WTN: I Ducru, do you?

[Jenise]

A friend arranged a small dinner party last night in order to open a 1979 Ducru Beaucalliou he purchased locally from it's former owner. The cork came out in two pieces, even with an Ah So. It was tired--nice but not great nose, more acid than fruit, and it faded from there. Drinkable but not compelling. So then we opened a wine I brought, a '73 Pontet Canet. Cork came out whole. And what we poured was a very nice, lighter bodied old Pontet Canet with a beautiful graphite nose, plum and tea notes, and some light fruit on the palate. Now this was not a great wine--it was nowhere near the experience some '75's and '66's have been in recent years--but I suspect that it is an excellent bottle of '73 (a vintage I have little or no experience with, period, and the wines are probably not around for good reason). Btw, the fill was high shoulder on both bottles.

I also took a 2004 Lynch Bages blanc that was served with the salad course. Youthful and austere--really, too much so for the salad (which turned out to have cranberries and sliced strawberries in it)--this is a wine that would be better served with cheese or light chicken dishes and at closer to room temperature than we gave it. I have another bottle I'll look forward to enjoying in a better pairing.

[David M. Bueker]

Too bad the Ducru faded. I have had it when it has been on, and it's quite nice. I like the '79s.

I had a '73 Mouton one time, but that is the only '73 I have ever had.

You might want to edit your post to make the blanc in the Lynch Bages bold. I did a double take as to why you were serving Lynch Bages with salad.

I am getting to the end of a case of Ducru 70 and in the last 10 years nearly all the corks have been crumbly but with no apparent ill effect on the wine underneath.

I cannot recall ever having had a 73 but I must have in their youth. That figures with their reputation as rather inconsequential and light-weight clarets, if not absolute disasters like 74 and 77. With present day techniques in the vineyard and winery, they would probably have made rather nice wines like, say, 99

I am getting to the end of a case of Ducru 70 and in the last 10 years nearly all the corks have been crumbly but with no apparent ill effect on the wine underneath.

Lucky you, Tim! Dale W and I jointly purchased 6 bottles of the '70 Ducru at auction last year and have been gradually going through them. What a lovely and vibrant wine! (and our corks have been crumbly, too)

Mark Lipton

Jenise, I posted a note earlier this month on the '73 Pape Clement. Definitely lighter-styled, as with the Ducru. But I have to say that the wine grew after opening, rather than declined. So, I came away quite pleased, though I definitely agree with the general character of the vintage.

Just fyi...

1973 Chateau Pape Clement Pessac-Leognan. Peter C. kindly opened another bottle several nights later, too, but this bottle was clearly the better of those two (the other was showing signs of oxidation). First off, the bouquet of the wine is lightly perfumed with lilac, pine, raspberries, spicy aged leather, and distinctively strong notes of dusty ash (as with some ashy cheese rinds) and jalapeno pepper. It feels airy and feathery, but intense, and it gains in depth and weight as it sits out over a few hours’ time. Really nice! In the mouth, it features some slightly sour but lively and still somewhat bright red fruits such as cranberries, sour cherries, strawberries, red currants and lemony citrus to go along with pine notes and ashy jalapeno again. It is full of life and has decent structure hanging on, but is definitely on the lighter, elegant side of things. No tannins are noticeable, though perhaps they pop up just a bit on the finish as the wine begins to stretch out its legs. It is really easy to drink and indeed the bottle was gone before I even knew it (and nary a hangover the next morning).

I don't understand the first sentence. Don't you always purchase a wine from its former owner? Who else could you purchase it from?

[David M. Bueker]

Pedant alert! Pedant alert!

[Jenise]

I don't understand the first sentence. Don't you always purchase a wine from its former owner? Who else could you purchase it from?

Sigh. An auction house or a retailer. By which I simply meant that the provenance of this particular bottle was vouched for.

[Jenise]

Too bad the Ducru faded. I have had it when it has been on, and it's quite nice. I like the '79s.

I've had a number of nice 79's too, and recent Cellartracker reports gave us hope. But alas, not a good bottle.

