TN: Bordeaux at Nice Matin, NYC
The 14-month sudden interruption made this all double-vaxxed 9-attendees local Bordeaux group a little thirstier, and opening some with the re-opening was simply a matter of someone initiating with an email. The down time was just way too long to miss out with this consistently-meeting fun group and the time was perfect to resume enjoying the company once again.
With an excellent evening claret-drinking weather, the venue was one of the outdoor spaces at French restaurant Nice Matin in the Upper West Side. Very nice wine and food service, fresh stems provided for each flight, with most of us opting to re-use our stems for multiple flights. Food was credibly within the French bistro/rustic mode, and I went with a tried-tested Steak Frittes as my main and a delicious Lavender-Goat Cheese Tart appetizer course. Prior to our courses, the table had Mediterranean-inspired shared small bites and hors dâouevres.
White:
2016 BerĂ©chĂȘ et Fils Coteaux Champenois Blanc âLe Monts Fournoisâ
Steely dry, snappy citrus. Greatly intense and very much a terroir-driven bubbly. Impressed. A-
1985 Ch. Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac
Cigar, leather bouquet notes. Slight bricking. Tertiary, mineral, herbs. Smooth, leanish fruit showcasing red berries. B
1988 Ch. Haut Brion, Graves
Dark blood in color. Dry herbs, wet meadow on the sniff. Acidity, smooth, rounded, complete, plump dark fruit. Long in the mouth. B+/A-
1983 Ch. Margaux, Margaux
Very appealing wafts of some leather, fruit, confection, floral and earth. Resolved fine tannin, burst of acidity, nicely-layered fruit, balanced and finessed. Had ups-and-downs with prior experiences, but tonight this was at or near my apogee of this wine. A/A-
1990 Ch. Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac
Expressive smell with some metal notes. Plenty of ripe fruit and would seem to be better, perhaps, a few years ago. Somewhat clipped on the finish. B
1995 Ch. Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac
With the vintage reputation preceding it, wine was left decanted for 1.5 hours at about 6 hours prior to pouring back to bottle and lugging over to the restaurant (my bottle). Bouquet complexity with graphite, confection and leather. On the tannic side of the spectrum, yet generous with petal notes, dusty, ripe dark berries, the slightest of coffee. The Lafite silky texture. A-/B+
1998 Ch. Haut Brion, Graves
The tell-tale HB herbs, wet grass, fresh ripe fruit, crazy good Bordeaux nose. Youthful, but already showing the high quality structure with ripe dark fruit, smoothness and balance. B+
1986 Ch. Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac
Another fine example of the flag-carrier of the vintage. This time, showing the still youthful side with fleshy fruit, lip-smacking chewy mouthfeel, and excellent balance and length. From Chrisâs still all tissued bottles, case purchased at or near release. A-
1996 Ch. Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac
In your face intense bouquet. Tannic with red blue fruit acidity. Full round ripeness, but evidently very young at this point. Power that lingers forever. B+/A-
1996 Ch. Latour, Pauillac
Whiff of cigar, confection. A vintage characteristic of big, muscled, tannic make-up. A bruiser at this point that most definitely needs lengthy cellar time. B
A quantified post-assessment, emailed after the dinner by the attendees, resulted in the following votes (max of 6 points per attendee allocated to their top 3 wines of the night).
86 Mouton 20.5
83 Margaux 18
95 Lafite 8.5
98 HB 6
85 Mouton 1