Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

Patrick was in town, which was good enough excuse to get together at Fabios with the loose theme being 1980s Bordeaux. Ten of us gathered – eight geeks and two girlfriends, old friends and a couple of new faces.


White Flight

2007 Ch. Olivier blanc

Fresh, crisp, clean, citrus and grassy notes 88

1994 Ch. Pape Clement blanc

Still fresh and vibrant, waxy lemon lanolin with hints of melon and cool citrus notes, a class act, no sign of this tiring, really lovely 93

Flight two: St-Emilion

1985 Belair

Fully mature classic old school St-Emilion, medium-bodied, old leather armchair, meaty notes, some sous bois, smoke and tobacco notes 91

1989 Ch. La Dominque

Younger, more vibrant, very polished and very smooth: plumy with lovely smokey mineral elements. Delicious! 91

Two very different wines I loved them equally

Flight three: 1981s

1981 Ch. Malescot St Exupery

This was fully mature and still had some cherry candied fruit. Tannins have completely gone and it has little structure, so the grim reaper is lurking ominously. It was very pleasant but was just hanging on by its finger nails! 87

1981 Ch. La Tour Haut Brion

This was smashing. Fully mature, dense, with gorgeous tobacco, earth and melted chocolate notes. Stunning! 94

1983 Ch. Cos d'Estournel

This was supposed to be an 81, but wrong bottle was pulled. Just a fabulously exquisite roasted Cos tobacco nose, with gorgeous meaty notes. Did not have the follow through on the palate, however. I had this quite a few times but over a decade ago, and it has always been an enigmatic and fascinating wine. That nose! 91

Flight four: 1983 Right Banks

1983 Ch. L’Arrosee

Cherry, raspberry, plumy, candied fruit, the tannins have completely melted. Very pleasant but a little simple and one dimensional. 88

1983 Ch. L’Evangile

This is in a very good place. A gorgeous lush, ripe, dense, fully mature Pomerol. Not a blockbuster but stunningly pleasurable. This is what Pomerol should be all about. 94

1983 Ch. Canon

This was a smidgeon behind the Pomerol and had great complexity with iron and cinnamon spice notes, with some cigar box. A fabulous fully mature St-Emilion. 92

Nice flight – these wines were in the right place – and drunk when they should be – how many big Pomerols and St-Emilions are drunk far too young? This flight illustrated the rewards of patience.

Flight five: 1983/82 left banks

1983 Ch. Lynch Bages

Nice cedar, cigar box and barnyard. Delightful and fully mature. 91

1982 Ch. La Lagune

Really vibrant, strutted its stuff with lashings of sweet cherry 1982 fruit. Reminded me of Beyonce’s ‘Crazy in Love’. A racy 28 year old extrovert and just drop dead gorgeous which really knows how to shake its booty. 95

1983 Ch. Gruaud Larose

Quite a bit of Gruaud funk but the brett was not too intrusive. But this wine is in the perfect place with good fruit and plenty of tertiary nuances, barnyard and forest floor. Like the Lynch but much more complexity, much more going on. Fabulous stuff! 94

Three more fabulously mature wines at the top of their game.

Flight six: 1990s (and bonus LLC)

1990 Ch. Pichon Lalande

We were excited to taste this infamously controversial wine. Objectively it is medium bodied, is pleasant but simple and a bit short on the palate. Definitely nice to drink but it is not going anywhere – it’s on a slow boat to China. 85

1975 Ch. Leoville Las Cases

A little off message but a welcome addition to the table. Stern tannins, with good fruit and structure with cigar box and graphite notes; could use another five years 90

1990 Ch. Leoville Las Cases

A strangely subdued showing from this known extrovert, it seemed to be skulking last night while the 82s and 83s strutted their stuff. Lovely menthol, tobacco and tar notes, it showed young and reticent last night. 92

Flight seven: 1986 and 1988

1986 Ch. Rausan Segla

This wine never disappoints. It is in a good place with a fabulous floral margaux berry nose with scorched earth and tobacco notes. Great persistence and liveliness on the palate. A living legend. 95

1988 Ch. La Mission Haut Brion

This was the youngest wine of the night, which showed plenty of promise with hallmark tobacco notes, big and brawny – very 1988 and better than Haut Brion 88. Come back in five years or more 92.

