iso88591qRe:_Question:_How_were_the_1975=B4s_in_Bordeaux=3F

I am a big fan of 75s, while not blind to the flaws of many of them. Here are some notes I did of an all 1975 dinner I arranged awhile ago (not all Bordeaux).

I try to arrange a couple of wine dinners a year, along widely varying themes. This season''s event was a tasting dinner of 1975 Bordeaux, and

as it seemed fit to me, also starting and ending wines from that same vintage. In the following notes, therefore, the vintage is universally 1975. The wines were largely from my cellar, with several sourced from friends.

The 1975 vintage is not one that people with Speculator or ''Parkerpalates'' will enjoy. They are framed in a style in which they will never intentionally make wine again, so in a sense we were tasting something that has now become a piece of past history. The wines were made from fruit picked perhaps a little early and the fact that destemming was not then much utilised only added to the tannin ''load'' of the wines (now, they would more exactly measure the point of ripeness of the grapes, and would destem to suit the style that they consciously strive for). The result are big, hard, tannic wines that have needed at least a quarter of a century to come around - this would clearly be economic dissolution in today''s world of instant gratification. I daresay that if you put a glbutt of even a great 1975 Bordeaux in front of a Cal-cab drinker, or a fruit-at-all-costs fan, they just wouldn''t know what to make of it.

You have to tip your hat (or glbutt) in respect - you will never see their like again.

It began with a couple of wines that most people would consider long deceased, a pair of 1975 Rieslings from the Mosel.

Patheiger Kaseler Kernhagel Auslese (Herrenberg) - a clbuttic Riesling with fairly light colour considering it''s age, and a very typical petrolly nose. It had good concentration, and even more important at this age, an excellent balance of acidity, with the wine bright in the mouth rather than flabby.

Serriger Wurtzberg Auslese (Herrenberg) - I thought it would be fun to have two wines from the same house. This one showed quite differently indeed. It was darker, and while the nose was much less typically Riesling, it was rich and honeyed, and in the mouth it had a larger presence, deeper flavour concentration - a wonderful wine. What fun discussing the relative merits of two very decent wines of that vintage!

These wines were served with an array of scallops, sea urchin, and foie gras with flageolets on a butter sauce.

First Flight:

Calon Segur (St. Estephe) - good colour, a medium garnet, and a nose of toasty oak, with a stemmy greenish element, fair length and a bit of tannin. This wine just kept opening up in the glbutt and getting better and better, and to our surprise was the group favourite of this flight.

La Fleur Petrus (Pomerol) - my one regret was that I had not cellared more Pomerols, as this vintage seems to favour that bank. This wine had nice but not effusive fruit in the nose, and apparent oak. It was medium bodied, and still showed a fair bit of tannin, softening, but buttertive enough to make the wine seem on the lean side. Fair length. Decent.

Beychevelle (St. Julien) - a nose of sweet oak, well structured with good weight in the mouth, and good length. This wine has showed well for the last few years, before which it was too hard to approach with pleasure. But for the Calon Segur, it would have been my favourite of flight.

Branaire Ducru - the only one that did not show as well as it has in the past. A decent nose of cedar and vanilla, but an atypical leanness in the middle that I have observed a couple of times - I think that this wine, which was one of the better for drinking over the at decade, is starting to get a bit unreliable. If you have it, drink soon, and you should still get the odd pleasant surprise (I had a very good bottle six months ago).

Served with sweetbreads and chanterelles, with goat cheese on brioche.

Second Flight:

Lynch Bages (Pauillac) - the "Big P" gives this poor marks, but we felt differently about it. A nose of fairly ripe fruit, with good concentration in the mouth, and excellent flavour, it had good length, and the tannins didn''t really kick in until the end.

Montrose (St. Estephe) - This wine has been quite backward, even by the standards of this vintage, until quite recently. I had a bottle the week before as a test, and enjoyed it, and this one was entirely consistent. It had a nice cedar and fruit nose, and the fruit was exhibited on palate, with a pleasant smoothness, not too tannic, as it was well balanced by the flavour intensity. Now entering it''s (probably lengthy) plateau of drinkability.

