Checking in on the 1986 Bordeaux vintage
Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2019 9:41 pm
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.
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.