1970 Chateau St. Julian for the Superbowl

We had a 1970 Chateau La Grande , a third growth wine from St. Julian for
the Superbowl, along with Cassoulet. It had aged very well, as you might
guess. It was not over the hill. Obviously the tannins had receded. The
fruit was there and seductively enticing. The wine benefited greatly from
decanting on Saturday, and drinking it yesterday. I do cover the decanter
with cling wrap to limit the oxygen. Our 1970s are drinking very well. We
are drinking them, however.

Kent
--
,constantly struggling with my level of ignorance

On Feb 8, 1:23*pm, "Kent" <aka.k...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> We had a 1970 Chateau La Grande , a third growth wine from St. Julian for
> the Superbowl, along with Cassoulet. It had aged very well, as you might
> guess. It was not over the hill. Obviously the tannins had receded. The
> fruit was there and seductively enticing. The wine benefited greatly from
> decanting on Saturday, and drinking it yesterday. I do cover the decanter
> with cling wrap to limit the oxygen. Our 1970s are drinking very well. We
> are drinking *them, however.
>
> Kent
> --
> ,constantly struggling with my level of ignorance

La Grande? No such third growth. Maybe Lagrange?
I also find the 1970 vintage is drinking well, though I'm surprising
that it held up to a day's decant.

"DaleW" <Dwmidnt@aol.com> wrote in message
news:73bdccc7-c2ff-4e8a-81bf-4316f2f9387b@q4g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
On Feb 8, 1:23 pm, "Kent" <aka.k...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> We had a 1970 Chateau La Grande , a third growth wine from St. Julian for
> the Superbowl, along with Cassoulet. It had aged very well, as you might
> guess. It was not over the hill. Obviously the tannins had receded. The
> fruit was there and seductively enticing. The wine benefited greatly from
> decanting on Saturday, and drinking it yesterday. I do cover the decanter
> with cling wrap to limit the oxygen. Our 1970s are drinking very well. We
> are drinking them, however.
>
> Kent
> --
> ,constantly struggling with my level of ignorance

>La Grande? No such third growth. Maybe Lagrange?
>I also find the 1970 vintage is drinking well, though I'm surprising
>that it held up to a day's decant.
>
>
My error, It is Chateau La Grange, a third growth St. Julien. I have a few
bottles left. I find, or found because I want to drink half of the old
bottle the next day that prolonged decanting always improves an old wine.
It's actually quite something. The balance is better; the fruit is more
substantial, and the nose is better. I do leave it in the decanter; I do
cover it with a bit of nitrogen, and I always wrap it with cling wrap. That
slight extra bit of aeration has always made it better.

Kent

On Feb 8, 3:32*pm, "Kent" <aka.k...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> My error, It is Chateau La Grange, a third growth St. Julien.

Actually, that is still not right. There is no such thing as Ch. La
Grange.

The St. Julien is Ch. Lagrange (believe me, it makes a difference
sometimes).

While still drinkable, this 1970 was far better some years ago - I
suggest that you not keep them a lot longer if you want to get the
most enjoyment outy of them as it will only decline from here, albeit
hopefully slowly.

On 2/8/10 6:32 PM, Kent wrote:

> My error, It is Chateau La Grange, a third growth St. Julien. I have a few
> bottles left. I find, or found because I want to drink half of the old
> bottle the next day that prolonged decanting always improves an old wine.
> It's actually quite something. The balance is better; the fruit is more
> substantial, and the nose is better. I do leave it in the decanter; I do
> cover it with a bit of nitrogen, and I always wrap it with cling wrap. That
> slight extra bit of aeration has always made it better.

I'm very glad to hear that you had a good experience with this wine.
I've had some very lovely '70s, but all but the biggest of them are now
on the downslope in my experience. As Bill says, I think that you're
talking about Ch. Lagrange in St. Julien. I wouldn't wait too long on
those other bottles, but I hope that they prove as satisfying as this
one was.

Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

"Mark Lipton" <notpil@eudrup.ude> wrote in message
news:hkqcvt$9fs$1@speranza.aioe.org...
> On 2/8/10 6:32 PM, Kent wrote:
>
>> My error, It is Chateau La Grange, a third growth St. Julien. I have a
>> few
>> bottles left. I find, or found because I want to drink half of the old
>> bottle the next day that prolonged decanting always improves an old wine.
>> It's actually quite something. The balance is better; the fruit is more
>> substantial, and the nose is better. I do leave it in the decanter; I do
>> cover it with a bit of nitrogen, and I always wrap it with cling wrap.
>> That
>> slight extra bit of aeration has always made it better.
>
> I'm very glad to hear that you had a good experience with this wine. I've
> had some very lovely '70s, but all but the biggest of them are now on the
> downslope in my experience. As Bill says, I think that you're talking
> about Ch. Lagrange in St. Julien. I wouldn't wait too long on those other
> bottles, but I hope that they prove as satisfying as this one was.
>
> Mark Lipton
>
> --
> alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net
>
>
I agree. It's hard to imagine what aging further would do. The few 1970 1st
growths we have have been spectacular, the most recent a Cheval Blanc.
There's a bottle of 1970 Latour lying there just screaming at me as I type.
I think as well they should be drunk now.

