1995 Bordeaux horizontal at Apiary, NYC

1995 BORDEAUX AT 15 YEARS HORIZONTAL - Apiary, NYC (8/23/2010)

• 1995 Château Angélus - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
  Broad, dense, thick. Menthol and a bit of coffee. Long, deep finish with a bit of bitter almond. Soft with a sharp edge. Licorice.
  B++
  
• 1995 Château La Fleur de Gay - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
  Smooth with high toned fruit, cofee and a long tar finish. Pretty, light, floral fruit. Needs some time.
  B+

• 1995 Château Clinet - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
  Bright, smooth, silky with a sweet herbal core. Dark coffee notes. Delicious but withholding a bit. Peppery, herbal, complex.
  A-
  
• 1995 Château Gazin - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
  Bright with clean, clear fruit. Open, friendly, easy to drink. A bit light, lacks depth. Ready to drink.
  B/B+

• 1995 Château Léoville Las Cases - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
  Herbal, broad, elegant. A bit tight. Very pretty with some light floral notes. Very complex. Really beautiful. Needs some time.
  A
  
• 1995 Château Léoville Poyferré - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
  Smooth, sweet, silky with a bit of acidic tannic structure, some tobacco, and a long acidic finish. A strong yet elegant wine. Could use some more time.
  A-

• 1995 Château Haut-Bailly - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
  Bright, very nice smooth fruit. Some coffee, toasty oak. Smooth and deep. Very nice. A bit young.
  B+
  
• 1995 Château Pontet-Canet - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Brawny, strong wine. Dense fruit but also pretty. A bit of espresso and rubber. Very good.
  B+/A-

• 1995 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
  Herbal, broad, elegant, complex and complete. Has a lot going on. Lovely. What more could you want? Drinking a little young, but delicious. My WOTN.
  A
  
• 1995 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Broad and herbal. Good sweet fruit punchiness with espresso. A bit tight. Classic Pauillac notes but young.
  B+
  
• 1995 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Tight and young. Nice sweet core with herbs, coffee. Classic but needs time.
  B++

These wines showed really well. A very enjoyable evening at a delicious venue.

WOTN votes:

LLC (14)
Ducru (15)
Angelus (12)
Clinet (2)
Pichon Baron (1)

[David M. Bueker]

1995s finally showing well! Hallelujah!

Matt, an encouraging report. Do you have any idea how these bottle had be stored? It would be helpful to know in order to calibrate the likely evolution of my stash of 95s in a passive cellar with seasonal temperature fluctuations (19°C=66°F at present). If yours were stored at a constant 55°F, I would expect mine to be more advanced and more ready for drinking.

thanks for notes Matt, though I think the Baron is only one I have.
Three Pomerols, enough to keep Arv happy. Sorry to have missed this

Dale-

You were missed too, although since Ramon couldn't make it either it did give me an extra few days to post notes and I was still the first one to do so.

And no transit strike this time!



Tim-

Since each attendee brought a bottle or two, I don't know how they were stored. But I don't think anyone recently sourced the wine, so they have all probably been properly stored for some time. My GPL and Pichon Baron have been professionally stored at 55 since I acquired them about 5 years ago if that is any help.

Thanks for the notes, Matt. Glad to see the good showing of the '95s and sorry to have missed Arv.
I knew there was a good reason that I've been pounding the table (quietly, of course) for that ''95 LLC.