Ch. Prieurie-Lichine (Margaux) 1996. BevMo, $40s.
Nicer than the last time I tried this, but it may have been a little light for the big meat feast today. This is my first Margaux, and I found the wine quite enjoyable, smooth, and elegant, even if there are better producers out there, this was good. Dark in color with cherry highlights on the rim. Despite the color, the flavor profile was lighter than I expected, with a pronounced red/black cherry fuit. Lovely tobacco/leather provided the backbone-this is no Pinot!
Finish was a little short, but there were some nice savory notes here-and, as well, an interesting sweet note atop the herby/sage flavors. QPR? I lack the experience to know if this is a good price for a nice adolescent/young adult Margaux from a lower tier producer, but I could see buying this one again. Solid ***! Happily, the Birthday Boy, my brother, seems to share my growing appreciation of Bordeaux. He is actually "pickier" about Napa Cabs than I am. So, he enjoyed it!
He also enjoyed the second wine as well, though. I had left a bottle of 1998 Raymond Generations (my last one) at my sister's house a while back, and she had opened it a day or two previously. Plugged with the same cork. This wine was still drinking very nice, with some nice black fruit and savory finish, although the savoriness was less dominant than in some previous bottles. The vanilla from the oak was also noticeable, but frankly, even after being open for quite a while, the oak was in no way dominant or irritating. It just added another flavor note and smoothed the wine out quite a bit. My sister preferred this smoother, fruitier, but still balanced style. While my tastes are shifting more to Bordeaux and leathier Chiantis, I can still appreciate a well-made wine in this style. If Raymond can do this at half the price, why can't Silver Oak? NR (but probably another ***) Luckily, I have a bottle of 1999 Generations in the Napa storage locker! And, I found a small shop in an obscure river town (Rio Vista!) with several bottles of 1999 stored pretty cool!