This overachieving Pauillac Fifth Growth has produced quite charmimg and consistently high quality claret since the Chateau was acquired by the Borie family in 1978. I’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy many vintages of G-P-L from the late seventies into the mid-eighties. The 1982 being totally spectacular on both occasions I’ve had the immense pleasure trying it. The 1979 will never be regarded by the international media as the finest wine the Borie’s have produced but on the many times I’ve been lucky to share a bottle with close wine-loving friends, we’ve never been disappointed.

Exhibits a gorgeous polished cloak consisting of a medium ruby centre with abundant red brick in the edges grading to amber and brown in the meniscus. The classical Pauillac bouquet reveals a melange of integrated, mature scents of lead pencil, cedar, damp earth, forest floor, red bing cherry, damson plum and spice box with top notes of tar, mineral and blood. With extended breathing the totality and breadth of aroma gains intensity and a higher qualitative rating - quite a surprise for its advancing years. In the mouth the wine, similarly, merits an exemplary rating. Fully developed and at the peak of its powers, the palate delivers a smooth and beautifully-honed personality. Of medium body, with fully resolved flavours that mimic the nose to a tee, there’s still enough cleansing acidity and resolute melting chalky tannin to counter the cool plummy/herb-tinged fruit to suggest another few years of pleasurable drinking could be afforded if provenance has been similar to that of this particular bottle. This Outstanding Grand-Puy-Lacoste finishes with great persistence and authority and a well-deserved rating of 90 points.

3/7/08  I left half the contents of the bottle in the fridge overnight and have just come back to it after dinner tonight. I cannot believe how good this wine is after it warmed up to room temperature. It has lost nothing on the nose and, if anything, a decidedly richer, sweeter palate. 92 points and a much longer drinking window than predicted last night.

I have no experience with Chateau Haut-Bages Liberal and although ‘86 is a well-regarded year, I’ve also noted many a scribe’s report for this vintage’s harshness of tannin, so I was a little surprised by this wine’s lithe personality and wonderful resolution. Fully mature but holding an extremely good deep ruby colour with only perceptible lightening in the very outer edge, followed by a solid nose of pencil lead, cedar and weedy blackcurrant with suggestions of freshly turned damp sod, dried herbs and a hint of black olive. The medium-bodied palate offers up a soft but expansive texture, more than enough plummy/curranty fruit underpinned by secondary earthy/herbaceous/cedary characters, low acidity and fully-resolved lacy tannins. The moderately long finish confirms the consistency of everything that has come before - a smooth, rounded wine drinking at the peak of its powers. Nothing startling, but sound, solid and eminently satisfactory. 88 points from me today, this wine should be drunk over the next 3-5 years.

Alluring youthful medium ruby with a little pink and rust in the edge. Textbook left bank Bordeaux nose of cedar, blood, lead pencil, sweet damp earth, oregano and briar over a solid backdrop of weedy blackcurrant fruit and savoury/caramel oak. This medium-bodied claret reveals a seductive silkiness on the front palate, gorgeous juicy blackcurrant fruit, subservient savoury oak, beautifully integrated, firmish chalky tannins, lovely cleansing acidty and a long, incredibly good, creamy “old vine” finish. A real surprise packet. Have not had a lot of experience with this Chateau over the years, but if tonight’s performance is representative, a very good source indeed, that, in this instance, represents extremely good value for money in the current, somewhat overheated, local secondary market. 92 points. Drink now - 2017.

Revealing an incredibly deep, opaque, black ruby colour, this youthful Pauillac throws up a huge, profound, brooding nose of cedar, creosote, briar, French herbs, damp earth with evolving, enticing hints of licorice and currants but still needs many years, possibly even a decade or more to reach its’ aromatic zenith. The palate follows a similar path - power-packed with masses of tarry extract, bucketloads of firm, mouth-puckering tannins and an abundance of acidity, especially for the vintage. Even at almost eighteen years of age, this wine still looks horribly backward and unresolved on the palate. Suggest anyone with a cool, dark cellar to leave it be for at least five years and then hopefully enjoy the rewards of their patience for at least another twenty years thereafter. To my way of thinking, superb aromatics alone are insufficient for a wine to merit an Outstanding rating. On tonight’s performance, I’m having trouble giving this, regularly over-achieving fifth-growth, 90 points, but with a caveat for much better things once the palate sheds its harshness and, hopefully, reveals the class of the bouquet. If you’re intent on opening one soon, make sure you serve this with a hearty red meat dish to counter the firmness of the palate.

