1970 wine choices

Recently a 1970 Ch. Giscours was excellent, as was a 1970 Lynch Bages several months ago. If you find a 1970 2nd-5th growth Bourdeaux at a fair price try it. My 1970s are tasting much better than the wine press states. Of course, how you cellar & how you control ullage makes a lot of difference. I find if you decant old Bordeaux into a decanter, and let it rest for 12-24 hours the wine tastes better. It tastes better on the second day.

Cheers,

Kent

I'm also a fan of 1970. Giscours was very good through the 70s But I'd err on side of caution. No way I'd decant a '70 Bdx 12-24 hours in advance, but YMMV. cheers

"DaleW" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@k39g2000yqd.googlegroups.com...

Agree with you on that. 2 hours will do, I think, and did a couple of years ago when I opened a Latour -70. The Mouton -82 at the same event needed rather more air - gave it 3-4 hours but it went on developing 4-5 hours more till the bottle was empty :-).

Anders

I'm also a fan of 1970. Giscours was very good through the 70s But I'd err on side of caution. No way I'd decant a '70 Bdx 12-24 hours in advance, but YMMV. cheers

When we drink an old bordeaux we decant slowly into a decanter 2 hours or so before drinking half of it with dinner. Then my routine is to lightly squirt nitrogen over the remaining half, and to cover the decanter with cling wrap. I'm guessing the air/nitrogen ratio is about 50%. That goes into the frig. until the next dinner. On the second night the wine is almost always more satisfying. Everything is more together. The nose and flavor are both much more complex.

Kent

So: we started with a fairly random sparkler (1999 Schramsberg BdB) which was good but nothing special.

All three wines (the two reds and the port) had intact but sodden and disintegrating corks; high fills (bottom neck) and no apparent issues as we opened them. It seemed that the corks were longer than would be normal today - is that in fact the case? Significant debris under the lead on the Montrose, intact wax on the other two - and a lot of enjoyment around the table as we opened wines older than any we'd had before; the whole event was massively enjoyable.

We opened the port first and let it sit for an hour or so, but the other were drunk right on opening.

Montrose: a good match to the steak, but while it was obviously old it was not terrifically complex, nor did it become so after up to 2 hours. Robust, very earthy (but not at all harsh; tannins were obvious by their remnants rather than their presence), elegant but somewhat faded. Tastes as though it would have been better ten years ago. Some soil and a little leather and thyme; perfectly pleasant but not really anything special. Huge amounts of sediment.

LdB: first splash is almost bright orange, close to Lucozade in colour, but there's no sign of oxidation on nose or tongue. Much more elegant than the Montrose, subtle and layered, absolutely smooth. Lots of dark cherry and wood but still very bright, feels much more ready for the next ten years. An A/A- to the Montrose's B-.

Port: Ah, yes. This makes everyone smile. Glad I have more than one of these: the upfront alcohol and plum suggest, and the remainder of the structure confirms, that I can expect this to give pleasure for many years yet. Has obviously benefitted a lot from age, with harsh edges again being seen by their shadow and residue rather than presence; left behind is a ton of complex flavour, more spicy than sweet, and licorice/agave/raisins. Yum.

I got huge satisfaction from tasting wines as old as I am; but I would not buy the reds again, I think: just not good enough to justify the cost (or, quite possibly, my palate is not good enough to justify the cost!). The port is easily worth the investment, though. Really a special evening, with some very close friends and much laughter, as well as the wine experience, and thanks again to all for the help in setting it up.