[Jenise]

Jenise, I posted a note earlier this month on the '73 Pape Clement. Definitely lighter-styled, as with the Ducru. But I have to say that the wine grew after opening, rather than declined. So, I came away quite pleased, though I definitely agree with the general character of the vintage.

Thanks for the note, it confirms what I thought I tasted in my '73, but just so that we're on the same page here I must point out that you're confusing the '79 Ducru (which faded rapidly) and the '73 Pontet Canet (which didn't), and which had much in common with your Pape Clement.

I Ducru, do you?

Yes, Jenise, I do. And I posted a note of a wonderfully mature '71 a couple of months ago:
http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=23395

Cheers, Anders

[Jenise]

Anders, I read your note and that's a lovely description of the unrealized potential we saw in Gary's bottle--dried figs and stable smells in particular. Thanks for the vicarious thrill of imagining what might have been.

Jenise, I posted a note earlier this month on the '73 Pape Clement. Definitely lighter-styled, as with the Ducru. But I have to say that the wine grew after opening, rather than declined. So, I came away quite pleased, though I definitely agree with the general character of the vintage.

Thanks for the note, it confirms what I thought I tasted in my '73, but just so that we're on the same page here I must point out that you're confusing the '79 Ducru (which faded rapidly) and the '73 Pontet Canet (which didn't), and which had much in common with your Pape Clement.

Ah, thanks for the clarification. Sorry for the confusion, but as you say it synchs the two impressions up, which is hopefully more helpful!

Sigh. An auction house or a retailer. By which I simply meant that the provenance of this particular bottle was vouched for.

Jenise, sorry if I was out of line. I just couldn't understand that sentence. The way I look at it, every wine you purchase is "from its former owner" regardless of whether you buy the wine from a wine shop, a friend, an auction or a winery. The auction house is providing a service but they don't own the wine.

Again, I was just trying to understand what you meant by that sentence (because it confused me); I wasn't trying to cause problems.

I've never had the '79 Ducru, but would have expected a bit better, I think 79 is an underrated vintage. Though on other hand it seems much stronger in Margaux, Graves, and maybe RB. The only upper Medoc that really impressed me was the Pichon Lalande (a tad tired now, but supremely elegant bottle).

[Jenise]

Sigh. An auction house or a retailer. By which I simply meant that the provenance of this particular bottle was vouched for.

Jenise, sorry if I was out of line. I just couldn't understand that sentence. The way I look at it, every wine you purchase is "from its former owner" regardless of whether you buy the wine from a wine shop, a friend, an auction or a winery. The auction house is providing a service but they don't own the wine.

Again, I was just trying to understand what you meant by that sentence (because it confused me); I wasn't trying to cause problems.

That's okay, I could have been clearer in the way I stated it the first time, then you wouldn't have had to ask.

Assume that you picked up the 73 in a mixed lot, as no oe would look for that vintage. It has been in delcine for years now, so any bottles opened these days were better a decade ago and more.

I remember it as a servicable vintage I drank mostly in the early 80s - drank a lot of 73 Talbot, for instance. They ranged from decent lunch weight wines to absolute crapola from the git-go. We drank them beacuse they were better than the 1974s and the 1970s were a long way from ready. The other vintage that we drank with some pleasure (also long deceased) was 1967.

[Jenise]

Assume that you picked up the 73 in a mixed lot, as no one would look for that vintage.

No, picked it up from a retailer in Anacortes, it came with a totally pristeen cellar Doug had bought and he was willing to part with this cheap. Such is my fandom of Pontet Canet that I could not resist. I think you'd be surprised how well this held up, although as I said in my note it was obvious that it had never had much stuffing.

The other vintage that we drank with some pleasure (also long deceased) was 1967.

I've been served the '67 Mouton and Latour blind within last 2 years, the Latour was very nice, the Mouton a little tired but defintely still with interest.
Never had a good 73 I can recall, but only have tried a couple. '74 LMHB from mag was a nice surprise recently.

[David M. Bueker]

I've also had the '67 Latour not so long ago. It was quite good.

Jenise

Everyone else is talking rouge or picking on your grammar.....just wanted to say i really like the Lynch Bages blancs in general.....even the way they look in the bottle