Broad diverse flight of big reds highlight tomahawk beefsteak dinner

Broad diverse flight of big reds highlight tomahawk beefsteak dinner

A reunion of the Pour Boys wine group, me, Dr. Dan and Bill C provided an occasion for a broad diverse flight of big reds to accompany a beefsteak dinner featuring spectacular tomahawk rib-eye steaks. Linda prepared a magnificent dinner that also included medallion lobster tails, haricort verts, fingerling potatoes and cauliflower. 

 

Prior to dinner we had an extensive selection of artisan cheeses and then a ceasar salad. With the cheese course, we drank Pol Roger Reserve NV Champagne and then I opened a Château Climens Barsac from son Alec's birthyear vintage 1990. 

 

The cheese flight included:

Murray's Delice de Borgogne

Murray's Camembert

Fairlane Farms 12 year old aged cheddar

Fairlane Farms Havarti Pepper

Old Amsterdam Aged Smoked Gouda

Bayley Hazen Blue

Woolwich Dairy Triple Creme Goat Cheese

The tomahawk rib-eye beefsteaks ...

The big red wine flight was broad and diverse featuring wines from around the globe spanning three decades of vintage releases including several from son Alec's birthyear vintage 1990 that we served or hoped to serve at his recent wedding, to current recent releases. 

The flight featured producers that we have all visited together during our wine country tours such as Château St Jean, and also provided a tribute to the super second Château Leoville Las Cases that was a highlight of our trip to St Julien Bordeaux last year. Lastly, we recognized a couple of our favorite Napa Valley producers that we have visited together, Château Boswell and Fantesca who were affected by the ravages of the recent catastrophic fires there. 

Pol Roger Reserve NV Champagne

Château Climens Barsac 1990

Château  St Jean Cinq Cépages 2004

Fantesca Spring Mountain District Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

Château  Boswell Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
I review this wine in an encore tasting in this blogpost.

Château  Leoville Las Cases St Julien Bordeaux 1990

Freemark Abbey Napa Valley Bosche Vineyard 1992

Galerie Pleinaire Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

Clarendon Hills Astralis Clarendon Syrah 2009 

Warres Quinta da Cavadihna Vintage Port 1990

After dinner Linda served a medley of deserts with fresh berries. With the dessert flight we served another 1990 vintage release wine, Warres Quinta da Cavadihna Vintage Port 1990.

Leoville Las Cases Clos du Marquis 1999

Leoville Las Cases Clos du Marquis 1999

A year ago this week we were touring St Julien Bordeaux where we visited Chateau Leoville Las Cases which was one of the highlights of our trip there. So it was fitting that for a casual grilled steak dinner with baked potatoes and sweet corn, I pulled from the cellar this Clos du Marquis label from the Domaines Delon estate.

As I wrote at the time in our chronicle of the trip, Clos du Marquis is a label from Domaine Leoville St Julien, a perfect expression of the Saint-Julien features based on structure, harmony, distinction, complexity and ageing potential.

Clos du Marquis was created at the beginning of the 20th century when the vineyard was planted,  inspired by the Petit Clos adjacent to the Château de Léoville, residence of the Marquis de Las Cases.

Clos du Marquis is a historic brand by the Domaines Delon, a separate vineyard that is across the road from Leoville Las Cases, whose first vintage was released in 1902. The creation of this brand was to allow a clear identification of two completely distinct terroirs of the two estate vineyards.

We hold many vintages of the Clos du Marquis and in error always thought it was a second label of Las Cases rather than a distinctive label in its own right. Upon our return home, we opened a 1989 vintage of Clos du Marquis in tribute to visit there and it was excellent.  

Clos du Marquis is located on some of the finest vineyards with their distinctive terroirs of the Saint Julien appellation, near the Las Cases property and the nearby surrounding prestigious Classified Growths such as Léoville Poyferré and Léoville Barton, and Pichon Lalande across the appellation boundary in Pauillac.

The Clos du Marquis vineyard is a separate cuvée – and not a 'Second Wine', with grapes grown in the Petit Clos (Clos meaning an enclosed garden or field) which is surrounded on all sides by other Second Growths. The Petit Clos vineyard is to the south of the Leoville Las Cases Grand Clos vines and covers 12 acres. It is planted with 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc.

