Saturday I hosted a nice group of old friends for a 50 year look at the 1975 Bordeaux vintage. Pomerol has always been great, and Graves as well, but Medoc was stern and hard for a long time. We’ll see!
I had some nice cheeses (Pleasant Ridge, Morbier, Brillat-Savarin, etc) and some charcuterie (the good part was Bentons, less so some mediocre antipasto from Costco)
Savart L’Ouverture Extra Brut Champagne (Sept 2023 dg)
Nice flavors of pear and peach, but soft and a little coarse. B
OK, 1975 reds
1975 Ch. Coufran
Sweet, soft and floral. Good showing.B/B+
Margaux flight
1975 Ch. Kirwan
Last minute discovery, didn’t know I had this. Light and peppery, mostly resolved tannins though there’s a dryness on back end. Not so long, but better than my low expectations for Kirwan. B-
1975 Ch. Lascombes
Young and vigorous, firm tannin and moderate acids. Cassis, tobacco, and a ferric note. B+/A-
St Julien flight
1975 Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou
Complex and long, silky black plum fruit with cigarbox/tobacco and earth. A-
1975 Ch. Leoville Las Cases
My least favorite red of the night, simultaneously tough and hollow. Nose is actually pretty good, with black fruit , cigar smoke, and a floral note of paperwhites, but on palate it’s dull with very low acid, hard tannins, and short finish. C+/B-
(my favorite comments- John: “its’ the RFK Jr of wine” Sasha :”complete with brain worm”)
I was back and forth to kitchen and grill cooking so we took a break from reds.
John brought out a blind white, but I knew what is was and couldn’t guess. Group got Bdx blanc immediately and vintage range shortly after, but took a while to get property. 1985 Ch. Carbonnieux Blanc was rather brilliant, beautiful light color, pears and lemon drops with beeswax and a honied note (though not sweetness). I like Carbonnieux was 10-20 years but never have tasted one this old, I’ve been missing out! A-
2015 Brochet Les Hauts Chardonnays Extra Brut Champagne
Zero dosage, and it shows. Electric brightness, too much for some but I called it angry in a good way. Full, powerful, mineral. Some felt it needed time, which I can see, but I enjoyed the anger. A-
I had some Flannery lamb loins as a mixed grill with some sausages (morcilla, lamb merguez, brats, and a bacon/cheddar sausage I bought at farmers market because vendor was forlorn), plus garlicky spinach and a lentil salad.
Northern Medoc flight
1975 Ch.Montrose
I expected the combination of St Estephe and 1975 to make this rather hard, but it was actually one of the softer wines of the night. Resolved tannins, quiet cassis fruit, a bit of barnyard. B
1975 Ch.Pichon Lalande
Sweet cassis, violets, pencil lead. Complete and elegant. A-
Pomerol flight #1
1975 Ch. Gazin
Black plums, truffles, cocoa. Balanced and fresh, resolved tannins, not as powerful or complex as Pomerols in next flight, but very nice. B+
1975 Ch. Le Gay
Dark fruit, a little barnyard funk, leathery in a good way. B/B+
Pomerol flight #2
1975 Ch. L’Evangile
Black cherry and cassis, mocha, licorice, grilled meat. Complex, powerful, and refined. A-/A
1975 Ch.Conseillante
Plum and dark berries, coffee, campfire. Long and delicious, almost any other night would be WOTN. A-
Graves flight
1975 Ch. Pape-Clement
I was worried re matchup in this flight, but this was actually a pretty strong wine. Solid red fruit, gravel, tobacco leaf. Resolved tannins and softer acids. Good length. B+
1975 Ch.Haut Brion
Explosively complex nose, with red fruits, violets, citrus zest, and tobacco, lush palate with darker fruits, anise, and loamy soil. Wonderful. A-/A
What a great lineup of 75s, surpassed my expectations.
Well I can’t let folks leave without a blind red. They got Bordeaux immediately, one guess of 70s, then John said “it’s not an 82, it’s ‘81 or ‘83.” After I confirmed former Sasha got LMHB.
1981 La Mission Haut Brion
Cassis, mushrooms, cigarbox. Some menthol/eucalyptus notes, excellent length A-/B+
Jeff had brought an extra bottle of bubbles, Marguet Shaman 20 Rose Champagne was nice, with strawberries, blood orange, and rose petals, gets more herby with air. Non-dosage but not austere. B+
Might as well have a blind white. John got Chenin immediately, but took a while to get to producer (especially as I misunderstood a guess and confirmed Coteaux du Layon, oops). Dark color (first guess was 80s), peach and apricot, demi-sec sweetness. The 04 (“Lesser” year”)of this was much drier, younger, and more attractive.2005 Belliviere (Eric Nicolas) "l'Effraie" Coteaux de Loir. B-/C+
Really fun night. People brought really good wines but even more they brought great personalities and varied opinions. And of course they were accepting of the hound (who kept trying to steal food). Good to be around good people, and we were lucky wines showed so well.
Viva la 1975.
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.