1999 D'Issan, Margaux
I have only had 80's vintage D'Issans, so as part of my self-education of Bordeaux I decided to open this orphan 99. Jet black color, nearly opaque. An initial asphyxiating nose of asphalt was joined after 3-4 hours by some black fruit and toast which, on the whole, was not unlike a burnt breakfast. Which I could not serve, so into the fridge it went for like two weeks after which abuse I poured a glass and found it completely unchanged. It's not just full-bodied, it's unpleasantly heavy in every way possible and suitable only for refinishing driveways.
1998 La Louviere, Graves
Decanted three hours. Maroon color with a little bricking on the edge. Black cherry, plums, and tobacco, with some interesting secondary development around the gravelly minerality. Drinks well now and would be especially good with beef, but it will reward more cellaring to work out the tannins. Really happy with the way this showed and that I have more bottles.
1983 Chambert-Marbuzet, St. Estephe
Tawny pale red color and the nose of an old Burgundy. Layers of aroma and flavor just tumbled out of the glass: cherries, roses, tea, berries, red currant, wet leaf piles in autumn, cinnamon, mint, dusty leather, and some of that unmistakable St. Estephe barnyard. It got better with every sip, every glass. What a great find.
Edited to correct a question about Chambert-Marbuzet: I did find it in Parker's book after all. He doesn't rate the 83, but says the wines "can be entirely too obvious" and "the potential to age beyond a decate is suspect." Well, well.
