With my son Sam about to leave London to go to University in California, I thought that it would be an interesting exercise to taste our way through some top mature Californian wines served blind alongside their French counterparts.
We started with a Chardonnay from one of California’s most famous white wine producers – Kistler. This was served next to a Premier Cru Puligny Montrachet from Verget. Both were from the 2002 vintage. This turned out not to be too difficult a challenge as the wines were completely contrasting in style. Half of the tasters preferred the Kistler and half the Puligny, but that was more down to personal taste than anyone thinking that one wine was better than the other. The 2002 McCrea Vineyard was golden in colour and opulent on the nose. The palate was rich and decadent with notes of toffee, buttered popcorn, fudge and cream. Impressively dense and viscous this had the depth of a Grand Cru White Burgundy but it wasn’t fooling anyone into thinking that it was French. A classic Californian Chardonnay. The 2002 Puligny Montrachet Sous le Puits from Verget had a much lighter colour with just a tinge of gold. This too was ripe and opulent but there was a shaft of lemon acidity and fine minerality that ran through it from start to finish, Notes of honey and cream but it was citric and crisp. Very good - but not outstanding. At its peak now. Both of these whites should be drunk up soon.
Kistler vs Puligny
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Our first red pair was from the 2001 vintage. Bordeaux was represented by Cos d’Estournel. This still has a deep colour with little fade at the edges. Ripe, but structured, with classic graphite and cigar box notes. Lots of black cassis Cabernet fruit. This is still youthful and tonight it was quite lean and austere - although another bottle tasted a few days later was more open and ready. I think that this will develop into a classic mature claret but on this showing it still needs a few more years of development. Certainly it’s one of the biggest and most backward wines of a vintage in which most wines are ready to go. From California we had Ridge Monte Bello – which was made from 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot and 8% Petit Verdot. This was a little more developed colour-wise than the Cos and had impressive richness and complexity. The mid palate was smooth and round with a touch of black pepper and bramble fruit. Fine and approaching maturity, this is a sophisticated Californian wine which most of us preferred to the Cos on the night. Having said that, the 99 point Wine Advocate score does seem rather generous.
Cos vs Ridge
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From 1996 we had a bottle of Ducru Beaucaillou up against Dominus. This was where it got tricky as the Ducru was surprisingly opulent and the Dominus more claret-like. When the bottles were revealed there was actually a debate as to whether I had got the decanters mixed up! The 1996 Ducru Beaucaillou really is one of the outstanding wines of the vintage in Bordeaux. Some 1996 Medocs can be quite lean, but this is remarkably rich for a vintage that is more famous for tannin than fruit. There was an almost raisin-like sweetness on the palate. This is a really ripe and decadent Cabernet that is full of licorice and cassis. A wine that was austere in its youth, tonight’s bottle was a real knockout. Sensational and very sexy for Bordeaux. Impressive stuff. By contrast the 1996 Dominus had some serious structure and was a classic example of refined elegance. This was classy and sophisticated with a firm backbone of tannin supporting the attractive fruit. I’m pretty sure that I’d guess this as Bordeaux again next time. Controlled and streamlined, very much a new world wine made in an old world style. A Californian wine for Bordeaux lovers.
Ducru vs Dominus
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1995 is Sam’s vintage and we tasted Ridge again which, this time, was up against Léoville Barton. No mistakes this time as they both represented their homes as expected. 1995 Leoville Barton is an archetypal Saint Julien. It still has a deep colour with only a little fade. There is a soaring black cassis nose with typical hints of cigar box and lead pencil shavings. The palate is dry, structured and fine. A real “Englishman’s claret” that is quite reserved and elegant. With time it opened up in the glass but never betrayed its roots or deviated from its focus. Proper claret! The 1995 Ridge Monte Bello has an even deeper colour – impressive at 20 years of age. On the palate this is thick, rich and plummy. This is not the usual Bordeaux style wine that I expect to taste from Ridge but seems made in a more meaty and muscular style. There are hints of mint and eucalyptus and a touch of Kirsch. A very good pair of wines that performed much more as expected than the 1996’s.
Ridge vs Barton
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Next up was a 1991 Ridge. I felt that it would be unfair to pair this up with a 1991 Bordeaux so we put in a 1990 instead. The 1991 Ridge Montebello is a classic. This wine has strapping Cabernet Sauvignon character with ripe fruit and smooth tannins in perfect balance. There is a touch of exotic coconut and eucalyptus giving it a sexy richness but, at the same time, it has control and backbone. At 24 years of age this is a beautiful wine that is maybe a bit too gorgeous to fool you into thinking that it’s from Bordeaux, but it has poise and balance despite the admirable intensity. Very good indeed. Equally impressive was the Pichon Baron 1990. This wine was a star when I first tasted it en primeur and it’s been consistently marvellous as I have watched it mature over the last quarter of a century. Super-ripe Cabernet fruit makes this appear sweet yet there is a backbone of ripe tannin to keep it in check. Great purity, power and precision. This used to be a wine of great promise in its youth but it has now finally reached full maturity and is a wonderful example of left bank claret from a top vintage.
Ridge vs Baron
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Our final pair was 1987 Dominus against a 1986 Bordeaux. (An 1987 Bordeaux would not have stood a chance). Disaster struck here as my bottle of Mouton Rothschild 1986 (one of my favourite wines of all time) was corked! I passed the decanter round the table desperate to find someone who thought that it was OK, but it wasn’t. There is something very painful about pouring a £700 bottle of wine down the drain…..Anyway, a quick trip to the cellar resulted in a bottle of Pape Clement 1986 taking its place. This Chateau made some fairly abysmal wines in the 1970’s and early 1980’s. In fact the 1982 Pape Clement is probably the worst wine that I have ever tasted from this great vintage. Fortunately for us, it seems that by 1986 they had sorted things out here because these was a lovely archetypal bottle of mature Graves. A maturing brick red colour was browning at the rim. The nose was smoky and on the palate there was still good sweetness with notes of leather, barbequed meat and road tar. Beautifully mature and drinking perfectly. The 1987 Dominus was much darker in colour and on the nose and palate it was considerably more intense with tarry, strongly cassis-infused dense black fruit. Very powerful, solid and serious. I expect that this tightly structured Cabernet Sauvignon would have given the Mouton a run for its money.
The full line-up
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This was a really interesting and enjoyable tasting and it was good to send Sam off to UCL Irvine with a taste of mature wines from classic vineyards. He’s 20 years old so, despite being somewhat of a wine expert already, he won’t be legally allowed to drink a glass of wine again until his next birthday!
