WTN: 1985 Château Meyney

Fully mature and resolved; elegant cassis and red fruited flavours combining seamlessly with developed earthy, smoky and tobacco leaf flavours in a silken-textured package that just glides across the tongue. Beautiful.

Fully mature and resolved; elegant cassis and red fruited flavours combining seamlessly with developed earthy, smoky and tobacco leaf flavours in a silken-textured package that just glides across the tongue. Beautiful.

Ah, those lovely '80s Meyneys from Cordier. We've had a lot of pleasure from the '82, '86 and '89, but I don't recall ever having had the '85. No surprises at the result, though: as Dale often says, these wines punched well above their weights. (Sorry that I couldn't come up with a proper cricket metaphor, Salil)

Mark Lipton

Ah, those lovely '80s Meyneys from Cordier. We've had a lot of pleasure from the '82, '86 and '89, but I don't recall ever having had the '85.

Strangely, I can't remember ever having it either, though I've had '82, '83, '86, '88, '89 all many times.
Nice note Salil

I have brief notes suggesting a checkered past in my hands:

10/94 very opulent; good.
3/95 drink up. ?Brettanomyces.
7/95 disappoints again.
4/97 just fine.
9/98 FRUIT APLENTY. LOTS OF BRETT.

Note on my last bottle at age 24:

• 1985 Château Meyney - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (11/15/2009)
  Cull Party. Actually not bad, but certainly more dried out than would have been some years ago. My note from 1998 says "fruit aplenty, lots of Brett." The Brett is still there.

I most certainly don't consider myself Brett averse, and have also had multiple vintages of Meyney without that quality.
Best, Charles