Prepared a nice dinner for Patrick and his parents, and Remo and his girlfriend Nicole on the 24th of December 2006.
Mouton-Rothschild Pauillac 1992
A pristine bottle I once got as a present. Nicely soft and mature fruit, pretty oak spice, quite smooth and flavourful tannin for the vintage, fairly precise soil notes, as weighty if less complex than the Haut Brion from the same vintage, which remains my favourite 1992 of those I have tasted (does not include Lafleur and Pétrus). Not too opulent, but fairly noble and elegant, quite well-balanced, too. Nothing green or off-putting about this, unlike in lesser years during the eighties, a very tasty little wine, even Remo’s favourite of the evening. Rating: 88-
Tenuta dell’Ornellaia (Marchese Lodovico Antinori) Masseto 1994
My last bottle, and as fine a showing as any. Medium-deep ruby-red with black reflections. Not dry at all, all smooth, quite sweetly ripe and opulent as well as long Merlot with soft oregano and other tender finesse notes. Came across as prettily thick, round and Pomerol-like next to the 1er Cru Bordeaux. Delicious! Will still keep until at least the end of the decade, but has not really been improving for years. My wine of the evening, as well as everyone else’s with the exception of Remo, who preferred the 1993 Haut Brion and especially the 1992 Mouton-Rothschild. Rating: 92
Haut Brion Pessac Léognan 1993
Not my favourite half bottle of this wine so far. More deeply coloured and concentrated than many 1993s, but there is a minor bitterness to the tannin and metallic undertone to the acidity that I already noticed in a half bottle from the same case in October, more pronounced this time, giving the wine a drier and more leafy edge than usually. Quite good, not too precise soil notes, little blueberry fruit sweetness, no more than medium length. Possible that this is going through a grumpy phase right now, but I am afraid it may be loosing harmony rather than gaining any. I used to hope the more impressive than average (in this vintage) raw materials would carry this farther. It seems to be drying out, even if at this rate, it may take a decade or more before it turns nasty, especially from larger format. As to my guests, I could tell it did not profit from being served after the seamless 1994 Masseto. Even so, Remo liked the 1993 Haut Brion second best that night. Rating: 89+/-?
Rieussec Sauternes 1995
Thick, sweet and quite rich, with still gluey-youthful botrytis with a certain medicinality, this has hardly budged since release, but is not too monolithic. While a relative success for the vintage, it is not a great Rieussec. Even so, the fairly complex and so-so ripe tropical yellow fruit made it easy to enjoy with dessert and later that night. Not sure I would cellar it, though. Medium-plus length. A reasonable amount of acidity, not of the particularly flavourful, let alone aromatic sort. Rating: 86+/~87?
Greetings from Switzerland, David.