Its name comes from a small walled parcel of land, in French a “clos,” located near the residence of the Marquis de Las-Cases. Clos du Marquis was produced and sold by Chateau Leoville-Las-Cases starting in the late 19th century, which makes it one of the very earliest of the so-called second wines now produced by many Bordeaux estates. The wines are generally made from the fruit of younger vines which are not considered mature enough to produce fruit for the estates’ signature wines. However, they often represent an excellent value and Robert M. Parker Jr. has written that Clos du Marquis in the last 20 years “has been close to the quality of a third or fourth growth.”

Over time it became a wine in its own right and since 1989 has been produced from separate parcels which lie outside Léoville Las Cases' main vineyards. The Clos du Marquis comes from the great terroirs of the Saint-Julien appellation that were not part of the former Léoville estate. These terroirs are located further west and surrounded by prestigious Crus Classés (Classified Growths) including Second Growths from the Saint- Julien and Pauillac appellations: Léoville Poyferré, Léoville Barton and Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande. The Clos du Marquis thus displays typical Saint-Julien characteristics: structure, complexity, balance, distinction and great ageing potential. Clos du Marquis has the ability to challenge many other châteaux of the Medoc. Indeed, it is the equal of most 3rd, 4th and 5th Growths and has been an outstanding performer for many years.

Leoville Las Cases Clos du Marquis St Julien Bordeaux 1999

The 1999 vintage will undoubtedly be a bridesmaid, overshadowed by the much heralded 2000 vintage. Like the 1998 Napa to the much heralded '97, it provides pleasurable drinking at a fraction of the cost of the grand vin for great QPR. As all boats rise with the tide, in great vintages, even the second wines provide superior drinking on par with the grand vins. The 1999 vintage fell short of greatness, when, as so frequently happens in Bordeaux, September rains dashed hopes of a spectacular end to the millennium. Nevertheless 1999 was a respectable vintage, generally ahead of 1991, 1992 and 1993, in some instances surpassing 1994 and 1997 (Right Bank) and 1998 (Left Bank).

Reviewer notes: "A classic Bordeaux with a huge personality. Full color development shows. In the nose showing some smoked wood supported by lovely ripe fruit. Hints of spices, chocolate and some leather tip to detect. The scent is very sophisticated. In the mouth a beautiful entrance. Lots of flavor: fruit, spices, nicely integrated wood, great elegance but still some tannin and this gives the wine firm structure. The wine has a good grip and concentration in the mouth. Although wine is now mature, it can still ripen a while. A classic Bordeaux with a stamp."

This label was awarded:

90 points - James Suckling, Wine Spectator,

89 points - James Suckling, Wine Spectator - March 31, 2002,

86 points - Robert Parker, Wine Advocate #140 - April 2002,

88-90 points - Robert Parker, Wine Advocate #134- April 2001,

90 points - Neal Martin, Wine Journal - July 2011,

90-91 points - Neal Martin, Wine Journal - July 2002, and

88 points - Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar - May/June 2006.

This is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot.

Bright garnet colored, medium-full bodied, bright forward pronounced blackberry and tangy black currant fruits are accented by notes of tea, tobacco, hints of cassis and cedar on the firm, structured but approachable lingering tannins on the finish. At 21 years, showing no signs of diminution whatsoever, likely at the apex of its drinkability.

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=11896

A visit to Léoville du Marquis de Las Cases

A visit to Château Léoville du Marquis de Las Cases, St Julien-Beychevelle, Bordeaux

One of the highlights of our trip to the Medoc was a visit to the legendary 'super second' Léoville du Marquis de Las Cases. This is one of the premier labels of Bordeaux and a special part of our collection with holdings or consumed bottles that date back to the 1964 vintage.

We hold a vertical collection of more than a dozen vintages that has consisted of releases from each of our kids' birth years, the vintages of 1981, 1982, 1985, 1990, and numerous other vintages in between or since, several in large format bottles.

We were very selective in contacting but a very few producers to visit during our trip to Bordeaux. As is customary, as we have learned from many trips to wine regions, we focused on but one appellation or growing region for the trip.

Château Léoville Las Cases were very responsive to our request for a visit during our trip to the St Julien Appellation. We celebrated upon receipt of our invitation by opening a bottle of the 1985 vintage Léoville Las Cases.
 This kicked off our spectacular week visiting our favorite St Julien Appellation producers. In addition to Léoville du Marquis de Las Cases, we also visited Second Growth producers Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou, Gruaud Larose and Léoville-Poyferré, as well as Fourth Growths Château Beychevelle  and Château Branaire-Ducru.

