Beautiful nose. Savory notes of salt, soy sauce, oregano, tomato bisque, earth and forest floor, mushroom, dusty, all the amazing things to expect from Saint Estephe. Medium acid still lingering, tobacco, hints of graphite , cedar, and classic cassis. Beautifully balanced and structured 13% — a day ago
Old lady holding her own very well. Mellowed but still lovely. — 4 days ago
Blend of 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 1% Cab Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, aged for 18 months in 60% new French oak, deep Ruby color with aromas of berry fruit aromas and sweet tobacco notes. On the palate flavors of blackberry and black cherry, with tobacco, cacao and cedar notes. Fine chewy tannins, long finish ending with fruit, earth and spicy mineral tones. Give this a few years in the bottle before opening. — 21 days ago
Still shows some lovely primary redfruits, cassis, currants, quite tannic as well (characteristic of the 1986s I cellared), long, lingering finish, should show even better after my wife’s grilled lamb and my grilled steak come off the grill. I will say I was nervous when the final 1/8-inch of the cork severed off my old Ah-So cork puller, but not a problem!
Interesting sidebar — I purchased this upon arrival in 1989 at K&L in SF — by that time there were widespread reports of bad corks in Ducru from (at least) 1985 and 1986, so when I visited the shop I explained the situation and committed to purchasing 6 bottles, but only if I knew this batch didn’t have the cork problems — so, I said I’d pay for another bottle and we could open it together in the shop, I’d pay and also buy the other 6 bottles if it was NOT corked, and said if it was corked, then they’d pay for the opened bottle and I wouldn’t take the 6 other bottles — they agreed, we mutually tried the bottle then and there, no cork taint so I paid for 7 bottles total.
Telling the story in part because K&L has always been, IMHO, one of the classiest wine shops in the U.S., and they deserve credit agreeing to my deal (BTW, Wine Advocate had written about the cork taint issue within the preceding 3-6 months, so they were aware of the potential for it) — anyway, they’ve gotten a lot more of my business in the past 35+ years since!! — 9 days ago
Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego
1986 vintage. Sampled five bottles for a 1986 BDX tasting @ Mister A's in San Diego. Double decanted and tasted over four hours. Medium body. Pretty rustic early on and that stayed consistent till the end. Opened up a little later with a splash of bright cherry fruit. Should stay the course for another 5-6 years. 3.14.24 — 4 days ago