1996 Mouton Rothschild, 1996 Margaux, 1996 La Mission Haut-Brion, 1998 Ausone, 1996 Château Haut-Brion

A handful of alumni from Changi met up with the Professor, still hale and hearty, for a superb evening at Jade Palace on 17 August 2023 where we all dug deep on a main theme of 1996 (for the Left Bank) that included a pairing of Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion. All wines were blinded except for the champagne and one bottle of Sociando-Mallet. Many thanks to all for your kind generosity.

2006 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs, courtesy of GPP. Very good presence of pears, peaches and orchard fruit that convey exciting verve with a chiseled intensity, exuding brilliant chromatic tones with cool refreshing zest. Excellent.

1996 Domaine Robert Ampeau et Fils Meursault-Perrières 1er, courtesy of Kieron. Light luminosity. Shy at first, opening with distant orangey tones that indicate substantial age. Rather placid with a very even linearity before Ampeau’s signature acidic tone became evident along with overtones of olives, pomelo and coconut. Still amazingly fresh and energetic.

2000 Château Sociando-Mallet, through sheer coincidence an identical pair courtesy of Vic and yours truly. The first bottle, which had been through negociant Henri Duboscq, displayed secondary characters of cedar and capsicum amid tobacco shavings and dark currants on a dryish medium-full palate, very fresh and elegant with well-integrated acidity, gently layered with good typicity. The second bottle, from an OWC sourced from Bordeaux Index London and tasted blind, was highly consistent but even more rounded and full with a fleshy succulence, on par with a classified growth. Truly, Sociando-Mallet from the old days is made to last.

1996 Château La Mission Haut-Brion, courtesy of WCY. Deep crimson. Compared with Haut-Brion of the same vintage (drunk side-by-side), the La Mission shows a remarkable restrained intensity of darkish tones topped with a dash red capsicum, seamlessly structured with tightly knit tannins that grip the full palate with svelte intensity, imparting great swagger and elegance in equal measure.

1996 Château Haut-Brion, courtesy of WCY. Deep crimson. This wine appeared a little disjointed at first before snapping into place with fine transparency, revealing tertiary characters of cinnamon, capsicum and star anise from its gentle depth, structured with relaxed elegant tannins that display that greater bit of refinement compared with the La Mission Haut-Brion, eventually fleshing out with growing intensity.

1998 Château Ausone. Deep garnet. Darkly delicious, open with an inviting warmth of glorious black fruits and currants, wonderfully ripe, painting the palate with velvety succulence and early tertiary characters that impart superb mouthfeel and vigour. At its prime.

1996 Château Margaux, courtesy of Kieron. Deep crimson. Warm glow of mature ripe fruit well into its tertiary development. Faintly delicious on the nose but the palate is wonderfully fresh, buzzing with great vibrancy and superb intensity, framed by open delicate tannins that add immeasurably to its feminine elegance. Took on delicious intensity in the glass. At its best, I feel.

1996 Château Mouton Rothschild, courtesy of Vic. Deep garnet. Rather placid on the nose though there is an unquestionably full presence of black fruits, very generously layered with cool ripeness and controlled intensity, shot through with a certain racy streak that culminated in a bit of brambly forest characters. Delicious. I was spot on.