Indeed, we served Léoville Las Cases from large format Jeroboams from our daughter Erin's birthyear vintage at her wedding. We served this alongside Grand Vin Latour from the same vintage, the First Growth Chateau whose vineyards are immediately adjacent to those of Clos Léoville Las Cases.

We're holding a case plus several bottles of son Alec's 1990 birth year release that we'll most assuredly celebrate with him, family and friends as part of his wedding festivities in the coming year. We opened one upon our return to see how it is aging and it was spectacular. We several more opon our return at auction to supplement our holdings. 

Las Cases is one of the oldest and most noble Medoc estates dating back to Domaine de Léoville in the 17th century when it was owned by some of the wealthiest and most influential noble French families before it was acquired by the Las Cases family. The estate was split up between 1826 and 1840 as a result of the French Revolution creating Château Léoville Las Cases due to the ancestral birthright, from 3/5 of the original estate and the heart of the domain.

The Grand Vin’s current terroir vineyards were controlled by Pierre Jean, Adolphe and Gabriel de Las Cases who were successive heirs to the property until 1900 when Théophile Skawinski purchased a share in the estate and became its manager.

Léoville Las Cases has now been managed by the same family since the late 19th century and is today represented by Jean-Hubert Delon, sole owner and proprietor of the Château. Additionally, he owns Bordeaux estates Château Potensac in the Medoc and Château Nénin in Pomerol.

The Grand Vin is the product of exceptional terroirs from the former Léoville estate. The estate vineyards are located mainly in the Clos Léoville Las Cases along the D2 route running along and overlooking the Gironde River. They lie at the northern edge of the appellation just outside the village of Saint-Julien Beyechevelle village as you descend the hill heading north toward the appellation and village of Pauillac. There they meet and are adjacent to the legendary First Growth Chateau Gran Vin Latour estate and Pichon Longueville Comtess de Lalande, and Pichon Baron just across the road, in the Pauillac appellation. The vineyards extend over nearly 135 acres comprised of Bordeaux sanctioned varietals Cabernet Sauvignon (66%), Merlot (24%) and Cabernet Franc (10%) with an an average age of 52 year old vines.

The Clos represents a terroir of very great complexity composed of Quaternary gravel ("graves") over gravelly sand and gravelly clay subsoils. The vineyards run along the Gironde River and the proximity to the river has created the wide diversity of soils, formed over various geological periods.

The temperate waters of the river estuary and the nearby Atlantic Ocean create a moderating special micro-climate that enables very early ripening of the grapes and protects the vineyards from frost. The incomparable terroir gives this great wine its distinctive character and personality.

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This proximity to the river with the combination of geology and climatic effects influences the growth of the vines, coupled with appellation compliance restricted water supply and a very low intake of nutrients that all contribute to bringing out the best in the great Cabernet Sauvignons and Cabernet Francs. The result is magnificent fruit that consistently achieves the full potential of the site, even in modest or the most challenging vintages.

The legendary estate produces distinctive Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc Bordeaux grape varietals that are predominant in the blend resulting in a complex, polished expressive  characteristics which are unique to the Grand Vin of Léoville du Marquis de Las Cases that has been widely recognized as one of the premier producers of the Medoc for decades. 

Another label from Domaine Leoville St Julien is Clos du Marquis, another perfect expression of the Saint-Julien features based on structure, harmony, distinction, complexity and ageing potential.

Clos du Marquis was created at the beginning of the 20th century when the vineyard was planted,  inspired by the Petit Clos adjacent to the Château de Léoville, residence of the Marquis de Las Cases.

Clos du Marquis is a historic brand by the Domaines Delon, a separate vineyard that is across the road from Leoville Las Cases, whose first vintage was released in 1902. The creation of this brand was to allow a clear identification of two completely distinct terroirs of the two estate vineyards.

We hold many vintages of the Clos du Marquis and in error always thought it was a second label of Las Cases rather than a distinctive label in its own right. Upon our return home, we opened a 1989 vintage of Clos du Marquis in tribute to visit there and it was excellent.  

