WTN: 1999 Bordeaux at Public

Matt organized a horizontal of 1999 Bordeaux last night at Public restaurant, a bustling place on Elizabeth St in "Nolita." A nice group of regulars gathered, plus former regular David had come in from London for the Zachys auction. Guys were quite gracious when I couldn't find either of the 2 Montroses I had listed in CT, I substituted a LynchBages.

Decent stems, friendly service. The food wasn't the most Bordeaux-friendly, but we found some compromises, and the food quality was pretty good.

Starter was the 1999 Monbousquet Blanc. I'm not generally a fan of Bdx blanc outside of Graves, and this did nothing to change my mind. A bit flat and low acid, fairly advanced, a little weird green oak note. C

Ben had a mystery wine. Solid red fruit, good acids, minty/menthol nose. Quite fresh, resolved tannins, very tasty. 1977 Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve B+/A-

Pomerol Flight
1999 Clos L’Eglise - red fruit, coffee, I like the nose on this, but the palate has some rather hard tannins. B/B-

1999 Trotanoy - very cool at first, not much nose and high acids. As it warmed it filled out a bit, some redcurrant fruit, but pretty austere. Maybe it needs time, but I'm not a fan. B-


My starter was a ballantine of quail, foie gras, and pistachio, with a little beet side, my dish of the night

St Emilion Flight
1999 Pavie Macquin
sweet black fruit, coffee, mocha, could use a bit more depth and length. OK, but I'm just as happy this is my last bottle. B/B+

1999 Pavie Decesse
Ripe, charred oak notes, spice, a bit too aggressively styled for my tastes. B-

We had a small dish of venison on a cilantro falafel , I liked the falafel more than the meat'

Northern Medoc
1999 Leoville Poyferre
Soft, ripe, black fruit and espresso. I'd call this totally mature, solid fairly modern Bordeaux, my favorite so far (which isn't exactly a ringing endorsement). B+

1999 Lynch Bages
Warm, soft, minty. Pleasant enough, but could defintely use a bit more oomph. B

1999 Grand  Puy Lacoste
This didn't leave much of an impression, a somewhat flat and uninspired claret. Cassis fruit, a bit short. B-

My main course was lamb, a nice slice of loin, with polenta and some rather off tasting veggies (said saffron, but tasted vinegared). I had eyed the snail and oxtail ravioli, but the pickled shiitakes scared me off.

Margaux Flight

1999 Palmer
This had been my favorite '99 before this night. This was very good, though maybe a bit closed compared to release, showing more structure than flesh. Still, a wine of power and finesse, very tasty. A-/B+

1999 Margaux
Lovely fragrant nose, elegant but with power, dark ripe fruit, very young. A-

Final Flight
1999 Pichon Lalande
Fruit is subdued, some stemmy/herby notes, thin. Closed or off bottle? B-/C+

1999 Mouton-Rothschild
Some divided opinions, I felt it was a typical Mouton- a good second-growth.
Meaty, fleshy. B+/A-

1999 La Mission Haut Brion
Nice fruit, good length, harder tannins than most of the wines. This might be worth cellaring. B+

We finished with the 1999 Rieussec. Honey, apricots, with a strong citrus center. More acidity than I expected from a '99, quite a nice way to finish. B+

So overall a bit of a disappointment, I had hoped for a bit more for some of the midlevel wines. The two Margaux AC wines were easily my favorites (and the Mondavi!). I don't think anyone left to rush to buy more '99s. Still, fun and educational night.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. 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. 

Starter was the 1999 Monbousquet Blanc. I'm not generally a fan of Bdx blanc outside of Graves, and this did nothing to change my mind. A bit flat and low acid, fairly advanced, a little weird green oak note. C

 

This sounds off to me. I've had this 4x since release and while it is a little flatish, not so different from many other white Bordeaux (which show heavier anyway). I'll admit it doesn't have a lot of complexity, but found enough of interest for me.

Starter was the 1999 Monbousquet Blanc. I'm not generally a fan of Bdx blanc outside of Graves, and this did nothing to change my mind. A bit flat and low acid, fairly advanced, a little weird green oak note. C

This sounds off to me. I've had this 4x since release and while it is a little flatish, not so different from many other white Bordeaux (which show heavier anyway). I'll admit it doesn't have a lot of complexity, but found enough of interest for me.

