Our Bordeaux group met at Bobby Vans steakhouse (midtown east location) Tuesday night for a 20 year look at the "96 Medocs ( Im looking forward to the 30 year retrospective). Good porterhouse, good service, nice table without excess noise.

Ulysse Collin €œLes Roises€� Champagne
I think this was NV. Bigger styled, like a big Chard with bubbles, pears with a light nutty note, good finish. B+/B

Reds (in flights of twos)

1996 Ch. Lagrange
More open (probably most open wine of the night)I was in the minority preferring the Lagrange in this flight. B+/B

1996 Ch. Gruaud Larose
Cassis, lots of funk. With time I thought there was a metallic edge to the finish. But most people liked this over Lagrange. B-

1996 Ch. Leoville Poyferre
I liked this a lot, ripe cassis but classic notes of tobacco, cedar and leather. Young but fun to drink already. A-/B+

1996 Ch. Leoville Barton
Decanted right before dinner, this came out as a bit clunky/chunky. Wood tannin, somewhat muddied fruit. B-/C+

1996 Ch. Ducru Beaucaillou
This did not seem corked or cooked. But didnt remind me at all of the (several) bottles of this Ive had in last few years (and loved). No obvious flaws (other than a light sour/lactic note), but withdrawn and a little dull. B-/C+

1996 Ch. Leoville Las Cases
Big, powerful young, some cigarbox but mostly big blackcurrant fruit. Nice texture. A-/B+

1996 Ch. Cos d'Estournel
Structured, hard, probably good stuff underneath but hard to enjoy now. B?

1996 Ch. Calon Segur
(I need to go back to pen and paper. Phone auto corrected to Colon Sevareid) Sturdy, restrained, needs time. B?

1996 Ch. Pichon Baron
Burly but good. Muscular style, young. B+

1996 Ch. Pichon Lalande
Easily most elegant wine of the night. Young, perfumed, great mouthfeel. Delicious now, long future. A-

1996 Ch. Lynch Bages
By this point I wasnt writing anything down, but I did like this, though young and primary. B+

1996 Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste
Also quite primary, though there was a nice Pauillac pencil lead note coming out. B+

1996 Ch. Suduiraut
This was a pleasant surprise to me, not much experience with "96 Sauternes but not something I had high expectations for. Honied botrytis notes, orange rind/marmalade, good acids, good finish. B+

Group Voting
Pichon Lalande 22 pts
LLC 15 pts
Poyferre 12 pts
GPL 2 pts
PBaron 1 pt
Calon Segur 1 pt
Ducru 1 pt

I thought the wines were very good, but drank more like they were 10 than 20. Fun night, good group

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.

On Thursday, October 27, 2016 at 10:18:05 AM UTC-4, DaleW wrote:
> Our Bordeaux group met at Bobby Vans steakhouse (midtown east location) Tuesday night for a 20 year look at the "96 Medocs ( Im looking forward to the 30 year retrospective). Good porterhouse, good service, nice table without excess noise.
>
> Ulysse Collin €œLes Roises€� Champagne
> I think this was NV. Bigger styled, like a big Chard with bubbles, pears with a light nutty note, good finish. B+/B
>
> Reds (in flights of twos)
>
> 1996 Ch. Lagrange
> More open (probably most open wine of the night)I was in the minority preferring the Lagrange in this flight. B+/B
>
> 1996 Ch. Gruaud Larose
> Cassis, lots of funk. With time I thought there was a metallic edge to the finish. But most people liked this over Lagrange. B-
>
> 1996 Ch. Leoville Poyferre
> I liked this a lot, ripe cassis but classic notes of tobacco, cedar and leather. Young but fun to drink already. A-/B+
>
> 1996 Ch. Leoville Barton
> Decanted right before dinner, this came out as a bit clunky/chunky. Wood tannin, somewhat muddied fruit. B-/C+
>
> 1996 Ch. Ducru Beaucaillou
> This did not seem corked or cooked. But didnt remind me at all of the (several) bottles of this Ive had in last few years (and loved). No obvious flaws (other than a light sour/lactic note), but withdrawn and a little dull. B-/C+
>
> 1996 Ch. Leoville Las Cases
> Big, powerful young, some cigarbox but mostly big blackcurrant fruit. Nice texture. A-/B+
>
> 1996 Ch. Cos d'Estournel
> Structured, hard, probably good stuff underneath but hard to enjoy now. B?
>
> 1996 Ch. Calon Segur
> (I need to go back to pen and paper. Phone auto corrected to Colon Sevareid) Sturdy, restrained, needs time. B?
>
> 1996 Ch. Pichon Baron
> Burly but good. Muscular style, young. B+
>
> 1996 Ch. Pichon Lalande
> Easily most elegant wine of the night. Young, perfumed, great mouthfeel. Delicious now, long future. A-
>
> 1996 Ch. Lynch Bages
> By this point I wasnt writing anything down, but I did like this, though young and primary. B+
>
> 1996 Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste
> Also quite primary, though there was a nice Pauillac pencil lead note coming out. B+
>
> 1996 Ch. Suduiraut
> This was a pleasant surprise to me, not much experience with "96 Sauternes but not something I had high expectations for. Honied botrytis notes, orange rind/marmalade, good acids, good finish. B+
>
> Group Voting
> Pichon Lalande 22 pts
> LLC 15 pts
> Poyferre 12 pts
> GPL 2 pts
> PBaron 1 pt
> Calon Segur 1 pt
> Ducru 1 pt
>
> I thought the wines were very good, but drank more like they were 10 than 20. Fun night, good group
>
> 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 the notes. I have a number of 1990's vintages that I've been drinking lately. What is it about Cordier's style that makes them so recognizably funky?

On Friday, October 28, 2016 at 12:57:18 PM UTC-4, Bi!! wrote:

> Thanks for the notes. I have a number of 1990's vintages that I've been drinking lately. What is it about Cordier's style that makes them so recognizably funky?

But by '96 Gruaud was no longer Cordier!

On Friday, October 28, 2016 at 3:19:20 PM UTC-4, DaleW wrote:
> On Friday, October 28, 2016 at 12:57:18 PM UTC-4, Bi!! wrote:
>
> > Thanks for the notes. I have a number of 1990's vintages that I've been drinking lately. What is it about Cordier's style that makes them so recognizably funky?
>
> But by '96 Gruaud was no longer Cordier!

Sorry....I recently had the 1990 GL and Talbott and both were loaded with barnyard.

Thanks for the notes. I have a number of 1990's vintages that I've
been drinking lately. What is it about

Cordier's style that makes them so recognizably funky?
>> But by '96 Gruaud was no longer Cordier!
>
> Sorry....I recently had the 1990 GL and Talbott and both were loaded with barnyard.
>

I have to go with Bi!! here. Had both over the last 2 years and from 2
different bottles of each and both very bretty. Way out of my wheelhouse.