1986 Ch. Cos d'Estournel

Another strong showing from this wine with brooding black fruits, espresso notes and plenty of power in reserve. Like the LMHB it needs more time but is already a great Cos. 94

Flight eight: sauternes

1988 La Tour Blanche

This had quite an evolved burnt orange colour – more evolved than I would have thought – on the palate it was every bit as good as I expected. Like other 88 sauternes it has very fine balancing acidity, and is quite lean but not mean. A pleasure. 92

We had a real blast with the two sardonic Martin brothers, the delightfully extrovert Sandy and everyone else. Plenty of belly laughs over fine food and wine. Fabios did a great job.

Disclaimer: The scores are for comparative purposes only and make no pretence for consistency, accuracy or fairness.

Wish I could have been there.

I'll post my notes soon, but they align with Ian's almost exactly.

Wow, what a tasting!

Wow is right. Great selection of wines, sounds like a stupendous dinner! Thanks for the notes.

1990 PLL is an enigma in a bottle. I've had green pepper juice with oak overtones most of the time to a beautiful well balanced diva on two occasions. I don't get it. I've never had a wine that has shown such variability. I wonder if they did a complete blend with their entire bottling or they did something funny that year. It just seems like I've had this wine 10-12 times and never had one that I would say was the same wine. The one thing I would say is this is the most inconsistent wine I've ever had from the same Chateau and Vintage!!

Sounds like a great night.

Danny

An initially casually-planned tasting morphed into a 10-person, 20-wine affair. Thanks to all for the great time and great wine! Fabios really did a great job—the food and service were really stellar.

We were treated to some rather entertaining table talk, where topics ranged from creative descriptors for the wine, and an authentic intro to the nuanced meanings of many a colorful Aussie phrase and idiomatic expression by our man from Down Under, Master Paul.

Many wines far outperformed my expectations, and the whole table agreed that the 1983’s were really exceptional above and beyond their reputations.

Per voting, it was reds only and we picked a wine-of-the-flight (WOTF), and then voted for our top 3 wines-of-the-night (WOTN). With so many awesome wines, the voting was a real challenge.

WHITE FLIGHT
2007 Ch. Olivier blanc
Lots of vanilla/oaky scents but not woody. Notes of quince, clove, and cut grass. Very dry and a bit tart, leaving the bouquet superior, but excellent value. 88 pts

1994 Ch. Pape Clement blanc
Lovely, long, classic Graves white, this shows the high amount of Semillon in the blend. There’s a captivating vanilla-bean aroma to go with the citrus profile, and while dry, there’s enough richness to balance the ample acids. Terrific mouth-coatings of oily, waxy texture, this is suave and very long. Lacks the complexity of the best whites, but oh so lovely. 92 pts
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FLIGHT 2: St. Emilion
1985 Belair
Fully mature, with a bouquet reminiscent of a lost era. I said it smelled like the Bodleian Library, which is apparently where Ian met his charming girlfriend too! Long and leathery, I liked this wine. Fairly lean and perhaps on life-support, there’s still good verve and enough fruit. Resolved, ready, and surprisingly good. 91 pts

1989 Ch. La Dominique
I liked this one more than most, but I brought it, so I may be biased… I found this very flavorful, long and layered, with ways of mouth-coating energy. Nicely aromatic, but the palate is where the action is. This wine is very dark-brown and has an unusual savory profile. One sip I took was like the essence of beef broth! This is mature, but still very vibrant. Loved it. 93 pts

WOTF: Dominique 4 votes, Belair 3 votes, Tied 3 votes.
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FLIGHT 3: 1981s
1981 Ch. Malescot St Exupery
Terrific bouquet, very Margaux with orange spice, some mint. Light bodied and at its end, it still has good sweetness to match an iron-leather flavored character. 87 pts

1981 Ch. La Tour Haut Brion
Wow, great wine from a weak vintage! Sensational Graves bouquet of cigar tobacco and iron. Very old school, but with terrific grip and texture. Still has lots of oomph and length. There tannins are not fully resolved, but they’re pliant and fleshy, so don’t hold off on this one. Great bottle! 94 pts

1983 Ch. Cos d'Estournel
Starts strong, with one of the best bouquets, classic Cos aromas of scorched/roasted fruit, but too lean on the palate to compete with the nights better wines. Drying out? 88 pts

