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WTN: 1989 Bordeaux (plus a rose Special Club)

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Dale Williams

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WTN: 1989 Bordeaux (plus a rose Special Club)

by Dale Williams » Wed Jan 23, 2019 10:21 pm

Most of our Bordeaux group and one charming out-of-towner got together at the midtown East Bobby Vans Tuesdy for a 30 year peek at the 1989 Left Banks.

2014 Mousse Special Club Rose de Saignee
100% Pinot Meunier. I don’t think I’ve ever had a rose Special Club before. This was light but complex, grapefruit and blood orange with orange zest. Delicate bead, fun and lively B+/A-

1989 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc

Ripe with plenty of vanillin oak, lots of wax, good but gets better with time and foods. B+’

The latter was great with my crab cake. The reds were served mostly in flights of 2. Bobby Vans did a nice job- I had perfectly cooked tomahawk, enjoyed spinach, hash browns, and fries

1989 Gruaud -Larose
Higher acid, red fruit, bretty but more in a bandaid/vinyl way than the manure of old Cordier funk. I’ve liked better before, but been a while. C+/B-

1989 Meyney
Boy I’ve drunk a lot of this over the years, Sweet fleshy and fun, and the Cordier funk here is classic light barnyard. B+/B

1989 Leoville Las Cases
Young but surprisingly approachable for LLC sweet fruit, good finish. A-/B+

1989 Leoville Barton
There’s a bit of greenness here that seems more like green oak than unripe fruit, others like more than me. B-

1989 Palmer

Lush fruits but good acids, cedary, floral. Delightful. A-

1989 Pichon Lalande

Exotic, perfumed, elegant., A-

1989 Pichon Baron
Still some hard tannin, good fruit, a bit stolid next to Pichon Lalande (last time we had together I think I preferred Baron). B

1989 Lynch Bages
Great bottle of this. Quite young, but the tannins are supple, tasty but long future. A-

1988 Yquem (375)
Honey, orange marmalade, and Earl Grey. Good acids, big wine. B+/A-

For group voting Palmer and Lynch Bages vied for first, while I think Pichon Lalande edged LLC for 3rd place (lost my scoresheet)

Fun night with the group, nice to meet Robin S and to see everyone else.

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.
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Jenise

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Re: WTN: 1989 Bordeaux (plus a rose Special Club)

by Jenise » Fri Jan 25, 2019 10:25 pm

Wow, I envy you those Bordeaux.

About the Special Club. At the risk of sounding unenlighened, I'll admit to not even having heard (that I can recall) of Special Club but since you put in in the title I'm guessing it's, well, special. American? French?
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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David M. Bueker

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Re: WTN: 1989 Bordeaux (plus a rose Special Club)

by David M. Bueker » Fri Jan 25, 2019 10:45 pm

Special Club is a bottling done by certain grower Champagne producers. It’s a sort of prestige bottling, but not generally at prestige pricing levels.

Mousse Fils is a special producer, even without the Club. :mrgreen:
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Re: WTN: 1989 Bordeaux (plus a rose Special Club)

by Jenise » Sat Jan 26, 2019 12:35 pm

Thanks for explaining. Wonder how I've missed knowing or seeing that. I don't buy tons of champagne but I'm not out of that loop.
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Re: WTN: 1989 Bordeaux (plus a rose Special Club)

by David M. Bueker » Sat Jan 26, 2019 1:58 pm

The bottlings are not widely available.
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Re: WTN: 1989 Bordeaux (plus a rose Special Club)

by ChaimShraga » Sun Jan 27, 2019 11:01 am

Special Clubs are usually great stuff, nominally the best the producer has to offer. They used to have a standard label, did away with that but still adhere to fat bottles I can never fit easily in my fridge.
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