Clos du Marquis is located on some of the finest vineyards with their distinctive terroirs of the Saint Julien appellation, near the Las Cases property and the nearby surrounding prestigious Classified Growths such as Léoville Poyferré and Léoville Barton, and Pichon Lalande across the appellation boundary in Pauillac.

Recently, several vineyard plots in the Clos Léoville Las Cases were uprooted and replanted, and these are now coming into production. To differentiate the fruit from those plots, and to preserve the quality level of the prestigious Grand Vin, Château Léoville Las Cases created a second wine and label, starting with the the 2007 vintage, Le Petit Lion.

 

We had never seen or experienced Le Petit Lion and found it at the local wine merchant just down the street from the Chateau. We purchased a bottle and enjoyed it during our casual dinner back at our BnB that evening. We'll be on the lookout for it in the America marketplace.

The Petit Lion shares the philosophy of its two elder siblings; it is vinified and aged in order to preserve its fresh, ripe fruit flavour throughout its life. However, it is designed as a second wine, and is therefore made to be more accessible and for earlier drinking, with a significant proportion of Merlot used in the blend. It also available at a more affordable price point.

From the Delon property's website, "all the wine-producing estates of the Delon family, regardless of their varying levels of notoriety, are devoted to the same philosophy:

• Wines that are true representations of their Terroir. Another label from St Julien is Clos du Marquis, another perfect expression of the Saint-Julien features based on structure, harmony, distinction, complexity and ageing potential. In fact, its terroir is surrounded by several Second Classified Growths of the Appellation. 
• Wines that are made to be consumed during meals. They can be shared and enjoyed with family or friends. The wines are produced in such a way that they preserve their fresh ripe fruit fl avours throughout their life. Special attention is paid to the balance of acidity, a key element for ageing and the thirst-quenching role of the wine. The empyreumatic aromas given by maturation in new oak barrels must not dominate the grape aromas, but should blend together to offer a refined nose. 
• They must have good ageing potential and be able to improve with age. Precise ripening level of the grapes, balance in the blend and adapted maturation according to the wine's potential, all contribute in obtaining the oenological features which play a part in the wine's ageing capacity. A wine with ageing potential, if composed harmoniously, will overcome with ease certain inconveniences encountered during transport and conservation, which can lead to premature ageing. 
• A continual and incontestable search for excellence. For each vintage and terroir, the capricious sides of nature need to be understood in order to provide healthy and ripe grapes at harvesting, which are then vinified and blended to make fine or great wines.
  Not only is the soil worked traditionally using the age-old knowledge of the terroir but also our integrated agricultural methods show true respect of the surrounding environment. Carefully selecting grafts from our own best plants, mastering the plants' vigour, limiting the number of treatments and introducing hedgerows to encourage biodiversity are all decisions that contribute to our goal: bringing out the best in each terroir for each vintage offered by Mother Nature.
  
  After strict selection, only the most representative batches of each product are chosen for the final blend. The Delon family and its team ensure that the wines are as consistent as possible, by a first blend before barrelling and by re-blending them after ageing. The Delon family considers that each bottle of each wine produced is an ambassador for all consumers who taste them."

We were hosted in our visit by Florent Gentry, Associate Sales Director for the enterprise. He was very gracious and accommodating taking us through the facilities and then treating us to a special tasting of estate labels.

The operations use the most modern equipment and techniques to ensure the highest standards of quality. The grapes are individually sorted by hand and then by electronic optical sorting machines to ensure only the ideal grapes make it into the batch.

We toured the historic production facility with the large oak blending tanks, then the new modern production halls with laboratory command and control center. Florent talked about the tedious and meticulous blending process and the selection of the final cru. He mentioned that the tanks are filled according to each plot in the vineyards. Samples are taken from each tank in small lots and compared in over 100 separate batches by members of the staff in determining the optimal blend. When narrowed to a dozen selections the owners and winemaker and technical advisors determine the final blend.

 

The chai contains a series of connected buildings with production facility, blending halls with laboratory and command and control center, the barrel storage halls, bottling room, shipping and storage room and the historic vintage library storage area.  

The grand vin is kept in the prime tanks while the second wine is produced in the square tanks in the another production hall. The control center has precise control over each tank during all phases of the process.

The blended wine is transferred via underground pipes into new oak barrels in the adjacent barrel facility where it is aged for two years.

The barrels are racked monthly to remove any sediment and top off the level that is lost to evaporation. The aging barrels are kept in a precise temperature controlled facility.

