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by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

Bordeaux's Last Hurrah - January 29, 2014

We had last night (1/29/14) Bordeaux's Last Hurrah (I):

  1. Ch.Palmer AC: Margaux (MeBaC; 12%) Soc.Civile du Ch.Palmer 1971: Med.light color w/ some bricking; lovely cedary/pencilly/oak slight wet wool/smokey classic aged Bdx slight herbal/Cab complex nose; soft/ smooth/velvety slight tannic/dried-out/metallic some cedary/pencilly/oak slight herbal/Cab flavor; med.long soft/smooth/velvety slight earthy/dusty some cedary/pencilly complex finish w/ some astringent/dried-out tannins; a lovely classic old Bdx nose but a bit tired on the palate. $11.49
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  2. Ch.Calon-Segur GCC AC: St.Estephe (MeBaC; 12%) 1970: Med.dark color w/ slight bricking; fairly srong some earthy/metallic/pungent slight coffee/smokey light herbal/Bdx fairly complex nose; richer/lusher some earthy/pungent/coffee/smokey rather smooth/velvety light herbal/Bdx flavor w/ little tannins; long smooth/velvety bit pungent/smokey/coffee light Bdx/herbal some complex finish; a smooth/gentle/quiet old Bdx. $7.52
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  3. Ch.Lynch Bages GCC AC: Pauillac (MeBaC; TW) Proprietaire: J.C.Cazes 1971: Med.light color w/ some bricking; bit musty/Kansas root cellar/new shoe/band-aid not TCA bit smokey/toasty/pungent complex nose but not bretty; tart bit lean/dried-out slight musty/root cellar/new gymn shoe not-Keds some pencilly/cedary/oak light smokey/pungent flavor w/ light/dried-out tannins; med.long slight musty/band-aid/new gymn shoe/Converse slight smokey/pungent finish w/ light/astringent tannins; a rather strange old-Bdx but not entirely unpleasant. $9.99
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  4. Ch.Lynch Bages GCC AC: Pauillac (MeBaC; TW) Proprietaire: J.C.Cazes 1970: Med.color w/ slight bricking; lovely ripe/lush slight herbal/Bdx slight pencilly/toasty lighter old-Bdx rather gentle/quiet nose; soft/smooth/velvety light herbal/old-Bdx pencilly/toasty/charred flavor w/ light/gentle/smooth tannins; very long smooth/velvety/soft light old-Bdx/pencilly finish w/ light/gentle tannins; a lovely/complex/quiet old-Bdx fading off into the sunset. $7.37
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  5. GrandVin de Latour PGCC AC: Pauillac (MeBaC; 12%) Proprietaire: Soc.Civile du Vignoble de Ch.Latour 1970: Med.dark color w/ little bricking; beautiful/complex cedary/pencilly/old-Bdx smokey/ toasty/oak slight herbal/Cab quite complex nose; bit tart beautiful cedary/pencilly/old-Bdx light smokey/ toasty/oak slight herbal/Cab flavor w/ light/smooth/gentle tannins; very long/lingering pencilly/cedary/old-Bdx slight herbal/Cab light smokey/toasty/oak/charred/pungent quite complex finish w/ light gentle/ smooth/velvety tannins; a really lovely old-Bdx w/ no signs of senility; my favorite of these oldies. $18.95
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  6. Ch.Mouton Rothschild AC: Pauillac (TdR MeBac; 11.5%; 241,000 btls) Proprietaire: LeBaronPhilippe 1975: Med.dark color w/ some bricking; some blackcurranty/herbal/Cab light toasty/pungent/smokey/oak some pencilly/cedary/old-Bdx some youngish some complex nose; bit tart slight earthy rather cedary/ pencilly/ old-Bdx light blackcurranty/Cab bit hard/tannic some pungent/smokey/oak some complex flavor; very long bit earthy/blackcurranty/Cab rather pencilly/cedary/old-Bdx light smokey/toasty/oak fairly complex finish w/ some hard/lingering tannins; seems the youngest of these and still has some Cab fruit; a very good old-Bdx but just that. $18.00
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  7. Ridge CabernetSauvignon Estate/SantaCruzMtns (MonteBelloVnyd; 80% CS/17% Merlot/2% PetiteVerdot/1% CabFranc;13.0%; 59 tons from 39 acres; Bttld: 8/12; Drk: 6/12-6/22: EB) 2010: Very dark/near black color; rather milky/vanilla/Am.oak strong blackcurranty/Cab/chocolaty bit smokey/pungent/oak/ toasty slight earthy/loamy lovely nose; rather strong vanilla/Am.oak strong blackcurranty/Cab/earthy somewhat smokey/pungent flavor w/ modest tannins; long strong vanilla/Am.oak rather structured strong blackcurranty/Cab finish w/ modest/smooth tannins; seems a bit simple right now and dominated by the Am.oak, but has the structure to age into something interesting. $nc (MR)/$45.00
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  8. Ridge CabernetSauvignon KleinVnyd/MonteBelloVnyd/SantaCruzMtns (100% CabSauv; 13.2%; 11 brls; Bttld: 8/12; Drk: 6/12-6/22: EB) 2010: Very dark/near black color; beautiful blackcurranty/Cab/chocolaty/ boysenberry rather smokey/pungent/toasty light vanilla/Am.oak bit complex nose; tart very intense blackcurranty/Cab/chocolaty/ripe somewhat smokey/pungent/toasty light vanilla/Am.oak rich/powerful structured flavor w/ some hard tannins; very long fairly hard/tannic intense blackcurranty/chocolaty/ boysenberry/ Cab light pungent/toasty/charred light vanilla/Am.oak finish w/ hard/firm tannins; a rather old-timey Ridge Cab like Dave Bennion used to make; badly needs age; terrific Cab for the $55.00
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  9. Ridge MonteBello Calif/SantaCruzMtns (MonteBelloVnyd; 79% CabSauv/10% Merlot/9% PetiteVerdot/2% CabFranc; 13.1%; 213 tons from 103 acres; 4!% Slctd; Bttld: April 2009; Drk: 2/09-2/19-2/29: EB) 2007: Very dark/black color; very strong toasty/pungent/smokey/coffee bean/oak intense blackcurranty/Cab/chocolaty/blackberry some earthy/dusty/mineral complex/perfumed classic young/MB nose; slightly tart big/rich/extracted/structured intense blackcurranty/Cab/chocolaty strong smokey/pungent/toasty/ coffee bean slight earthy/dusty flavor w/ample/round tannins; very long/lingering smokey/pungent/toasty/ coffee bean/oak intense ripe/blackcurranty/Cab/chocolaty light dusty/earthy some complex finish w/ ample/ smooth/polished tannins; a classic/terrific MB w/ the stuffing & structure to age out well. $nc (MR)/$130.00

