Mouton Rothschild 1986 500cl

15: 1986 Mouton-Rothschild: Extrem satte, dunkle, in der Mitte noch fast schwarze Farbe mit violettem Schimmer. Ist da Cabernet in der Nase? Oder ganz grosser Cabernet mit etwas ganz grossem Shiraz? Er hat so eine gewisse Grange-Affinität, die Frucht hat immer noch sehr viel Primärcharakteristik, Lakritze, Rauch, Black Currant, viel Mineralik, aus der Tiefe schürfend, aber doch recht viel von seiner kommenden Grösse zeigend. Im Gaumen satt, fleischig, schon fast überkonzentriert, die Tannine sind noch aufrauend, weil sie durch deren Komprimierung auf der Zunge fast keinen Platz haben. Hier ist ganz klar eine Legende unterwegs. Aufgrund dessen, wie er sich so extrem langsam entwickelt verschiebt sich der Genusshöhepunkt bei jedem Kontakt um ein paar Jahre nach Hinten. Momentan scheint er erstmals «etwas » reif zu sein und erreicht dann etwa in 20, vielleicht aber rauch erst in 30 Jahren dem Höhepunkt. Er wird unsterblich sein! Vor allem ist er unter den allergrössten 1986ern jener mit der besten Präzision. Einen Tag dekantieren? 20/20

This shows amazing aromas of mushrooms, mint, minerals and dark berries. It boasts a fully body of ultra richness, extraordinary length and beauty and an almost chiseled precision to the quality with fabulous length. It lasts for minutes on the palate. Decant four hours before serving.

After stumbling over some wines I thought were high class Bordeaux, I nailed this wine in one of the blind tastings for this article. In most tastings where a great Bordeaux is inserted with California Cabernets, the Bordeaux comes across as drier, more austere, and not nearly as rich and concentrated (California wines are inevitably fruitier and more massive). To put it mildly, the 1986 Mouton-Rothschild held its own (and then some), in a flight that included the Caymus Special Selection, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cask 23, Dunn Howell Mountain, and Joseph Phelps Eisele Vineyard. Clearly the youngest looking, most opaque and concentrated wine of the group, it tastes as if it has not budged in development since I first tasted it out of barrel in March, 1987. An enormously concentrated, massive Mouton-Rothschild, comparable in quality, but not style, to the 1982, 1959, and 1945, this impeccably made wine is still in its infancy. Interestingly, when I was in Bordeaux several years ago, I had this wine served to me blind from a magnum that had been opened and decanted 48 hours previously. Even then, it still tasted like a barrel sample! I suspect the 1986 Mouton-Rothschild requires a minimum of 15-20 more years of cellaring; it has the potential to last for 50-100 years! Given the outrageously high prices being fetched by so many of the great 1982s and 1990s (and lest I forget, the 1995 Bordeaux futures), it appears this wine might still be one of the "relative bargains" in the fine wine marketplace. I wonder how many readers will be in shape to drink it when it does finally reach full maturity? The tasting notes for this section are from two single blind tastings, one conducted in May, 1996, in California, and the other in June, 1996, in Baltimore.

Ageless, yet balanced. Black color. Mint, mineral, berry and cherry. Full-bodied, chewy and tight. Long, long finish. A great, great wine.--Bordeaux retrospective. Drink now. JS