Tonight with a dinner of broiled rack of lamb, we opened a bottle of

1997 Ch. Barde-Haut St. Emilion
nose: initially, quite jammy, turning more alcoholic, with pencil lead,
stones, plums, cherries showing up
palate: medium body, fairly acidic, shy on fruit, cocoa, plums and stones

This was the last of our '97s and in retrospect we may have opened it
too soon or too late. The alcohol was quite noticeable, even though the
wine was quite cool (I had just pulled it out of the cellar an hour
beforehand) and it's listed as 12.5%. The pencil lead and mineral
character were the dominant features of the nose, and on the palate the
non-fruit flavors also tended to dominate. There was enough tannin left
in the wine to cut the fattiness of the lamb.

One footnote: I pulled out one Riedel Bdx glass and one Spiegelau Bdx
glass, which visually bear a strong resemblance to one another
(Spiegelau's is a bit more open). I was prepared to find no meaningful
difference in the wine between the two glasses, but both Jean and I
found that the wine had less a pronounced nose and more noticeable
alcohol in the Spiegelau glass. Additionally, the wine in the Riedel
glass tasted a bit more intense and round than did the same wine in the
Spiegelau. That was a shocker!

Mark Lipton

On Mar 1, 12:22�am, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> Tonight with a dinner of broiled rack of lamb, we opened a bottle of
>
> 1997 Ch. Barde-Haut St. Emilion
> nose: initially, quite jammy, turning more alcoholic, with pencil lead,
> stones, plums, cherries showing up
> palate: medium body, fairly acidic, shy on fruit, cocoa, plums and stones
>
> This was the last of our '97s and in retrospect we may have opened it
> too soon or too late. *The alcohol was quite noticeable, even though the
> wine was quite cool (I had just pulled it out of the cellar an hour
> beforehand) and it's listed as 12.5%. *The pencil lead and mineral
> character were the dominant features of the nose, and on the palate the
> non-fruit flavors also tended to dominate. *There was enough tannin left
> in the wine to cut the fattiness of the lamb.
>
> One footnote: I pulled out one Riedel Bdx glass and one Spiegelau Bdx
> glass, which visually bear a strong resemblance to one another
> (Spiegelau's is a bit more open). *I was prepared to find no meaningful
> difference in the wine between the two glasses, but both Jean and I
> found that the wine had less a pronounced nose and more noticeable
> alcohol in the Spiegelau glass. *Additionally, the wine in the Riedel
> glass tasted a bit more intense and round than did the same wine in the
> Spiegelau. *That was a shocker!
>
> Mark Lipton

l liked this wine a lot, but felt last bottle couple years ago was
fading. When vibrant, one of the most evocatively "chocolatey" wines
I've ever tasted, and one of my favorite '97s. I felt the more modern
wines did well in '97 for early drinking, but in riper vintages I tend
to favor the more "classic" styled wines.

I have a soft spot for this wine as Betsy and I met our good friend
Oswaldo through postings on the '97 BH.

DaleW wrote:

> l liked this wine a lot, but felt last bottle couple years ago was
> fading. When vibrant, one of the most evocatively "chocolatey" wines
> I've ever tasted, and one of my favorite '97s. I felt the more modern
> wines did well in '97 for early drinking, but in riper vintages I tend
> to favor the more "classic" styled wines.

Bummer... I thought that we might have missed its peak. Still, it was a
pleasant wine to drink and did well enough with the lamb. But it's
funny: as soon as I posted that, I kicked myself for forgetting to add
the philosophical note that I find myself preferring the more modern Bdx
in thin years, whereas I'd probably find the same producer not to my
taste in a more ripe year. Sound familiar? ;-)

Mark Lipton