WOTF: LTHB unanimous winner.
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FLIGHT 4: 1983 Right Banks
1983 Ch. L’Arrosee
I liked this more than Ian, mainly for the gorgeous bouquet of sour orange, wood smoke, and a gentle yet distinctive menthol-citrus perfume. Still balanced with a nice texture and good sweetness. Long and intense, yet light bodied. With time, some caramel kicks in, just adding to the complexity. For me, distinctive and complex, but I could see others finding it weird and a little light-bodied. 92 pts

1983 Ch. L’Evangile
Big, somewhat chunky style, this wine may get better with some more cellar time. Lots of plums and tobacco, its fleshy, aromatic, balanced, almost full bodied, well-fruited without apparent sweetness, just excellent. 93+ pts

1983 Ch. Canon
Mature, complex, rich, another killer 1983! Some funk and lactic scents initially (someone said yogurt), but in a good traditional engaging way. Fairly big and spicy, even chunky after the prior super-resolved flights. Got a ways to go, but terrific now. 93 pts

WOTF: l’Evangile 9 votes, l’Arrosee 1 vote.
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FLIGHT 5: 1983/82 Left Banks
1983 Ch. Lynch Bages
For me, this had the best acid/verve zestiness, that gave it great freshness and length. Classic Pauillac bouquet of cedar, cigar box and lead pencil. Delightful and fully mature. 92 pts

1982 Ch. La Lagune
This came out of the blocks very strong and it immediately distinguished itself by its big and almost candied ’82 fruit that was stylistically different than anything else. Terrific bouquet and nice fruit-tannin-acid balance, great length and layered mouthfeel. However, it seemed to fade or grow duller with air. 94 pts

1983 Ch. Gruaud Larose
No mistaking this one, with the Cordier funk in full force (it blew off quickly). Zesty flavors of creosote, cinder, smoke with complex fruit, a little hulking (oxymoron?), and again, bigger/richer than I was expected for an ’83. Mature and delicious. 93 pts

Sensational flight!
WOTF: Lagune 5 votes, Gruaud 3 votes, Lynch 2 votes.
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FLIGHT 6: 1990s (and bonus LLC)
1990 Ch. Pichon Lalande
My first try of this wine, and I can understand the perplexed reactions. Weird, sour, green, fleshy, tart, with sweetness then kicking in, but surprisingly substantial glycerin, but no integration of the components. Not bad, but unusual and it suffers in this exulted company. 85 pts

1975 Ch. Leoville Las Cases
Lovely, yet shy bouquet, still tastes young but not really primary. Good typicity, hard to believe this is 35 years old! The tannins must be masking the fruit, but it’s not hard or tight, just subdued. 91 pts

1990 Ch. Leoville Las Cases
My biggest disappointment of the evening, this LLC was sulking somewhere outside midtown Manhattan. Yes, there’s a certain lush, creaminess with morello cherry and soft tannins that says this is an LLC of a different color, but it’s aromatically tight and seems a little lean. 90 pts

WOTF: LLC ‘75 7 votes, LLC ‘90 3 votes.
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FLIGHT 7: 1986 & 1988
1986 Ch. Rausan Segla
Biggest, brooding wine, great deep bouquet with a layered, long fleshy palate. This bottle was less expressive/younger than the one had at the ’86 Horizontal in 2008. I’d like to give this another few years to see if it goes even higher, but so good now. 95 pts

1988 Ch. La Mission Haut Brion
Sweet fleshy attack, this wine will be better in 10 years, though it’s plenty approachable now. Very nice smoky, tobacco Graves nose, one can see its relation to the La Tour HB. 92 pts

1986 Ch. Cos d'Estournel
Gives off some lactic-sour scents, but in a good way! Layered, big, even chunk still, really great and only lacks the aromatic nuance of the Rausan-Segla. Will improve, but terrific now. 94 pts

WOTF: Cos 5 votes, Rausan-Segla 3 votes, La Mish 1 vote.
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FLIGHT 8: Sauternes
1988 La Tour Blanche
I didn’t take any notes, but I recall just how good this was, with a classic Sauternes essence of crème brûlée married to a sterner/drier ’88 character which made it seem classier. Very aromatic, very intense, and very long. Great Sauternes, even better than I expected. 93 pts

WOTN scoring: 3 pts for a 1st place vote, 2 pts for a 2nd place vote, 1 point for a 3rd place vote.
OVERALL WOTN VOTING:

Really nice notes and nice tasting guys. I only had the 1983 Lynch and Gruaud, and the 1986 Cos, in all that bunch. I need to continue to taste thos Bordeaux from the 80's, when I can.

