Just the four of us, Remo and Nicole, his girlfriend, and his billiards colleagues Patrick and me. Editing these notes listening to Johanna Martzy’s solo Bach.
Château Pavie Macquin St. Emilion 2000
Thanks to Remo. Usually a blend of approximately 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Full ruby-red with a blue hue and more ruby-red at the rim. A nicely floral wine with almost as much of an exotic dried tomato note as the 1995 showed at this stage. Pretty oak. Concentrated but built like a race horse, there seems to be no excess fat here, or it does not show anymore at this stage. There seems to be good if currently hidden redcurrant/grenadine syrup sweetness coupled to minerality here, reminiscent in its floating red-fruity florality of a Lafleur. Medium-full body. Nice racy tannin, good finesse and length. Never easy to judge in its youth, but always one of the most natural-tasting young Bordeaux. Rating: 92+
Tenuta dell’Ornellaia Vino da Tavola Ornellaia 1999
Thanks to Remo. A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc, aged in 60% new oak. Youthful enough, but still more evolved than either of the two Bordeaux that night. Nice tobacco to warm, quite thick (if not fat), and layered fruit (mainly plum with a touch of pruney blackcurrant), and slightly more oak than I like (lightly vanilla-tinged chocolate), even if clearly on the inoffensive side of the spectrum. Barely any minerality here at all. Chocolatey tannin, sufficient but not especially refreshing acidity. More opulent than the 2001, but I would prefer that slightly racier vintage as a dinner accompaniment. Personally prefer the more harmonious and (ironically, given the respective overall vintage profiles) slightly livelier 1997. But the 1999 is a sizeable wine that I may be underestimating (Remo finds it awesome, apparently quite a bit better than the 2001, whereas I prefer the 1999 almost only in terms of potential), but that I really wish were racier and more refreshing. Rating: 92+/93(+?)
Château Palmer Margaux 1999
Thanks to Remo. A blend of 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot, and 6% Petit Verdot. Opaque purple-black with purple-red at the rim. A 1999 of rare precision and raciness. Characterful wine, the most attractive of the night in terms of minerality and finesse, if the least fruity. Earthy blackcurrant, some blackberry and graphite, quite complex, perhaps more finesseful. Nicely racy and fresh tannin, again, especially for the vintage. Increasingly dusty-dry with airing, reminding everyone it is really too young to approach. Possibly falls just short of greatness, but (especially stylistically) a remarkable success for the vintage. My favourite of the evening, which is not to denigrate the 2000 Pavie-Macquin. Rating: 93+/94?
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
