, and took a few yrs for the culprit to be found.
I think from 1990 onwards, the problem was resolved. However, I had several out of condition bottles of the 86 and particularly 88 which were a complete waste of money.

[Comte Flaneur]

Thanks for letting us know Mark, that explains a lot.

I wonder why these wines still retain significant market value?

[DavidG]

Is Ducru the property that opened the bottles to check for taint and re-corked and re-released those that were OK? Or am I thinking of another property? I wouldn't take a chance.

I have heard that the anti-fungal treatment that caused the problem at Ducru was a chlorine-based disinfectant used to treat mold/fungus. Chlorophenols plus fungus, whether in the corks, barrels, or winery structure, can produce "cork taint." This is usually TCA (trichloranisole), but can also be TBA (tribromoanisole). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cork_taint

[JCNorthway]

I experienced that with a couple of bottles of the 1986 that I purchased post release. I had not read about the issue prior to making the purchase. The wines, while recognizable as wine, were really not drinkable.