A friend in one of my wine groups turns 40 today, and so last night he got a few of us together to drink "some things he wanted to open."
A 1996 Chateau Montelena Riesling was tired, and past its best, but had some interesting minerality.
The 1998 Domaine Louis Jadot Puligny-Montrachet Combettes was initially quite closed and only giving a strangely muted peachy fruit. Air did great things for it though, as the wine tightened up in structure while also opening up in aromatics and flavors. Lots of minerals as well as peachy, citrusy fruit and a delicious creaminess that really added to the overall package.
The 1995 Rochioli Russian River Valley Pinot Noir and 1996 Saintbury Brown Ranch Pinot Noir were a study in contrast. The Rochioli fooled me into thinking Burgundy with some lovely earthy tonees added to well balanced fruit. The Saitsbury was clearly new world, but still quite restrained. I think both of these wines have aged really well, but I at least recall the Saintbury on release, and it was never a blockbuster wine to begin with, so perhaps these have aged on balance.
The two '67s were served blind. The 1967 Gruaud Larose was the more elegant and older tasting wine, with obvious cedar and old tobacco scents that were right therre with some still very pretty red fruit. This was very much a classical old Bordeaux. It had its ups and downs over the next hour, at times seeming to come apart in the glass, and alternately tightening up again to go another round. This really was a delicious wine, but it was totally outclassed by its flight-mate.
The 1967 Chateau Latour was the youngest tasting old wine I have ever had. In fact it had me thinking right bank. Now I am no Latour expert, but I have been fooled by both young and old Latour in the same way, so clearly there's more flamboyant fruit there than I am expecting. This wine had the most stunning smoked meat aroma I have come across in a long time, along with deep fruit and still some tannic structure. It's very much worth noting that storage on this Latour had been better than perfect for its whole life (it was recently gifted to the birthday boy), so the overall condition, while still stunning, was probably better than I will ever see again in my lifetime. And it is my lucky privlege to share a birth year with someone who is so ridiculously generous.
The next two wines had no chance as far as I was concerned. A 1979 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon was overrun with VA, while a 1975 Chateau Lascombes was good, but still showed some VA. Others liked both of these wines more than I did, so perhaps I was just stunned by the Latour.
I had brought over the 2002 Anderson's Conn Valley 'Right Bank' Red Wine (60% Cab Franc, 40% Merlot). It was quite a shock to go back to a young wine, but it was very good, with herbal cab franc notes dominating suple underlying fruit. Interesting stuff, and at $40, quite a value for California.
We also had the 1988 J. J. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese, which was still a very young wine, light and creamy, if lacking a touch of acidity. The overall complexity of fruit was delicious though. There was also a Loire SGN for which I do not recall the details.
Wonderful night.
Haven't been buying much old Bdx lately, though: I'm buying white burgundy!