1990 Conseillante
Extraordinary elegance and freshness on the a floral nose violet and dark plum. The palate is so supple and seductive and the multi dimensional flavours that lean towards dark cherry, raspberry, liquorice and dark chocolate build and build leading to a lengthy finish. This is a multidimensional and exquisitely balanced 1990 with plenty of flesh and weight in the mouth. It has to be one of the most successful Pomerols of the vintage and is just so attractive to drink now. It should however continue to evolve further over the next 5-10 years. Really delicious.
1990 Pichon Baron
Regarded as a benchmark release for Pichon, this was a wonderful opportunity to sample the evolution of what is a truly great 2nd growth performer from 1990. The initial nose is concentrated, balanced, fresh and still quite youthful. Lots of crème de cassis, blackcurrant and subtle liquorice notes are evident. The palate shows some signs of development with the tannins soft and rounded and a savoury character slowly starting to surface. The finish is exceptionally long and builds and builds over 5 minutes and I found that as I hovered over the spittoon there was nothing left to spit! I can’t wait to try this wine in 10-15 years’ time. Truly exceptional.
1990 Latour
I found the Latour rather evolved which I wasn’t totally expecting. The colour has started to soften and the youthful flavours have been replaced with touches of leather and cigarbox and subtle mature berry. In the mouth Latour’s noticeable tannins that are normally evident in most great vintages have melted away and the lowish acidity has allowed this wine to perhaps evolve quicker than one might expect normally from a great Latour. A successful and attractive wine it certainly is, but in the context of the vintage and what it is up against, I didn’t regard it as one of the top releases.