I liked this a little more than Dale did. As a caveat, I brought this starter to the tasting. It's my first ever for this white, and frankly, can't quite recall ever having any other white from the Right Bank. My notes will follow, and I wrote that I found this interesting, just enough to be on the positive side.

Dale, as usual, had provided great notes on the dinner and wines. Just adding my $0.02.

Overall Impression:
I do not own any 1999 Bordeaux and sourced my contributions just prior to, and specific for, this tasting. I have not changed my views after this tasting and I’m still not rushing out to buy. Thank god for the Rieussec and, to a some degree, the Mondavi. As Paul Jaouen quickly noted in an email “Well, the company was better than the wines. When are we doing the ‘89s?”

Starter

1999 Monbousquet Blanc
Nutty, lush, lime notes, plump, hard candy, doesn’t taste like the Graves whites that I know, but interesting enough for me. B

Mystery wine (served blind): 1977 Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
Fine tannin, red fruit, fresh acidity, more fruit, full midpalate, good finish. I was way off as I thought it was an aged Spanish wine. A-


Flight 1

1999 Ch. Trotanoy, Pomerol
Slight notes of rubber, quite smooth, ripe, low acidity. B

1999 Clos L’Eglise, Pomerol
Leaner than the Trotanoy, good acidity, expressive nose. B+


Flight 2

1999 Ch. Pavie-Macquin, Saint-Emilion
Tannic, earth, ripe red fruit, coffee, oak. B+

1999 Ch. Pavie-Decesse, Saint-Emilion
Tannic, wood, green notes, high acidity. I don’t like the balance. B


Flight 3

1999 Ch. Lynch-Bages, Pauillac
Sweet, high acidic level, medium bodied, some vegetal notes at the finish. B

1999 Ch. Leoville-Poyferre, Saint-Julien
Distinctive Saint-Julien nose of fruit, earth, gravel, wood. Some mineral. Not well balanced. B

1999 Ch. Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Pauillac
More tannic than the other 2 in the flight, closed, short finish, vegetal notes. B


Flight 4

1999 Ch. Margaux, Margaux (Group’s WOTN)
Expressive nose of sulfur and meadow. Tight but showed power and balance. Big, and silky in the mouth. Very long finish. My WOTN. A-

1999 Ch. Palmer, Margaux (Group’s 2nd Place WOTN)
Sweet and floral nose. A traditional favorite amongst most of the tasters, myself included, but this bottle appeared to be quite closed and did not measure up to my previous experiences. Still showed layers of red fruit and good balance. B+


Flight 5

1999 Ch. La Mission Haut-Brion, Pessac-Leognan
Muscular, red and black fruit, leafy notes, tight structure. I liked this bottle. B+

1999 Ch. Mouton-Rothschild, Pauillac (Group’s 3rd Place WOTN)
Ripe, silky smooth all the way through, muscular, well defined. B+

1999 Ch. Pichon Lalande, Pauillac
Vegetal, disjointed (also echoed by Frank). B-


Dessert: 1999 Ch. Rieussec, Sauternes
Honeyed, some coconut, provided great relief over the not-so-inspiring reds, brown sugar, confection spices. A-


My thanks go to Matt Richman for organizing and to everybody for the fun company and the wines. I’m always happy and grateful to get to dine and taste wines with this fun group.

RC

Overall I think I liked these wines better than most folks around the table. I found them generally to be open and easy to drink, but a bit heavy and a little tiring by the end of the evening. The Margaux was the clear winner and the Palmer was excellent too. The Leoville Poyferre was a surprising treat as well.

The restaurant was very good, if a bit loud for our purposes. The food was very good and although there were a lot of flavors that I feared would clash with the wine, in the end I found it not to be the case. The service was very good and they treated us really well, we reciprocated by sharing our wines with the staff and after the rest of the party had gone home, Brian and I poured samples for the waitress and somillier and sat around discussing the region, wines, and vintage. (Full disclosure: the restaurant manager is a friend of mine and was kind enough to hook us up with the “special” treatment and a no-corkage deal).