Las Cases have their own bottling and labeling line that etches each bottle with the timestamped batch and lot number for quality control. As is customary, labels aren't applied until the final stage at the latest opportunity to minimize soiling or damage.

It was a great treat to tour the cellars and see the extensive Las Cases library of vintages dating back in the 20th century including historic legendary top vintages such as 1959, 1961, 1975, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1990 and others.

Many vintage bottles had been re-corked as warranted and were labeled with notations accordingly.

The historic Chateau contains lounges, meeting rooms and a elegant formal tasting room. The Chateau overlooks a formal garden and fountain with views of the Gironde River in the distance.

I inquired about a vintage wine from the library and upon our return to Chicago Florent had already contacted our local merchant, Binny's, the Chicago wine super store, about procuring a case of the 1990 vintage in either standard size bottles or magnums. We found a half case in our cellar and are working with Binny's on potentially splitting a case of the standard bottles or the magnums. Extraordinary service and promotion of a very special brand! We eventually acquired another case of this marquis label from a stellar special birth year vintage. Watch for our tasting posts as we celebrate this prized label from our collection or other encounters. 

Château Léoville Las Cases 1985

Château Léoville Las Cases 'Grand Vin de Leoville' Saint-Julien Bordeaux 1985

For a special milestone achievement event by son Sean, we pulled from the cellar a signature wine from his birthyear for a simple intimate family celebration.

Not only is this one of our perennial favorite revered labels from a Bordeaux 'super second' producer, but we're going to visit the Château during our upcoming trip to Bordeaux later this month.

In 1976, the 1971 vintage of Las Cases ranked number six among the ten French and California red wines in the historic "Judgment of Paris" wine competition.

According to our tasting notes, we last opened this vintage release just a couple weeks short of sixteen years ago. We also served this wine from large format six liter Imperial bottles from the 1981 birthyear vintage for our daughter Erin's wedding celebration a dozen years ago.

Château Léoville Las Cases 'Grand Vin de Leoville' Saint-Julien Bordeaux 1985

Amazing life left in this, considering the bottle showed minor seepage and a completely saturated cork reducing the fill level to mid-high shoulder. Even with a two pronged cork puller, the last 1/4 inch of the cork broke off. I could've saved it had I been more cautious and less deliberate in its removal.

This is a classic Bordeaux Blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot.

Deep garnet colored with a slight hint of orange bricking, medium-full bodied, elegant, complex but nicely integrated dark berry and black cherry fruits with notes of floral violets, tobacco, oak and hints of graphite, cigar box and leather on a tangy black cherry lingering finish of supple smooth, polished tannins. Over the course of the evening, it opened more and more to reveal layers of floral and fruits and accents.

This wine got 98 points from Wine Spectator who called it "A fabulous wine; one of the first great Las Cases.", 94 points from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, and 95 points Wine Advocate's Neal Martin.

RM 94 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4819

Schwa-Chicago-culinary-art-wine-dinner

Schwa Chicago - a place to experience food as art

Our Pour Boys wine group returned with the girls to dine at Chef Michael Carslon's simple non-descript storefront with the black awning, Schwa Restaurant in Wicker Park, Chicago.

We took a broad diverse flight of fine wines to pair with the nine course artfully crafted haute culinary journey that stimulates all the senses with imaginative dishes that are as artful as they are tasteful.

Schwa provides a perfect BYOB experience as they choreograph an extraordinary culinary course with our extensive wine flight. In retrospect, we learned to bring a more diverse flight of wines rather than three Bordeaux, for example ... A spectacular wine/dine experience in any event. 

Our wine flight:

Fantesca Sonoma County Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2009
Sea Smoke Single Barrel One Santa Rita Hills Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir
Chateau Pavie Macquin St Emilion Bordeaux 2004
Chateau Troplong Mondot St Emilion Bordeaux 2005
Chateau Leoville Las Cases St Julien Bordeaux 2006
Chateau Suideraut Sauterne Bordeaux 2013
Bricco Luciani Mauro Molino Barolo 2013
Crofts Vintage Port 2003

Friend and colleague Mike S joined us from Conneticut and added a new dimension to our wine group and wine flight with two of his own personally crafted wines - Michael's Amarone 2007 and Michael's Super Tuscan Blend 2007.


