Two Great 1986 Bordeaux: Different Styles, Different Palates

Last week we had a chance to taste some perfectly cellared 1986 Bordeaux among four of us, including Board member Lou Rittenhouse: the 1986 Pichon Lalande and the 1986 Léoville las Cases. Two great Bordeaux showing distinctive styles that turned out to resonate differently with the palates.

To start, we shared a 2005 Albert Mann Riesling Schlossberg, a wine that we had tasted at Thanksgiving. This bottle was opened mid-afternoon, a good 2 to 2.5 hours before tasting. This extra bit of air evidently made quite a difference in the profile compared to an earlier bottle tasted at Thanksgiving, where granitic soil and dust seemed to dominate the profile. Here the granitic mineral component was in the background behind a complex array of tropical and more northerly fruits and floral aromas. I am always amazed that these Riesling (when successful) can capture such a range of apparent climates in their fruit and floral character. The sweetness from the evidently 8-10 g/L of residual sugar was a bit more apparent as well, dominating the initial attack while the soil and floral notes emerged more clearly on the finish. Drinking well now with some air, but should be interesting to track over the next 10 years or so...

The 1986 Pichon Lalande has to be drinking close to its peak, with airy, high-toned aromas of olive, green aged tobacco, and cassis showing very expressively on the nose. On the palate, the presentation from initial attack to its long finish is horizontal, meaning it seems to spread across the palate, with inner mouth perfumes emerging as the spicy wine reacts vigorously on the palate. This wine manages a weightlessness that is not common among many top notch Bordeaux, and without sacrificing any richness of fruit on the palate.

The 1986 Léoville las Cases does not show the same signature crème de cassis mouthfeel of the 1982, 1990, and the young 1996 Léoville las Cases, but it does show that even more characteristic palate expression of layers unfolding vertically, or with depth in the wine. The nose shows aromas of cool menthol, rich aged dark tobacco (no green note), and a smoky undertone that is reluctantly coaxed from the glass. In the mouth, the wine is impeccably balanced, with an impressive muscular structure that shows no sharp edges, even if that creamy note is not there. Now the brooding suggestion of vertical layering here might well lead some to say the wine is simply not ready, I can’t help but feeling this is really the quintessential Léoville las Cases expression. This wine did nothing for Lou, but I still find myself beguiled by that intoxicating sensation of descent one gets with a great las Cases, as if plumbing the depths of the Marianas Trench. This seems to me a clear case where distinct styles of wine resonate very differently with different palates.