Haut Brion to Mouton and Margaux: I'm not your bitch

Last night Jacques (Chairman), Pierre (Vice Chairman) and Yours Truly had a Committe meeting at the (new and trendy) North restaurant in Armonk (as you will see soon we were the best looking dudes in the joint) to discuss the next Chappaqua Wine Club event - as it was my comeback night it got a bit competitive, silly even.

To start

Chateau Pape Clement Blanc 1996 – quiet a developed orange with initial sharp grapefruit it quickly puts on weight in the glass succulent Semillon notes lemongrass and lanolin, sumptuous and exotic on the palate with a hint of botrytis. Fully mature and went well with fois gras

Back in black (its good to be back)

Then together:

Chateau Haut Brion 1998 - scorched earth with front-loaded and somewhat abrasive tannins; camphor and peaty notes, authoritative, rich with ripe fruit, and wonderful meaty notes on the nose and the palate and a thick texture. It is evolving painfully slowly…a vin de garde and a beauty…but come back in five years.

Jacques: Haut-Brion sir?

Chateau Margaux 1996 had an intoxicating nose of blue berries and violets and was silky and diaphanous on the palate, with discreet and refined tannins; it even comes across as somewhat superficial and modern next to the others but there is a lot of power and substance behind this masterpice and at the end of the evening if shut down - as if came out to play just for our benefit.

Chateau Mouton Rothchild 1986 – soy, cassis, cedar, cigar box, a trade mark Mouton nose…on the palate it is thick and expansive with lots of exciting nuances including Asian spices, coffee and leather and meaty notes. This wine is still quite tightly wound up, but it is finally loosening up a bit after a quarter of a century and it is still on the upslope. It is characterized by its power and authority on the palate through to a long authoritative finish.

Then to finish

Chateau Yquem 2003 – I don’t think there is any such thing as a disappointing Yquem. The 2003 is arguably a great Yquem in the making. It is still young of course young but ready to go and full throttle. It has a heavenly nose and a thick unctuous and exotic palate. It is full-bodied, rich and powerful, but very complex and has perfect and lively balancing acidity and an incredible finish.

Three musketeers, four first growths

Concluding thoughts

I wouldn’t like to choose between the reds…clearly the Haut Brion was the least ready to drink but in no sense was it Margaux and Mouton’s bitch. In ten years it will be an incredible wine. The Mouton is still a wine that you admire more than enjoy, but the enjoyment factor increases every time. The Margaux was slick and a class act, a wine which for me won the Ch Margaux vertical a few years ago and which I described as the greatest young wine I ever tried in 2001. Very happy to own all of these.