I'm happy that the Belair and the La Tour Haut-Brion performed so well. Prove that aged Bordeaux are magic.

Nic

Interesting that Cos beat Rausan-Segla in its flight, but didn't even come close in the WOTN voting. Did the Rausan-Segla get better by the end of the evening, or did you all forget how to count after 20 bottles?

The voting was a bit weird-- only 3 voted for the Rausan-Segla as the wine of the flight, but those 3 votes also went for it as WOTN! I had it as my WOTN. But other than these 3 votes, it got nada. So a real "love-hate" wine (although I'm sure no one hated it in actuality).

David - refer to my disclaimer - particularly the bit about consistency - I can't remember which wines I ended up voting for

The PLL as described by Patrick sounds like an early experiment with RO gone terribly wrong. But in a hot ripe vintage I guess RO wouldn't be employed. Or maybe they mistakenly made the wine from the green harvest?

Patrick, that actually makes sense. Just trying to stir up trouble.
Ian - glad to see someone was representing Jim in the voting dept. (Still trying to stir up trouble)

For what it's worth, here are my belated notes.

1980’s Bordeaux
Fabio Piccolo Fiore, NYC
06/18/2010

A fun night, just as it usually were, when brothers Patrick and Brendan show up in town and we get together for some dinner, with lots of Bordeaux and plenty of laughs. Aside from catching up with the regulars and semi-regulars, it was great to meet Suraiya, Ashleigh, Sandy and Paul for the first time. All 10 of us were pretty much game and up to the fun task of drinking and evaluating examples of claret from the 1980’s up to and including 1990..

Fabio’s Restaurant in Midtown East are of the city provided classic Italian dishes that just has the slight modern twist to them. The service, just as in all of our prior dinners in the restaurant, was impeccable, efficient and courteous, without being over-bearing. Most of us opted for the soft-shell crab appetizer and the chef’s pasta dish that’s reminiscent of a simple cacio-e-pepe but Fabio’s while still very hot is tossed-in with truffles inside the hollowed portion of a very large wheel of pecorino romano cheese just prior to plating and serving. Our meat dishes were varied, but I see that we had steaks, lamb chops and the restaurant’s signature broiled veal chop, roughly the size of a baby’s head. All wine glasses were provided for, but as is customary for me when attending big wine dinners at Fabio’s, I bring my own as I live 2 short blocks away.

The whites:

NV Roederer Brut
Doughy, slight mineral/stone notes, quite rich, dry. A nice “let’s gather up” refreshment. B

1994 Ch. Pape Clement Blanc, Pessac-Leognan
Fresh light straw in color. Very appealing nose with confection and floral tones. Lemony, fresh-tasting, some tropical fruit notes, mellow yet there still that stern white Bordeaux quality to it. A silky finish. A-

2007 Ch. Olivier Blanc, Pessac-Leognan
Mineral and wood. Somewhat just darker than the previous Pape-Clement. Rich, oily, citrus and lime. I like the overall balance. B+

WOTF: 1994 Pape-Clement


The Reds:

Flight 1:
1985 Ch. Belair, Saint-EmilionI smelled tobacco and dried herbs. Layers of lean but ripe red and blue fruit. An easy, pleasant drink. B

1989 Ch. La Dominique, Saint-Emilion
Ripe fruit, some wood and slight funkiness on the nose. Meaty, savory, big, well balanced. Medium length on the finish. B+

WOTF: 1989 La Dominique

Flight 2:
1983 Ch. Cos d’Estournel, Saint-Estephe
Leather, cigar and tertiary characteristics on the bouquet. Ripe, plump, and sweet, but a bit too one-dimensional. B

1981 Ch. Latour Haut-Brion, Pessac-Leognan
Nice complexity on the nose, with leather and fresh meat. Serious structure. Feminine elegance and class, but with some muscles. My and group’s WOTN. A-

1981 Malescot St. Exupery, Margaux
Earthy and dried herbs. Lean, thinner than the others in the same flight. Still showed mostly raspberries and cherries. B

WOTF: 1981 Latour Haut-Brion


Flight 3:
1983 Ch. Canon, Saint-Emilion
Savory nose with wood, cigar and leaves. Tasted with more savory flavors, meat, good acidity, well balanced. Good length on the finish. B+

1983 Ch. LArrosee, Saint Emilion
Ripe fruit and baking spices on the nose. Ripe and sweet, layers of blue/black fruit. International in style. B