The culinary artwork mastery of Schwa ... neither pictures nor words can do justice to the olfactory and sensory experience. The music is loud and the pace is frenetic ... too much so to take in the details and keep up ... Go during the week when there is only one seating so you might have more time. Of course bringing so many wine courses didn't help. The staff do an amazing job parsing through the courses and matching the wines.

Pretzel twig ... shitake mushrooms ...

Peanut butter ... crab medallions ...

Signature dish ... shaved truffel, quail egg filled ravioli ...

Trout Roe ...

Spanish Mackerel ...

Seaweed Sea Smoke ...

Beef braised tip  ... served in incense smoker bowl ...

Foie gras ...

Sorbet ...

For so many wines, one tends to hold to compare each against the previous and following resulting in a wide swatch of glasses ...!

http://www.schwarestaurant.com/

Chateau Leoville Las Cases 1981

Château Léoville Las Cases 1981 St Julien Bordeaux 

Birth and Anniversary Year Wines Spark Gala Family Birthday Dinner

For daughter Erin's birthday celebration dinner, Linda prepared a special Lobster Newburg and beef tenderloin surf and turf. For the seafood course I served Chilean Chardonnay. For the beef tenderloin main course entree, I pulled from the cellar two special selection wines commemorating Eric's birthyear and her anniversary year.

ChâteauLéoville Las Cases Saint-Julien Grand Vin de Léoville 1981 

We served this special birth year Chateau Leoville Las Cases wine in a large format 5 liter Jeroboam (shown left) as part of a collection of large format bottles of birth year wines, at Erin and Johnny's wedding ten years ago this month. So it was fitting to open this label for her birthday dinner on their tenth anniversary. Cellar records show this is our second to last bottle, tempting us on how long we can hold the last one.

This was perhaps the second most exclusive wine served that momentous evening behind the first growth Grand Vin Latour, also served from an Imperial.

Las Cases is considered a 'super second', being the second level designation, second only to the ultra-premium first growths. The Las Cases Chateau, estate and vineyards actually are adjacent to the great Chateau Latour, even though it is in a dfferent appellation, St Julien vs Pauillac for Latour. 

While St Julien, adjacent to Pauillac is the smallest of Bordeaux's most important appellations in terms of acreage, it accounted for a large number of the wines named in the Classification of 1855. Saint-Julien are among my favorite Bordeaux wines, with a profile being elegant, medium weight, with a cedary perfume, solid but rarely aggressive tannic structure, and with considerable aging ability.

Chateau Leoville Las Cases was originally part of a much larger estate that included Leoville-Barton and Leoville Poyferre. They were broken apart back in 1840. For the past five generations, the property has been owned and run by the Delon family. There are 97 hectare of vineyards planted in the classic Bordeaux varietals and proportions, 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot.

The legendary Grand Vin de Leoville is known for its power and richness, similar to its northerly neighbor, Grand Vin Château Latour. It is very much like its neighbors in the Pauillac appellation with its black fruit and mineral character and firm tannic backbone. In line with its 'super second' reputation, its almost expensive, but much more affordable that its First Growth neighbor (s).

The 1981 Leoville Las Case is/was affordable relative to it neighbor Chateau Latour. Also, the 1981 vintage was vastly overshadowed by the much heralded 1982, considered at the time to be the 'vintage of the century', or one of the top vintages of the century, hence rendering the 1981 a bargain relative to the budget busting 82's. The 1982 Leoville Las Cases received a perfect 100 point rating from Robert Parker, and thus was priced in the stratosphere. All the more that the 1981 was a bargain in comparison. This is much like my recent blogpost on the 1998 Napa Valley vintage, comparing it to its adjacent vintages.

I remember wondering if the somewhat maligned 1981 vintage wines held in our cellar as collectable birth-year wines for daughter Erin's wedding would hold up for the occasion back at the end of 2016. Alas, here we are enjoying this wine ten years later, in its 36th year. Such is the longevity of these classic Bordeaux.

While the fruits may have started to subside somewhat, starting to give way to non-fruit tones, very aromatic and flavorful, classic elegant Bordeaux notes, dark ruby brick colored, medium full bodied, black berry fruits accented by truffle, spicy cedar, tobacco and cigar box, silky smooth, concentrated and superbly balanced, with long lingering nicely integrated tannins on the spicy aromatic finish.

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=13823


More to come ...