Ready, Set, Go: Perfect Aged, 1996 Haut-Médoc Drinking Beautifully
Posted on: 08/6/18 12:00 PM
Fresh from a 2009 bargain last week, I’ve gone even further back into Bordeaux’s archives today for a ridiculously cool offer on another Haut-Médoc from a great vintage, this time 1996!
A friend of mine in Bordeaux tipped me off that someone had a small parcel of this available. While it sounded great, and while I love old Bordeaux like nothing else, I always like to tread carefully. So, we went to the trouble of having a single sample bottle shipped here and letting it settle for a few days before opening it to make sure it was as good as it sounded. Goodness how it delivered!
There’s only availability of this for a very short window and I want to take maximum advantage. As a result, I’m trying something new here. $40 is a wonderful price for this wine and reflects what our usual price for an e-mail offer would be based on our cost. However, if you’d like to trust me on this one and join me in trying to gobble up all that is available by taking a full case- we will cut that down to $35.99
If you want your Bordeaux to be fruit forward juicy and intense then you might want to look elsewhere, but if you want something complex and totally mature, with dark fruit, cedar, coffee, spice, earth, smoked meat, you need this in your life. That’s not to suggest that this is just ‘hanging on’, there’s very good length, a clean-fruited finish, and I found the wine opened up significantly with a little air. I poured a glass for one of the most experienced Bordeaux tasters we know, told him it was Haut-Médoc and asked him to guess the vintage. He went for 2005 – another brilliant year, but his guess speaks well to the quality and condition on show here.
Don’t miss this.
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