1986 Chateau Chasse-Spleen vs. 1995 Chateau Lynch-Moussas Grand Cru Classé – BDX generations

People who know me also know my fable for this particular winery. So far I didn’t experience a disappointment concerning this producer and its price-pleasure ratio has always been more then just OK Therefore it appears normal to me to “strike” immediately if I get a nice offer – especially out of such a vintage and with such filling levels. I know that a lot of people think that in our days almost everything about BDX is super classy, high-end, concentrated, ridiculous expensive and over the top. Calm down, it’s not that dramatic . Just have to “hang around” next to the spot light and you will find really nice, typical BDX wines for reasonable money. Like this one here with its deep, mature but also slight turbid, garnet red color. The nose showed in the beginning a lot of old leather an some metallic scents but with some time those disappeared and made room for a really luxurious ,spicy bouquet with a lot of fresh roasted coffee beans, melted dark chocolate, black cherries, Cassis, sloes, juniper, bay leaf, cinnamon, rosemary and thyme, blood and violets. The exciting thing on this wine has been the speed it changed in the beginning its flavors. So, after a while we found also warm forest floor with truffles and Port wine aromas. “Well, if this guy develops in this promising way perhaps it benefits in general from further aeration in a carafe ?” So I thought but I was wrong. The wine didn’t break but after a little bit more than one hour it closed up and became harder, more metallic and edgy with a lot of iodine – so much for “decanting” old red wines … We should have opened this bottled and drink it up without pouring it into a stupid carafe, waiting for even more to appear than what the wine showed already right from the beginning. Even in the mouth its very active but fine grained tannins in cooperation with a good integrated acidity produced right from the start a very high pressure at the palate. Cloves, bay leaves and sloe juice have been the leading flavors here until the medium finish without (in the beginning) any signs of age. A real classic, mature and excellent BDX left bank and the next bottle I will for sure pour instantly in my glass !

Another great vintage ! But Lynch-Moussas is some kind of a wallflower, almost nobody has on his radar screen. Good for us – bad for all the others … ! My first bottle of this wine has been just a by catch but when we opened it some weeks ago, it was gone in no time. I didn’t even have the possibility to make some notes – in this case a real compliment ! So I immediately organized some other bottles and today the wine proofed that it hasn’t been just a “flash in the pan” but really hedonistic stuff. Open it, pour it, enjoy it ! Carafes, decanters ? Put some flowers in those and concentrate on the real important things in life. Relax, lay back and enjoy this incredible healthy and clear, deep ruby red color and this very smooth, “fluffy” nose. Much more like a Margaux or even a Pomerol than a Pauillac with its loads of plums, dark cherries, melted chocolate, truffles and smooths leather. Just its decent background scents of graphite, pencil and brown spices gave a hint to its real origin. Wow ! Simply unexpected and therefor outstanding. And this fragrance didn’t disappear after a couple of minutes. No, it manifested itself, became even richer and more complex. Why such wines are always bottled in such tiny bottles ? I would suggest at least a double magnum … as a start ! Also the palate was a real pleasure dome with its high pressure and this wonderful melting sensation (butter) but also with a intact and fine woven tannin structure and a lively acidity which gave this wine a backbone and character. The long aftertaste has been dominated by dark fruits, fresh milled coffee, malted chocolate and … a lot of other things ! No, that’s simply a great, complete and exceptional wine – at least those two bottles we have had recently. About the others we will keep you informed – I promise !