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TN: 96 Talbot for St. Valentine's Day

Betsy made ribeyes with a black olive sauce, broccoli with parmesan and lemon, and a sweet potato for our Valentines dinner. When she said ribeye I had envisioned a fairly serious Bordeaux, but when I saw the olive vinaigrette and the lemon on the broccoli, I decided to scale back what I was opening. A more modest wine, a half of the 1996 Ch. Talbot (St Julien), did well. Rich cassis fruit, some cigarbox and leather, a little smoke. Ripe, decent acidity, with some lingering tannins. Not a great Bordeaux, but a great value (I paid bought a case of 375s at $290 a couple years ago, this is a nice $12 half bottle!). B

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Reply to
DaleW
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Heck, it sounds like a nice $15 half bottle, Dale! ;-)

Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

Good price point for that wine. I have only opened one '96 Talbot so far and it was a bit young and green but a half bottle should be just right now. I don't know why I haven't invested more in half bottles as there are just two of us and that is the right amount with dinner.

Reply to
Lawrence Leichtman

I still have about a case of 750's left that I bought on release. Ihaven't openedone in a few years so maybe it's time to try one. Thanks for the notes Dale.

Reply to
Bi!!

Mark, I would happily pay $15 for more of these today, maybe $20. Down to about 3 (I think I traded 8 or 10 originally).

Larry, I really like half-bottles. They work well for us, The problem is generally availability (unless one buys a case on futures, as I decided to do for '05 Rouget 0 $25 upcharge is very reasonable). Excluding dessert wines of course. For reds, easiest to find Bdx, then CA. Burgs can be tough, Piedmont & Loire almost non-existent. And of course sometimes prices are 65-70% of 750s. So when I find a decent price I try to grab. Was planning a buying hiatus, but I just placed an order this AM at Zachys sale for some halves: De Malle 1990 $35.99 Talbot 2004 $14.39 Cantemerle 2004 $11.19 d'Aiguilhe 2004 11.19 Bourgneuf 2004 $14.39 Bahans Haut Brion 2004

Reply to
DaleW

Save a few empty half-bottles. Next time you open a full bottle, pour half of it into the half bottle, stick the end of a paperclip into the neck of the bottle, put the cork in (the paperclip allows air to escape), and then pull the paperclip out. Push the cork in a little more. You'll have next to no ullage, and next to no oxygen. (the groove in the cork will expand shortly and seal the bottle)

You can then pop that half bottle in the fridge and it will be good for months.

Jose

Reply to
Jose

That has always been my problem with 1/2 bottles. They are a lot less available. I will look at Zachys web site to see what the have in 1/2 bottles. Thanks for the information. Good idea about the recorkage. Got to try that sometime.

Reply to
Lawrence Leichtman

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