This is a very important wine in my wine edification. It was the first LLC I ever tried, shown to me by old friend and mentor, the late Tom Low, sometime back in the dim and now distant eighties. Over the years, Tom and I drank this wine together many times, experiencing the gradual evolution as the wine’s aroma and bouquet homogenised, the sizable tannins melted and integrated with the boldly-fruited palate and the strong savoury, vanillin oak. On the eve of his funeral in December 2005, Tom had quietly arranged for a bottle of same to be opened as we mourned his most untimely departure from this planet. It drank superbly. Recently, I managed to pick up a few bottles of this from, what I was told, a very good source and tonight I decided to crack one with a friend. Unfortunately due to very bad weather our meeting was cancelled but I had already opened the wine earlier as a precautionary measure. So here goes:

Still holding a deep, dark red core with considerable rust and amber in the outer edges, this wine opened with a staleness that provoked an initial rush of concern. My fears were soon allayed when some half hour of gentle breathing (in bottle) and more than four hours later, I’m still deriving great satisfaction from sniffing and sipping this lovely claret.

The savoury nose has blossomed into a most harmonious, mature amalgam of cedar, old saddle leather, sweet earth, black olives, soft black berries, licorice, lead pencil and spice box. In the mouth the medium-bodied wine has continued to “sweeten up”, now revealing a wealth of sweet red and black fruits that include a variety of plums and berries accompanied by notes of olives, briar, old leather and just a hint of road tar. With the tannins almost fully resolved and a surprising amount of refreshing acidity providing life on the palate, this finely-honed, smooth and satisfying wine finishes with admirable length and adequate authority. Although there can be no doubt this wine’s day’s are numbered, well-cellared examples may provide most enjoyable drinking for up to five years. 92 points.

At twenty-nine years of age, this Las-Cases is by no means the greatest I’ve tasted - the 1982 (97 points) well and truly takes that prize - but this little number won’t cost you two arms and three legs like it’s younger sibling - and as long as it’s been well stored, I’m hopeful you’ll receive some of the great pleasure I did tonight.

Thanks be the Infant Legume for putting me onto this one!

Medium ruby core with immense bricking throughout the hue. Glorious mature nose of damp earth, cedar, dusty blackcurrants, satsuma plums, rosemary, thyme, savoury oak and a stunning top note of anise and sweet corn. Pure silk in the mouth, re-enacting the bouquet in nuance to a tee, magnificently plump but ohso soft and utterly captivating with melted fine tannins, surprisingly ripe acidity and a finish of thirty seconds and thensome. What is so rivetting about this Outstanding/Exceptional example of right-bank Merlot/Cabernet Franc is the glorious balance and integration of every component combined with that delicate underlying power that provides the backbone of greatness. 94 points.  

Last Saturday night I produced a bottle of this, one of my favourite LLC’s, to a group of wine lovers at a “posh” restaurant in Sydney. It was bordering on fair/good at best - I had trouble giving it above 80 points. Not within a bull’s roar on this one below, opened with two experienced wine tasters earlier this year.

“Still a very deep ruby with virtually no bricking. Powerful, masculine, minerally (almost ferrous) bouquet housing a brooding, classy mix of graphite, deep-set curranty fruit, briar, black olives, herbs and plenty of newish savoury oak. “Lots going on here”, was Tony’s first remark as he nosed the Riedel. Jamie’s “Ahhh …. Bordeaux!”, was also a good start (the wine had been decantered sometime before and masked at Jamie’s request). From the outset, we were all surprised and most impressed by this wines’ enormity and youthfulness, particularly for the vintage. If anything, the palate has quite a way to go to reach maturity. Again, fantastic quality of savoury fruit and oak, more of the brooding mineral/briar/olive character, of full body, excellent delineation, robust, firm tannins and great length. Over the next hour or two we sniffed, swirled and sipped our way through this Outstanding bottle of St. Julien until there was no more. My best sip was the last. Drink 2011-2025. 93 points”

An elegant, satisfying Bordeaux just failing to deliver the “killer punch” or enough “wow factor” on the palate to deserve an Excellent rating. Bright deep red with a medium ruby core and a little rust in the outer edge. Lovely seamless, integrated “savoury” nose of sandalwood, tobacco leaf, dried herbs, roasted green vegetables and blackcurrants with a spicy, cedary top note. The palate displays a softness of texture suggesting readiness, glossy red fruits, some silky ripe tannins, reasonable length and a savoury finish. Unfortunately, there’s also a degree of diffusion and, seemingly, a lack of complexity that fails to deliver on what the nose promises. Very Good at best. 87 points. Best to drink now or over the next few years. 12.5% A/V