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WTN: 1929 Ch. Margaux (and some others....)

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Bill Spohn

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WTN: 1929 Ch. Margaux (and some others....)

by Bill Spohn » Sat Jun 24, 2006 11:05 am

Monthly lunch notes (wines tasted blind):

2003 Ch. Tour de Mirambeau Cuve Passion – a white Bordeaux to start off seemed fitting. This one was certainly not trumpeting it’s origin, mind you. The SB was muted and it was a bit hard to tell where this was from, although the fruit was quite good both in the nose and on palate, and it had a smooth tasty presence, finishing reasonably long.

Went well with sable fish and black beans

1996 Chopin Bourgogne Pinot Noir – certainly a good choice to be next up. Obvious pinot nose, decent fruit in the middle, perhaps a bit overwhelmed right at the end by the tannins which suddenly assert themselves. Pretty good length.

1929 Ch. Margaux – this was to say the least a big surprise. I thought maybe 60s, but when told it was older, wasn’t surprised to find a 28 or 29 despite the considerable depth of colour it exhibited. The nose was the best thing about this wine – mature fruit with some cedar, road dust and a sweetness peaking out from under, and it developed for quite awhile, even after the wine had faded on palate. In the mouth it was slightly flat but had a nice feel to it, losing fruit on the palate over about 10 minutes and then doing a quick fade. Amazing to think that when this wine went into vat, it was raining stockbrokers in New York and Chicago…. This wine lingered on the tongue – and in our thoughts.

1990 Lungarotti San Giorgio
– guess whose wine got to follow the 77 year old first growth? Yup, yours truly. I tried to tell them it needed to sit in the glass for a half hour, but they plunged in anyway. This blend of cab, sangiovese and cannaiolo from Umbria impressed me in it’s youth. It now shows good fruit, a fair bit of acidity, and enough Bordeaux character to fool most of the attending into thinking it another wine from that region. My only concern with it is that the tannins are still a bit hard and the fruit is not as abundant as it was five years ago. Nevertheless a pleasant bottle and a wine I’ll follow for a few more years.

With quail salad

1995 Ch. Cantenac (St. Emilion) – this merlot based wine had a big if simple fruit nose, with hints of burnt sugar and dill. Slight bitterness at the end which didn’t bother me, but a bit short on fruit on palate, which did.

2001 L'Ecole 41 Merlot Seven Hills Vineyard – big sweet blackberry nose with some obvious oak, jammy on the tongue and a nice long sweet finish.

With smoked rabbit tenderloin in pasta (bunny spaghetti)

1998 Vieux Donjon – always a favourite. My friend’s last bottle sacrificed for our luncheon pleasure (psst – Bruce – I’ve got you covered – I have a couple of cases of this I haven’t opened yet….) This wine is no longer hiding it’s charms. The nose was doing the herb and anise thing and it has lots of fruit in the middle with a nice long finish. No rush at all on this one – it is just getting into prime time.

with cheese

1998 Cascabel Shiraz, Fleurieu Peninsula – an obvious Ozwine, but harder to place within Australia. Dark in the glass with heavy legs and nose to match, lots of flavour intensity and sweetness in the mouth, but not to excess as so many recent wines have been. Good length, not much in the way of tannin, and a nice little tickle of cinnamon that shaded the finish briefly. Probably best over the next 5 years or so.

A lunch we won’t quickly forget.


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Re: WTN: 1929 Ch. Margaux (and some others....)

by Jenise » Sun Jun 25, 2006 2:04 pm

Bruce stayed over last night (do you know that man is available for adoption?) and we discussed your notes over breakfast. Mostly, of course, we just wanted to relive the '29. :)

Not many points of disagreement, but a few. I thought the Mirambeau did show of its origins, especially with a recent very hot vintage like 03 to blame it on. I agree that the SB component didn't show much, but the semmillon certainly did and in a way I thought was what a hot vintage in Bordeaux should taste like.

You were kinder to the Bourgogne than I would be, and harder on the Cantenac than I would be. I thought the former was simply too long in the tooth--it had a weedy nose, and whatever recommended this wine at one time was no longer there. Whereas I thought the Cantenac merely disjointed. The Cab Franc element was too vegetal and too much in control, but the merlot was there in the nose this wine and should eventually round things out. A few hours in a decanter might have fixed it right up.

Loved the pic of the Margaux. Too bad that spectacular golfball-sized wad of sediment doesn't show.
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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Bill Spohn

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Re: WTN: 1929 Ch. Margaux (and some others....)

by Bill Spohn » Sun Jun 25, 2006 2:27 pm

Jenise wrote:Loved the pic of the Margaux. Too bad that spectacular golfball-sized wad of sediment doesn't show.


Actually, it wasn't sediment, just an exceptionally high punt (extra points of you can resist that one).
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Re: WTN: 1929 Ch. Margaux (and some others....)

by Paul B. » Mon Jun 26, 2006 10:07 am

'29 Margaux - now that is living history. I can't imagine what thoughts must go through one's mind when drinking a wine that predates not only oneself but in some cases, even one's parents! History in a bottle it is.
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