And the usual stuff from TheBloodyPulpit:

1. A couple of months ago, I went back into the furtherest reaches of cellar and pulled out all my remaining Bdxs. Decided I'd just throw them into a tasting and liquidate my Bdx holdings. For the first time in my life, I'm Bdx-free (except for the other 6 oldies I have to taste). It feels so good. Free/free/free, at last from the tyranny of over-priced Bdx.
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2. These wines were bought just after I'd moved to LosAlamos from Manhattan and had discovered what a great wine market Denver/Boulder was (still is..even better, now). Most of these wines were bought at HarryHoffman's, a rather strange store in downtown Denver where the wines were stood upright on shelves behind long counters and you had to ask the clerk to hold the btl if you wanted to examine a label. The remainder were purchased at LiquorMart/Boulder during PhilReich's tenure. Back in those days, I listened faithfully to all the then-famous/now-dead wine critics and bought accordingly. Eventually learned that I was worshiping false gods.
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3. These old-Bdxs were very interesting to taste & analyze. They didn't offer up a lot of hedonistic/ sensual pleasure but mostly intellectual pleasure. Sorta like arguing how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. But, at the end of the day, I was glad to move onto the Ridges that offered up some real pleasure.
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4. Since this group had two Lynch-Bages, I thought it appropriate to flesh out the tasting with some Ridges because of this linkage. Back in the early/pre-Draper days, early-'60's, DaveBennion used to buy from Lynch-Bages in barrel (probably not their best stuff), bring it to TheRidge, btl it up for the owners, and then use the barrels for aging MonteBello. This was afore Draper arrived and converted wholly to Am.oak, based on its superiority as expounded in an old Bdx study. I would love to see one of those Ridge-bttld Lynch-Bages labels.
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5. Ridges: Two of these btls were gifts from MarilynReisen (jeez...do I miss that guy) when she was here last Fall to represent Ridge at the SFW&CF. I've had the MonteBello '07 some 7-8 times now (both from barrel and upon release) and this was the best I've yet had. Stunning MonteBello, it is.

TomHill

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