Both wines were properly stored since release, had good fills still in the neck, and had no cork issues.
Chateau Lascombes 1975: For very many years, this wine was extremely harsh. I would rather drink water than it early on. Now the wine still has good deep color with only slight age showing around the rim. Some fairly typical dark fruit is now showing in the bouquet and taste. I now can drink it with some pleasure with the right food. It still has plenty of acid and tannin andis a good grease cutter with very fat meat.
Talley Vineyards 1991 Chardonnay Arroya Grande Valley. This is an estate wine made from grapes in the Talley family vineyard in southern San Luis Obispo County in California. Chardonnay from this region sometimes can age well for many years.This wine is still holding well. It has developed a rather intense herbal character that reminds me of horehound. This herb was used much more many years ago, and I had a grandmother who used horehound cough drops. There also was a hint of floral honey, although the Chardonnay was dry. I do not fancy horehound very much, and others may like this wine much better than I did. It is one of the most unusual Chardonnays that I have every tasted.