Consumed all yesterday . . . the Ausone was at lunch and the other two were at dinner, though they were all at the same place since I spent the whole day entertaining.
Ch. Cos d’Estournel 1995:
This was probably the best of the trio of Bordeaux we had all day. Loaded with black fruit, road tar, scorched earth, pencil lead, meaty black olives, dark chocolate and tobacco leaf. Layered and complex it offers immense fruit flavors that are focused and, perhaps, finally (for those tracking this wine and other '95s) beginning to evolve into something altogether polished and respectable- even classic. This is an excellent wine, an excellent Cos. And to tell you the truth it will get better. I promise. 95 points
Ch. Ausone 1998:
To me Ausone is a very singular wine. I can pick it out of lineups often, especially young Ausone. Part of the reason is because every time I taste one I always remark at the wine’s underlying Chablis-like, seashell mineral notes and that bit of iodine I usually find somewhere in the wine as well. It was there again. So were black berries, plums, faint herbs(rosemary?), crushed stones, espresso(more like the essence of espresso if that makes sense?) and what reminded me of grilled Argentinean meats. This was a big, voluptuous wine, full of pleasure and power but elegant all the same. The more I investigate this estate the more I am enamored with them and the more I try from '98 the more I want to buy (I should qualify that, but I won’t). If you can find this wine at a reasonable price- try. 94 points
Ch. Lynch Bages 2005:
To say I had high hopes for this wine would be a lie. To say I wanted to try this wine to prove that it was terrible was more likely. So it is very likely that I hated it because I set out to hate it. However, I must say that I am an experienced taster and . . . well . . . this wine blew. I have a few theories- and before you ask, no it was not a bad bottle. The wine had no finish. It tasted incomplete. It was watered down, vapid, unrelenting in its insipidness. Light bodied (strange for the vintage), red currants, limited acidity and some wood and then . . . like a cliff, nothing. The sommelier did not enjoy it either- made observations similar to mine and my guest’s without any prompting (if that matters to anyone). Oh well, I own six magnums. 84 points
I feel your pain. This was my impressions exactly - twice! Not sure what to make of this either. For me, the wine seemed underfilled and devoid of any charm. Add that lackluster finish, and …what the…! How the heck could ANYbody make a less-than-stellar wine in this vintage? Well, it happens - poor choices made somewhere along the way, someone has a whole 'nother idea of what Bordeaux ought to be, or just plain screwup. I think the only hope here is to hang on for a lengthy period before consuming.
Nice notes. Love the 95 cos - one of the better 95s IMHO.
Never had the Ausone - had an opportunity to buy the 98 for less than 2 bills and the 01 for a little over that, but sadly I didn’t bite
Ditto on the Lynch.
I would have someone give you fifty dollars for the '87. The '94 isn’t bad. Sometime it comes off as a little harsh in the first few hours of life. But I also think it can show a lot of promise. Alas it also has a short drinking window once opened (5 hours?). Fifty bucks is about right if the bottle has been stored correctly. But I think you get do better with your money elsewhere. Just my opinion.
Well, since you have 6 magnums, I’m sure you’ll be able to track it very well as it matures. I re-tasted a lot of '05s at the UGC tasting in Vinexpo Asia Pacific last May 2008 and found many tightly shut down compared to when I tasted them the first time in Bdx (June 2006).
Calls to mind a bottle of '99 Hat Brion I opened one evening after dinner at home in October 2004 (just to see how it is). In a nutshell, it was wholly unenjoyable even after material breathing. I re-corked the bottle and tried it the next day - same thing. The rest of the bottle went into a meat sauce for spaghetti at Halloween dinner a couple of days later.
Re-tried it in June 2006 at the château and it was very nice, as well as each time I’ve had it thereafter. Just needed some time is all.
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