If you have thoughts on that please share.

Kent

Kent wrote on Mon, 8 Feb 2010 15:32:48 -0800:


> "DaleW" <Dwmidnt@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:73bdccc7-c2ff-4e8a-81bf-4316f2f9387b@q4g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
> On Feb 8, 1:23 pm, "Kent" <aka.k...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> We had a 1970 Chateau La Grande , a third growth wine from
>> St. Julian for the Superbowl, along with Cassoulet. It had
>> aged very well, as you might guess. It was not over the hill.
>> Obviously the tannins had receded. The fruit was there and
>> seductively enticing. The wine benefited greatly
>> from decanting on Saturday, and drinking it yesterday. I do
>> cover the decanter with cling wrap to limit the oxygen. Our
>> 1970s are drinking very well. We are drinking them, however.
>>
>> Kent
>> --
>> ,constantly struggling with my level of ignorance

>> La Grande? No such third growth. Maybe Lagrange?
>> I also find the 1970 vintage is drinking well, though I'm
>> surprising that it held up to a day's decant.
>>
> My error, It is Chateau La Grange, a third growth St. Julien. I have a
> few bottles left. I find, or found because I want to drink half of the
> old bottle the next day that prolonged
> decanting always improves an old wine. It's actually quite
> something. The balance is better; the fruit is more substantial, and
> the nose is better. I do leave it in the
> decanter; I do cover it with a bit of nitrogen, and I always
> wrap it with cling wrap. That slight extra bit of aeration has
> always made it better.

I wonder about the phrase, "cover it with a bit of nitrogen" since air
is roughly 80% nitrogen and, if it did not mix with the air, nitrogen is
lighter than air and thus would rise above it. It would take rather a
lot of nitrogen to displace the oxygen in the air by mixing. Argon would
work being inert and heavier than air but it's not cheap. Carbon dioxide
is also heavier than air but it is water soluble and might change the
taste of the wine.


--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

"James Silverton" <not.jim.silverton@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:hksij1$14h$1@news.eternal-september.org...
> Kent wrote on Mon, 8 Feb 2010 15:32:48 -0800:
>
>
>> "DaleW" <Dwmidnt@aol.com> wrote in message
>> news:73bdccc7-c2ff-4e8a-81bf-4316f2f9387b@q4g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
>> On Feb 8, 1:23 pm, "Kent" <aka.k...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>> We had a 1970 Chateau La Grande , a third growth wine from
>>> St. Julian for the Superbowl, along with Cassoulet. It had
>>> aged very well, as you might guess. It was not over the hill.
>>> Obviously the tannins had receded. The fruit was there and
>>> seductively enticing. The wine benefited greatly
>>> from decanting on Saturday, and drinking it yesterday. I do
>>> cover the decanter with cling wrap to limit the oxygen. Our
>>> 1970s are drinking very well. We are drinking them, however.
>>>
>>> Kent
>>> --
>>> ,constantly struggling with my level of ignorance
>
>>> La Grande? No such third growth. Maybe Lagrange?
>>> I also find the 1970 vintage is drinking well, though I'm
>>> surprising that it held up to a day's decant.
>>>
>> My error, It is Chateau La Grange, a third growth St. Julien. I have a
>> few bottles left. I find, or found because I want to drink half of the
>> old bottle the next day that prolonged
>> decanting always improves an old wine. It's actually quite
>> something. The balance is better; the fruit is more substantial, and the
>> nose is better. I do leave it in the
>> decanter; I do cover it with a bit of nitrogen, and I always
>> wrap it with cling wrap. That slight extra bit of aeration has
>> always made it better.
>
> I wonder about the phrase, "cover it with a bit of nitrogen" since air is
> roughly 80% nitrogen and, if it did not mix with the air, nitrogen is
> lighter than air and thus would rise above it. It would take rather a lot
> of nitrogen to displace the oxygen in the air by mixing. Argon would work
> being inert and heavier than air but it's not cheap. Carbon dioxide is
> also heavier than air but it is water soluble and might change the taste
> of the wine.
>
> James Silverton
>
>
You're absolutely right. Blasting nitrogen spray over 100 cubic inches of
air on top of leftover wine in a decanter for only 24 hours probably makes
no sense. I do use Private Preserve now and then to save remaining wine.
http://www.wineenthusiast.com/wine-e...tion-spray.asp
I've kept remaining wine to save as long as a month. You pour the remaining
wine back into the bottle after rinsing and drying it, then cover with
nitrogen spray and recork it. This works well.

Thanks very much.

Kent