WTN: 1990 Bordeaux at Balvanera

Nice group at Balvanera Tuesday for a look at 1990 Bordeaux. We started with bacalau croquettas, octopus, chorizo iberico, and salad

2015 Billecart-Salmon “le Rose” Champagne
Apparently they put the 2015 Elisabeth into this. Strawberry and maraschino, citrus pith, a bit of bread. Fun, B+

2018 Agrapart “Avizoise” Champagne Extra Brut
Granny smith, lemon pie, citrus zest and a hint of hazelnut. Fresh, long and complex. A-

2021 Francois et Fils "Veauvignere" Condrieu
Decent acids for viognier, ripe peach, honeysucklely floral notes. Not really my thing but drinkable. B-

1990 Ch. Laville Haut Brion
Fig and pear, oak, stony, not showing much after opening. Liked much more at end of night, much more integrated oak, some citrus to fill out the sweeter fruits. B- PnP, B+ with air

For the reds we ordered a bunch of skirt steaks,morcilla, carrots, fries, and mashed potatoes

1990 Ch. Angelus
Ripe but not roasted, black raspberry chocolate bar, some cedary notes, light vanilla. B+/A-

1990 Ch. Lagrange
Cassis, coffee, green tobacco leaf, I quite enjoyed, some found thin (they were wrong). B+

1990 Ch Leoville Barton
Cassis, leather, cedar, some green herb, there’s a little more roughness to the tannins than the other wines. B

1990 Ch. Pape Clement
Black cherry, anise, tobacco, cigarbox, not big but with good drive and an exotic edge. A-/B+

1990 Ch. La Fleur de Gay.
Black plum, licorice, an exotic note of gamebird, soft acidity. B+

1990 Ch. L'Evangile
Lush black fruits, mocha, truffles, a little sandalwood. Very long. A-/A

1990 Ch. Leoville Las Cases
Apparently a pretty saturated cork and some felt not representative. Slightly dull cassis fruit, cigar ash, some oaky notes, fairly hard tannins. B

1990 Ch. Leoville Poyferre
Great showing, cassis and black cherry, tobacco, and an almost Californian eucalyptus note. Smoky mineral finish, long. A-

Somewhere in here we ordered some lamb sausage (turned out to be rather spicy)

1990 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
Black currant, green pepper, green herbs, it’s Sociando alright! And a good one. B+/A-

1990 Ch. .Lynch Bages
Lovely exotic nose with dark fruits and incense, on the palate cassis and kirsch with a cocoa overtone, just a hint of roasted. B+/B

1994 Warre Port (375)
Surprisingly ready, blackberry and blueberry with licorice and candied orange, tangy finish. B+

There were an assortment of desserts, but I don’t eat and left for my train. Fun night with a great group, and Balvanera’s food was delicious (as usual).
Group voting
L'Evangile 21pts
Poyferre 10
Angelus 9
Lynch Bages 6
Pape Clement 2
48 pts total- Congratulations to all for counting to 6 correctly!

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.

Thanks for that!

I still have Angelus, Barton, Poyferre, Lynch Bages, and Sociando, so that progress report is useful.

I have a dozen odd cases of Port but of that only one is a half bottle (no idea why I bought it). Do you cellar halves much? One good thing about them is that they can be an indicator for the state of the full bottles. I'll have to dig out the half (88 Grahams Malvedos) and see how it is doing.

Slightly dull cassis fruit, cigar ash, some oaky notes, fairly hard tannins.

Sounds representative of LLC to me!

Looks like another great Balvanera-Bordeaux night, great lineup even if you didn’t hit the absolute creme de le creme of the vintage (90 Poyferrre excluded).

I’ve long been a big, big admirer of the 90 Lagrange and Sociando Mallet. Along with the Louviere, 1990 is the best vintage I’ve had from these chateau.

It was a fun lineup, though we lost a few with cancellations (Canon, GPL, etc).
I don't own much port at all (Jay brought this), a few 375s and a few 750s. But as a couple ounces is usually all I want the 375s are useful,

I recall having that '90 Angelus in its youth (relatively speaking). Yes, a huge wine, but not totally OTT (I'm looking at you, Pichon-Baron).

[Jenise]

Mark, I loved the '90 Pichon Baron as a baby. Bought it off the shelf at a bistro/wine shop in Oregon and it was the most astounding red wine I'd ever tasted. Yeah too young but it was a very open moment where the full splendor of later years was evident. Perfect training wheels for a young wine lover with ambitions.

Mark, I loved the '90 Pichon Baron as a baby. Bought it off the shelf at a bistro/wine shop in Oregon and it was the most astounding red wine I'd ever tasted. Yeah too young but it was a very open moment where the full splendor of later years was evident. Perfect training wheels for a young wine lover with ambitions.

Horses for courses, Jenise. I recall that wine as being inky, syrupy and distinctly roasted in character, reminding me of nothing so much as a cup of strong black coffee. I only had it once, in its youth, so no idea how it's developed in the interim (nor how my tastes may changed in that time, too)

I am down to just a few of the Pichon Baron, a huge wine that is much more likeable now than it was in it's youth. Many would say that it still needs time! When I was looking up my holdings on Baron I found that I have a small stash of 1994 Lalande I had forgotten about, a wine many people write off as a 'bad' vintage, but now very enjoyable. Because it is from a frowned upon vintage, you can still find it if you watch for it, often at a good price. Ditto for 1993 right banks wines.

while it's certainly ripe, I'm a fan of the 1990 PB. After an uninspiring stretch in 70s and mid80s the 89 and 90 are both big, but hold it well now.

while it's certainly ripe, I'm a fan of the 1990 PB. After an uninspiring stretch in 70s and mid80s the 89 and 90 are both big, but hold it well now.

The 1988 PB is also doing very well now.