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WTN: A superb 100% Cabernet Sauvignon!!!

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WTN: A superb 100% Cabernet Sauvignon!!!

by Saina » Mon Jul 17, 2006 3:14 pm

Once again I shared a bottle of wine and some bloody chunks of meat with a good friend of mine. We have recently imbibed the 78 and 85 Haut-Baillys, so we logically progressed to the 1986. It is a delicious wine, perhaps my favourite though not drinking as well as the other two. What I am curious about is that the Haut-Bailly web site claims this is 100% Cab S, while Peppercorn claims that it is almost wholly Cab S - implying that some Merlot is in there also. I would of course assume that H-B knows best, but the wine itself smells and tastes as if there was the typical blend going on! It is perhaps a touch more Cabernetty than in the other vintages I've had, but by no means does this taste like a varietal wine! But from the evidence given by H-B, I must say that this is the first 100% Cabernet S that I have genuinely loved. Others have impressed me; some I have enjoyed to some extent; but none apart from this have I truly loved. Usually I will prefer the grape to be blended, but in 1986 H-B made it perfectly!

  • 1986 Château Haut-Bailly - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (7/17/2006)
    Still dark red, slight bricking towards the rim. The nose has much cassis, lead, leaves and is typically earthy à la Pessac and red toned in its fruit à la H-B. The nose, though obviously Cab S dominant, does not really scream 100% Cab S as H-B's web site claims this vintage is - rather it seems just the perfect blend as the wine usually is. The palate is still tannic, but sweetly fruity, light yet intense, with fine acidity also. A lovely young Claret - though blossoming already.

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Re: WTN: A superb 100% Cabernet Sauvignon!!!

by J Nolan » Mon Jul 17, 2006 3:26 pm

Love the 'Bloody chunks of meat' nice and ignorant as a definition the way I lik'em,
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Re: WTN: A superb 100% Cabernet Sauvignon!!!

by Saina » Tue Jul 18, 2006 7:20 am

J Nolan wrote:Love the 'Bloody chunks of meat' nice and ignorant as a definition the way I lik'em,


Well, sorry to spoil the effect, but as it works so well oldish Bx it was filet of reindeer left rare with a shallot and red wine sauce (made from the sediment naturally!) served with mushroom risotto. Simple, fast, and helped with the still generous tannins of the wine but didn't overpower the mature elements of it. Quite a perfect match in other words.

Otto
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Re: WTN: A superb 100% Cabernet Sauvignon!!!

by Tim York » Tue Jul 18, 2006 8:12 am

According to the 2004, then Bettane/Desseauve, edition of Le Classement, Haut-Bailly's grape variety make-up ("encépagement") is a classical one as follows -

Cabernet-Sauvignon 65%
Merlot 25%
Cabernet franc 10%

This, of course, does not prove that the 1986 grand vin was not 100% CS but, if the encépagement has not changed much, one does wonder what they would have done with all the Merlot and CF. A rather unbalanced second wine?
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Re: WTN: A superb 100% Cabernet Sauvignon!!!

by Saina » Tue Jul 18, 2006 4:53 pm

Tim York wrote:According to the 2004, then Bettane/Desseauve, edition of Le Classement, Haut-Bailly's grape variety make-up ("encépagement") is a classical one as follows -

Cabernet-Sauvignon 65%
Merlot 25%
Cabernet franc 10%

This, of course, does not prove that the 1986 grand vin was not 100% CS but, if the encépagement has not changed much, one does wonder what they would have done with all the Merlot and CF. A rather unbalanced second wine?



According to the web site, all the Merlot was put in the second wine. There is no mention of Cabernet Franc.
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