Corton Charlemagne..... Haut Brion.....

Well, not exactly a kosher Seder < g >, more like an excellent dinner with good wines. Corton Charlemagne 1989 Bonneau du Martrey and Ch. Haut Brion 1970. We had the Corton Charlemagne with the first two courses, the Haut Brion with the rest.

Corton Charlemagne			1989	Bonneau du Martray

4/95. Bought in auction Mar-95 for $55. (imported from Chicago for $63 net).
Set in the fridge for 24 hours, opened and poured immediately. BIG MISTAKE! It took about 20 minutes for the wine to open up. A great white (B) should be given some time to breath, just like red, and should never be served below 12-14 C.
COLOR: Good golden-yellow vibrant color.
NOSE: Pleasant but disappointingly weak aroma. Nothing like Jadot's or Latour's CC.
TASTE: (After it came out of its shell) Much better than the nose. Rich and spicy taste with hints of flint, nuts, and butter. Still a bit young with a tinge of bitterness on the finish.
LENGTH: Infinite long and complex, lingering in the mouth for ages.
BALANCE & TEXTURE: Very good acidity vs alcohol, though not particularly fruity. A viscous wine.
OVERALL: Excellent and enticing wine, though I had better Corton Charlemagne in my life.
MARK: 17/20.aaaaaaaaBUY MORE? Maybe.

Chateau Haut Brion			1970	Graves

4/95. Bought in auction Mar-95 for $80 (imported from Chicago for $92 net).
My experience of a first-growth Bordeaux. The bottle was not filled to the top (they designated it 'high shoulders', though if that is 'high' I wonder what 'low' is < g >). The cork broke in the middle, though the wine was certainly not corked. Decanted the wine out of courtesy, as not much sediment was there. It stood decanted for about half an hour before we got to it.
COLOR: Brownish-red though surprisingly full and quite dark. Paling only around the rim.
NOSE: Very big and unusual aroma. I could not discern any particular fruit or any other specific ingredient for that matter. It reminded me of some medicine or coughing syrup (remember, I have no reference point). It was like no wine I ever had. Very impressive, though it took some time to get used to. After a while I found myself sniffing again and again for that smell. It faded away in about two hours.
TASTE: Very concentrated and tasty but again, no particular ingredient can be told apart. Mouth-filling and smooth. Totally mellow but, at the risk of showing my ignorance, I think a bit too mellow and maybe past its peak. I wish I had a younger version of this wine for comparison.
LENGTH: Almost no aftertaste whatsoever.
TEXTURE & BALANCE: The wine was so velvety smooth and homogeneous, that I can't even tell its fruitiness from its acidity, alcohol etc. It had no discernable tannins, and the only element that revealed itself to me separately was the Merlot taste.
OVERALL: An excellent wine and a great experience. This wine was more like an intellectual exercise. You drink this wine and think, whereas with a great (B), you close your eyes, drink it slowly, and surrender to pleasure. This is not my final assessment on Bx vs (B), just a first-time impression. I must reserve judgement until I had more and different Bordeaux wines.
MARK: 17/20.aaaaaaaaBUY MORE? No.

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Jacob "Yak" Shaya.