Frank,
First of all, these are NOT all that old! With Bordeaux, it all depends on the vintage, and '86 will be a very long-lived vintage. Based on what reviews I've read, the Mouton and Margaux deserve maybe another 10 years or more! They are considered as among the very best vintages of those wines in the last 50 years, so they are pretty expensive already and will only get more expensive as time goes on. Ducru tends to be quite sturdy and structured by style so I would expect that one to need more time too. Pichon-Lalande is usually not that "hard" in style, but I see that Robert Parker's review says it is a very tannic and full-bodied example, so that one should get more time too! The review from Parker that I have (4th edition of his book "Bordeaux") of the Haut Brion is also very positive, so that's another expensive one that deserves more time!
The other Bordeaux you listed are not as expensive, and likely not as "backward", and may be approachable now, though there should be no hurry at all if the wines have had consistent cool storage. I have a few mixed cases of '86s myself, and I have not thought about opening *any* of them yet!
The Cal Cabs will be softer, from a warmer climate overall, though I remember that '87 was a very good vintage. So those should also be in good shape, but more drinkable, as the tannins will be lower and riper. It all depends on the storage conditions, as well as the winemaking style of the particular producer. Bordeaux is usually made in a very ageable style, and 20 - 30 years in a good vintage is no big deal. Cal Cabs may not have been made with that sort of aging in mind to start with, and I am not familiar with the style of those producers in that vintage. But if your uncle chose them, he probably knew what he was doing!
Wines like this deserve great care in terms of serving details. I always try to open the bottle at least 4 to 6 hours ahead of time, and then take a very small initial taste, to see what I am dealing with. If the wine is very big, dark, and healthy, maybe it will need a decanting about an hour before serving time. If it is somewhat "civilized", as the Cabs should be, I just let it breathe slowly with the cork out for that length of time, a procedure detailed here and elsewhere on the internet by the illustrious French collector Francois Audouze, who has an immense cellar of wines going back into the 1800s! With wines that are fragile, even seemingly over the hill at first, this "slow oxygenation" approach is definitely the best, as it somehow allows a wine to develop more depth and fruit, and some that seem "gone" will actually come back to life and show very well indeed after 5 hours! I also prefer this "slow oxygenation" approach (sometimes referred to as the "Audouze method" on wine boards) for reasonably mature Bordeaux, but because they are usually more tannic and structured to begin with they generall need more than 4 - 6 hours to fully develop, which is fine if you are drinking slowly and will consume the bottle over the course of say, an hour and a half. But I always take out that small initial taste, and thus enlarge the surface area to about silver-dollar size, to allow better aeration than would occur if the fill happend to be still in the neck. This "slow" approach best preserves the vitality and complexity of a very fine wine, whereas decanting will often overly soften a wine, and/or "blunt" some of the nuances and complexities compared to the non-decanted example. I always use a moderate surface area carafe too, if and when I decant (which is just about NEVER these days...). You can also experiment, open a bottle 5 hours ahead of time to start the slow oxygenation process, then an hour before serving, decant half the bottle. Then start working on the decanted portion first, as it should be the "readiest", and move on to the half-full bottle later. I always find I prefer what was not decanted, at least with reasonably mature Bordeaux and Burgs.
A gently cool serving temperature is also needed. Around 58 - 62 degress or so for Bordeaux and Cabs maybe, just as a starting approximate guess. It helps the fruit and structure of fragile wines. But too cold and a wine may get hard and lose its nuances. And if a wine is still tannic and/or acidic, a too cool temperature will aggravate those conditions. So experiment with a bottle or two, and see how they react to breathing time and serving temperature. After a while you develop a feeling for what is needed, and what will be best! Good luck!