1983 Ch. L’Evangile, Pomerol
Good whiff of meat and cigar. Nice fresh acidity and lean ripe fruit. There’s elegance and power. Excellent. A-

WOTF: 1983 L’Evangile


Flight 4:
1983 Ch. Lynch-Bages, Pauillac
Classic Bordeaux nose with pencil, hot concrete and leather. Wine was thin, some medicinal thing, not the balance that I prefer. B

1982 Ch. La Lagune, Haut-Medoc
Wood and some slight VA that I’m cool with. Lean fruit, some green, but I like the overall structure. Could use more bottle years to round out. A good wine. B+

1983 Ch. Gruaud-Larose, Saint-Julien
Band-aid, tree bark, barnyard. Beyond the nose, this was a solid, sometime unspectacular wine. Good fruit level. More austere than the other 2 in the flight. B

WOTF: 1982 La Lagune


Flight 5:
1975 Ch. Leoville-Las-Cases, Saint-Julien
Notes of smoke and meat. Austere, young, but classy. Mouth-feel was silky and seamless. Long and lingering finish. A-

1990 Ch. Pichon-Lalande, Pauillac
Too many things going in every direction. Some greenness, some sweetness. Not as good as any of the others today. B-

1990 Ch. Leoville-Las-Cases, Saint-Julien
Wood, herb and meat on the nose. Lot’s of ripeness and sweetness mixing in with a tad of green stuff. Still young, can get better imho, but not in same league as the 1975. B

WOTF: 1995 Leoville-Las-Cases

Flight 6:
1986 Ch. Rausan-Segla, Margaux
Leafy, earthy and herbs. Fresh acidity, a touch of green. Brutish but well structured. Tannin are evident. A good throwback wine representative of this vintage that I have come to prefer. A-

1988 Ch. La Mission-Haut-Brion, Pessac-Leognan
High acidity, slight green, milky, terrifically good texture. Long and lingering. B+

1986 Ch. Cos d’Estournel, Saint-Estephe
Touch of green, backward, high acidity. Tight and defined muscles and well structured. Revealed mostly red fruit. A good vintage for Cos. A-

WOTF: 1986 Cos d’Estournel

Sauternes:
1988 Ch. La Tour Blanche
An endearing sticky with appropriate sweetness. Showed maturity, but fresh-tasting. Citrus, shortbread. Very good. B+

I'm drinking an '83 Canon tonight, almost as good as a year and a half ago. Man, that was a great tasting.

Ian, are you back in NYC in late May or June? I think we need to revive Fabio's at least once more!

Patrick - I have fond memories of that dinner too - anarchic and fun with an expletive-laden tirade and generally depraved antics from Sir Les Patterson's nephew at the end

I might be in the tri-state area once every two months if I get the job I am angling for...early June would be a better bet than late May

On the theme of that tasting in 2010 I had 1982 Figeac last night...the earthy tobacco attack reminded me of 1983 Cheval Blanc

So another 1980s tasting beckons in June perhaps?

June it is (assuming all goes well on the job front)!

I've got a few 1982s that want to be opened (Gruaud-Larose, Grand Puy Lacoste, Calon Segur).

I, too, have fond memories of that dinner. Great wines, lot's of fun with the regulars and truly nice meeting up, for the first time, with Suraiya, Ashleigh and Sandy. We gotta get this group together again one of these days as the local 2nd Avenue bars totally misses us.

We're getting the band back together!

Yer on a mission from God.

Tom In DC wrote:Yer on a mission from God.

LIKE!

...it's dark ... and we're wearing sunglasses.

Indeed we are, Tom. And as such, you are cordially invited to join this crusade back to the promised land of 80's Bordeaux!

Do you see the light?!?

We loves us some NYC, and will try to get there, but the sunglasses make it tough, and I'm hoping the light isn't the muzzle flask of Carrie Fisher's Colt SP1...

Hi Ian, hope you're well. I haven't been on here in a while because I've not been buying much Bordeaux lately but your notes were a very nice vicarious experience!

Phil - I am back in the UK now so we should get together - and maybe try and get a UK BWE fraternity/sisterhood. for some off line activity...especially if we get a visitor from the US, or Alex or anyone else from Europe.

Right now we have yourself, Jono, Maureen and myself...has anyone heard from Richard Sussex lately? Richard if you are reading his, where have you been?

Could be fun. Would have to wait until I can afford such indulgences though... will bear it in mind for when I can though.

Cheers