WTN: 8 '95/'96 pairs of Bordeaux at Fabio's in midtown NYC

Ah, back to wine. Friday Patrick was in town from CO and a nice group met at Fabio Cucina Italiana for a 1995/1996 Bordeaux showdown. 8 people, 16 bottles of red Bordeaux (plus 4 starters). Everyone kept saying “too much wine” but no one offered to not bring theirs.

We started with some assorted appetizers- crabcake, calamari, and buffalo mozzarella with prosciutto. And the starting wines:

1999 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne
Another good showing of a fave, fullbodied yet with a sense of lightness, very fresh, clean Bosc pear with brioche, citrus peel, and chalky accents. Good length. A-

1999 Carbonnieux blanc
Fresh fruit with an interesting waxy note but oak pretty dominant, and good use a little more acidic grip. B

2010 Jadot (Magenta) “La Garenne” Puligny-Montrachet
This seemed a bit tight when I first had, but I really liked on a revisit. Apple and citrus deftly accented by light oak touches. Very good acids, bright and young. A-/B+

2009 Zind-Humbrecht “Clos st Urbain” Gewurztraminer
This was a 3 (midpoint) on the ZH scale- plenty of sugar (modern Spatlese/old style Auslese levels), A bit ponderous for my tastes. I think I liked a sip as afterwards a bit more, but my initial note says B-

On to the pairings. Wines were paired but blind. Patrick paired and wrapped them, and then Ramon numbered pairs. So they also didn’t know what was in each flight.

8A More tannic than B, young, a little herbal note, good. B
8B Redder fruit, cigarbox, very good,. A-/B+

We had a trio of pastas here

7A Cassis, graphite, brawny. B/B+
7B Also blackcurrant, cedar, similar but maybe a bit more restrained.B/B+

6A Soft texture, black fruits, pretty open. B+
6B Redder fruits, quite tannic, needs time. B

5A Lovely, my fave so far, elegant and long with a lot of stuffing. A-
5B So corked I couldn’t get my face to glass!

for main I had chicken breast in a porcini sauce

4A Lush, balanced, fruit framed by some nice minty herbal notes (I was thinking this was Pichon Lalande)A-
4B Firm, young, maybe most in need of time. B+/B for now

3 A Good, balanced, nice finish. B+/A-
3B Big, full, lush fruit with lots of, tobacco. A-/B+

2A Black fruit, pencil lead, an odd note- eventually conclude mildly corked
2B Full, red and black fruits, pencil lead. B+

1A Somewhat kirschy, medium bodied, sweet. B+/B
1B Very good, more open than some, cassis with tobacco and cedar shavings. A-/B+

8A 1995 Calon Segur
8B 1996 Calon Segur
7A 1995 Grand Puy Lacoste
7B 1996 Grand Puy Lacoste
6A1996 Magdelaine
6B 1995 Magdelaine
5A 1995 Pichon Lalande
5B 1996 Pichon Lalande
4A 1995 Cos d’Estournel
4B 1996 Cos d’Estournel
3 A 1996 Ducru-Beaucaillou
3B 1995 Ducru-Beaucaillou
2A 1996 Pichon Baron
2B 1995 Pichon Baron
1A 1995 Leoville Poyferre
1B 1996 Leoville Poyferre

OK, first of all the most surprising thing to me is that I liked a ‘96 St Emilion more than a ‘95. Second was that my favorite wines included the ‘95 Cos, which didn’t show well last time I had. I had a slight edge overall to the ‘96 Medocs, but ‘95s showed well too and with the exception of the corked wines there was nothing I wouldn’t be happy to have on my dinner table. Certainly not a night where I felt one vintage showed clearly superior, lots of super wines (most of which need time).

Fun night, great crowd.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

Okay, I was there and I am confused. It was hard for me to follow this without my notes. It looks like I have the Ducru's reversed, because my notes show that 1996 is 3a, but my notes for 3b say high acid, and that to me indicates 1996. Until I just saw your notes I was befuddled by what I had recorded.

It was a fun evening and I am still holding my blind guessing streak of never getting it right. I was so sure the Magdelaine was the Poyferre.

Edited to add now Hanes says 3B was 95, I'll edit

My notes also showed the 3A as the 1996 Ducru and 3B as the 1995. Otherwise, everything matched up. My guesses were way off on which flight was which chateau.

My top 3 wines were (in order): the 1995 Pichon Lalande, the 1996 Ducru and the 1995 Cos. Other than the corked wines, only the 95 Calon Segur stuck out to me as a notable downgrade next to its flightmate. The quality overall was very, very high and I too was surprised how well the 95's showed. Finally, these wines are just starting to drink well, but they are too young for prime time in my book. Give them 10 years and then watch out.

Here's how the voting for the blind flights went (we tasted in descending order):
8A 1 vote (1995 Calon Segur)
8B 7 votes (1996 Calon Segur)

7A 2 votes (1995 Grand Puy Lacoste)
7B 2 votes (1996 Grand Puy Lacoste)
tied 4 votes

6A 5 votes (1996 Magdelaine)
6B 1 vote (1995 Magdelaine)
tied 2 votes

5A (1995 Pichon Lalande)
5B CORKED, no voting (1996 Pichon Lalande)

4A 7 votes (1995 Cos d'Estournel)
4B 1 vote (1996 Cos d'Estournel)
tied 1 vote

3A 7 votes (1996 Ducru Beaucaillou)
3B 1 vote (1995 Ducru Beaucaillou)

2A CORKED, no voting (1996 Pichon Baron) -- very slightly corked
2B (1995 Pichon Baron)

1A 3 votes (1995 Leoville Poyferre)
1B 4 votes (1996 Leoville Poyferre)
tied 1 vote

Flight Totals
1995 won 1 flight
1996 won 3 flights
Two flights were tied (I called the Poyferre flights a tie).

Our notes also diverge on the order of the Calons as well.

Our notes also diverge on the order of the Calons as well.

fixed

[David M. Bueker]

Now you have got me thinking that in only 5 more years I can do a 2000/2001 taste off.

I wonder if both Pichons used the same cork supplier in 1996?

-Paul W.