The wine of the vintage is Chateau Margaux. In my view it is head and shoulders above evrything else, just as Lafite is head and shoulders above everything else in 2004. Not everyone agrees with me, however. Last night Leoville Lascases was voted wine of the night ahead of Margaux, which came second.
I wanted to like these wines more than I did, so as to prove everyone wrong for ignoring or writing off the vintage. As Neal Martin observed some of these wines have gone a bit flat as the primary fruit has faded and not been replaced by secondary aromas. The Margaux was the exception.
Here are my notes:
Flight one
Chateau Gazin
Notes of cigarette ash and tobacco, smokey, earthy and minerally; this wine has an endearing rustic quality, it is not smooth or refined – the tannins are still quite elevated - but really works in a bumptious kind of way. It is a really delicious mature Pomerol. Like rolling around in the hay. Deservedly very popular on the table and wine of the flight for the group.
Chateau L’Eglise Clinet
I have never had a great bottle of this. It is fully mature and quite delicious, but a little wobbly. Drink up.
Chateau Angelus
A good bottle, better than the one we had the other night. Tapenade, olive, tobacco notes. Cedar and dark chocolate. Big voluminous and tannic, but lacks a bit of flamboyance and personality, compared to say the stupendous 1989. Did the wine maker try too hard? A wine with an identity crisis perhaps? Where is it going and how does it fit in?
Flight two
Chateau Cos D’Estournel
A lot of lead pencil, minerals, herbs, green pepper and leafiness. A stern tannic, metallic streak pervades this wine. It is mean and green and clearly better with food. I think it will be better in 5-10 years when it mellows, assuming the modest fruit holds up. But I doubt I could ever love this wine.
Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste
Slow out of the blocks this was initially curmudgeonly and tannic, but it put on weight and gathered momentum as it unfurled its wares. Quintessentially classic Pauillac. A super wine and voted wine of the flight.
Chateau Pontet Canet
This was delicious from the start. Still some tannic structure, and still in some sense quite stern, but in the perfect place now, and whereas the GPL can still improve this wine now needs drinking up. Delicious old style claret.
These are the wines I contributed:
Flight three
Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou
Bright colour, super vibrant nose of blackcurrant, cedar, lead pencil, underbrush; chewy and herby...somewhat angular and not mouth filling on the palate but it has decent persistence. Very nice wine, still quite tannic and on the young side. Suave and refined. But tries a little bit too hard?
Chateau Leoville Barton
A nice attack and a wine which is converging on full maturity...cedar, tobacco, herbs and minerals on the attack...this wine was marred by a sour finish suggesting the grapes were picked too early.
Chateau Leoville Lascases
A very good, classic and delicious LLC, dominated by pencil lead notes, but with fine balance. This wine is absolutely ready and delicious. Unlike the Ducru it does not try too hard. For me easily the wine of the flight. For LLC fans this is a wine to seek out because it is fully mature delicious and relatively cheap. Wine of the flight, just edging out Barton.
Flight four
Chateau Mouton Rothschild
Served a little warm, this was nevertheless a very good showing for the Prince of Darkness, which just keeps on getting better and better every time I try it, even if it is incrementally so. This wine is now in its drinking window, but can still improve and will last for decades. Similar to the outstanding 1988 Mouton.
Chateau La Mission Haut Brion
This was savoury and delicious but perhaps a bit one-dimensional and disappointing for a La Mission Haut Brion? Of course it is not in the same league as the 1989, but this is a wine you can quaff with great pleasure whilst waiting for your 1989s to mature.
Neal’s mystery wine
Neal’s mystery wine was the smoothest wine of the night. It was most refined and silky and had an ethereal bouquet of violets and white flowers. It was just simply fabulous and understated. I guessed Chateau Margaux - correctly for once. It reminded me of the 1979. It had a touch of class none of the other wines could match.
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