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1996 Chateau Lynch Bages

WIth grilled lamb chops and new potatoes with rosemary I opened a bottle of 1996 Chateau Lynch Bages last night. I was sipping on a glass of 2006 Ramey chard while prepping dinner so I opened and decanted the bottle of LB since when I opened it the bottle was about as funky smelling as any wine I've had in a long time. My first taste of the LB showed a really disjointed mess of a wine with really off flavors of nail polish, old leather, wet horse blanket and tar. I was tempted to find another bottle but when I checked on it again in 15 minutes I found that most of the funk had blown off and a bit of cassis was peeking through. I decided to let it sit for a while and we munched on lobster salad and enjoyed the Ramey. After an hour the LB was rocking. Pure cassis fruit, blackberry, blueberry, cedar and cigar with well resolved yet firm tannins. This was one of the most dramatic evolutions of a glass of wine that I can remember in a long time and a good reminder to let 'em breathe. "A-"

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Bi!!
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The wine still has plenty of life and showed it's age only upon opening. It was still quite dark and showed just the faintest hint of lightening at the rim.

Reply to
Bi!!

The wine still has plenty of life and showed it's age only upon opening. It was still quite dark and showed just the faintest hint of lightening at the rim.

When you open a wine like this decant it into a decanter and age it for at least 12 hours before you drink it. We're drinking up the last few bottles of our 1970 Lynch Bages. The wine is as spectacular now as it was when it was compared to the first growths back in the mid 1970's. We'll have a small tasting glass when it's decanted, then cover the remainder with Private Preserve gas and cling wrap for 24 hours. Then we drink the rest. The wine is always better 24 hours later. I'm always astounded, that the wine has not just held up, but improved 39 years later.

Hugh, an aging presenescent though alert geezer,

Reply to
Hugh

Thanks for the advice. I usually decant claret for an hour or two before serving but 12- 24 hours seems a bit long to me. I find that wines will start to lose some vigor and fruit after extended decanting. Just my take but I really do appricieate your input.

Reply to
Bi!!

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