I didn’t take notes on the Mobousquet blanc, as I believe it was flawed. I remember as I sat down (a little late) and the first drop hit my mouth I actually said “this is wonderful”. As the wine sat a few seconds on my toungue I said “hey, what’s wrong with this?” Guess I was just excited to drink some wine!


1977 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley
Served blind. Mature but without a ton of structure. Some sweet notes, some sap/syrup. A bit of acid. Warm, herbal. Has a lot of life ahead, but drinking well. Very nice, but I didn’t love this as much as many around the table seemed to.
B+


1999 Château Trotanoy - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Juicy, bright with acidic tannins and some slight coffee. Not closed, but not exactly ready to drink either. Light on it’s feet. I found this to be a beautiful wine, delicate and restrained and I believe it will mature very nicely.
B++


1999 Clos l'Église (Pomerol) - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Deep, dark, smooth with fairly heavy weight. Soy, oily. Dense and ready to drink but a bit flabby.
B+

1999 Château Pavie Decesse - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Full purple flavored with bright long finishing tannins and excellent concentration. Lots of espresso, glycerine. Strong with years of life ahead.
B++

1999 Château Pavie Macquin - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
A bit closed with tight herbal tannins and dense concentrated fruit. Short and loose finish.
B/B+


1999 Château Lynch-Bages - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Smooth, silky, somewhat sweet and soft. Bright with herb and some coffee.
B/B+

1999 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Not a lot of concentration but nice herbal quality. Thick fruit but a bit flabby. Pleasant enough but short and unremarkable. A disappointment.
B/B-

1999 Château Léoville Poyferré - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Dense and ready to drink with some aging potential. Concentrated and thick with mint and herb. The flavor profile reminded me of the 1996 vintage with good muscular fruit but not overly done. I really liked this.
A--


1999 Château Palmer - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Wonderful. Well balanced with fine tannins, dense sweet herb and coffee. Very complex with a long finish. Still drinking young, but very enjoyable.
A

1999 Château Margaux - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Smooth with a long long finish. Coffee, sap, dense and oily (in a good way). Very concentrated. Excellent.
A/A+


1999 Château La Mission Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Smooth and silky with an acidic edge and a long finish. Bright, high toned with sweet tannins. B++

1999 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Sweet baking spices. Bright, open, med-light weight. Clove and candied fruit. Too sweet, this reminds me of some of the sweeter vintages of the early 00’s as Bordeaux lunged toward a more modern style. Lacks concentration, complexity.
B/B-

1999 Château Mouton Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Some baking spices and good bright fruit. A bit of coffe with a long finish. Although a little on the sweet side, a very nice wine. My #4 of the evening.
A--


1999 Château Rieussec - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Strong, bright, outgoing. Drinking well but young and has many years ahead of it. A bit candied. Not the greatest vintage, but very very good.
B++


Here were the votes for WOTN:
Margaux 25
Palmer 16
Mouton 9
Leoville Poyferre 4

A few people mentioned that they would have voted for the Mondavi if it were eligible, but I would not have.

Thanks to everyone for coming and bringing their wine. Looking forward to the next one!

[David M. Bueker]

1999 seems to be shaping up as a decent drinking vintage (as in have a bottle with dinner at home), but not a set of wines that I would throw around in blind tastings. I had the '99 Pichon Baron just a couple of weeks ago, and while I liked it, it was not a stunner by any means,

1999 Chateau Pichon-Longueville Baron (Pauillac)
Soft and supple aromatically, and bearing a resemblance to the 2001 served in the same tasting (no shock there), this did not deliver on the palate what it promised on the nose, but would be a lovely dinner wine any time over the next several years. The balance is fine now, but it's just a little weak in the mid-palate.

I didn’t take notes on the Mobousquet blanc, as I believe it was flawed.

Well, it is Monbousquet!

Thanks Matt for notes. My grades are a bit lower than yours, but we're relatively in agreement as to who did well (Margaux and Palmer at top, Lynch, Poyferre, Mouton, etc next tier, GPL and P-Lalande as disappointments)