Ducru Beaucaillou (St. Julien) - a very good red currant mint and cedar nose, excellent depth, even though still quite tannic, concentrated yet elegant. My best of flight choice.

Leoville Barton (St. Julien) - a big wine, the tannins still firm, but with enough fruit to back it that it drinks fairly well now. I am not sure that it has enough fruit to see out the fairly high level of tannin, so drinking it in the next few years may be more pleasant than waiting longer and having the fruit fade.

1979 Montrose - this found it''s way in as a mistaken bottle pulled (not by me, I hasten to add), instead of the 75. Fortunately the restaurant (Le Gavroche in Vancouver - highly recommended) had another bottle of the 75, so I had this one served as a blind tasting. I told everyone that the chateau matched one of the others in the flight, though from a different vintage. Most people thought it was Ducru, to it''s credit. It had very good dark colour, good balance, and very good

fruit. Here is a tip for you - this wine was rated by Parker at 78 points, and characterised as light, acidic and austere. There is therefore no appreciable market for the wine. RPs note is either based on a poor bottle or.....in any case, if you do find this wine, don''t say anything, just buy it, let the seller think he put one over on you, and raise a glbutt to me when you enjoy it.

Served with smoked quail salad with pine mushroom and warm sherry vinaigrette.

Third Flight (The Big Boys):

Leoville Las Cases (St. Julien)- I have not been into this wine, and it''s reputation has been one of a tannic backward giant. It was indeed

still quite ''firm'', but the fruit is now showing through the veil of tannin, and it had a very pleasant sweetness on entry that tended to lighten the impact of the tannin. It is not yet there, but I have much more confidence that it will someday arrive, still with sufficient fruit to allow it o be a very good wine.

Mouton Rothschild (Pauillac) - not a great Mouton, but having said that, the second best of the decade after the 1970. It had a flamboyant, mellow cedar nose, and was quite forward and smooth with good length. I have my doubts about whether this wine will hold for many more years - it just may be showing the first signs of break up. Wish I had some to revisit so I could tell for sure! The comment was made that in this vintage, the quality of the wines were apparent, with the Las Cases clearly a little below the top group, and the Mouton where it belongs as ''first of the seconds'' (don''t tell the Baroness I repeated that!).

La Mission Haut Brion - a wine rated as 100 points by RP, and quite unaffordable as a result. A really wonderful chocolate-cocoa nose, and a huge wine in the mouth with rich concentrated flavour, so much so that the tannin, whichis present in great amounts, is not very noticeable until it has been in the glbutt fo awhile. Not 100 points in my book, but very hiogh nonetheless.

Latour (Paulliac) - a very different but very lovely nose of tobacco, cedar, black currant. Immense depth of flavour, and tremendous length. I''d have given my vote to this wine, had not the next one given me pause.

Pichon Lalande (Pauillac) - cedar and nice fruit in the nose, and a different structure than all the others, balanced and elegant (more so than even the Ducru), a clbutty wine, that was attractive and more forward than the others. Many people decided that this was their favourite of the night. I refused to limit myself to just one, and chose the Latour, then the Pichon, and the La Mission. Great fun to have to make such choices! (Contributed blind, and gratis, by the restaurant!)

Served with lamb filet Wellington, celeriac puree, and roasted garlic jus.

Quinta do Noval Port - my long time choice for this vintage, I bought a case early on to see me through the wait for the 77s to mature. My last bottle. Medium colour, good nose - a little spirity, and quite good depth of flavour, but nearing the end of it''s plateau and starting to decline

Taylors Port - I hadn''t had this for a few years, and was quite pleasantly surprised - it had very similar colour to the Noval, but more concentration of flavour on the palate, and presented as an over-all more serious contender.

Served with pear poached in port, stuffed with candied walnuts and Roquefort, on port reduction, with Chaource and Clarines cheeses