What a week!

What a week! Tuesday we tasted 1986 Bordeaux at Mistral. As usual William outdid himself , the food was excellent. We tasted a dozen 1986s. Some had volatile acidity, some were simply too old and some were corked, but others were real beauties. The La Lagune was somewhat light and rustic compared to the elegant, round, complex Pichon-Longueville Comtesse.
The Sociando Mallet was simply over the hill and the Ducru, quite a nice wine, was corked. The Pape Clement was on the light side, but had interesting flavors of mineral and earth. The Leoville Barton was mahogany colored, a bit old, but went quite well with the cheese It was complemented by the Montrose which was not the monster one might expect, but had enough beautiful fruit and relatively soft tannins to keep going for another five years. The highlight of the evening was the Sauternes and Foie Gras. The Rieussec retained the best features of its youth while showing the complex honeyed nector quality of an older Sauternes. Six hours at the table almost set a record for us.