Wine Duel of Classic, Old Wines I

Tonight, on the evening of Christmas 2008 (merry Christmas to all of you, by the way!) my friend Horace and me decided to taste two interesting blends, traditionally-made wines. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec for one and Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc for the other one. These wines, however, are no fruity stuff like the ones some wine “gurus” routinely push for, but “classic” wines, with plenty of oak (not all of it new).

One of the wines is a typical Bordeaux: Chateau L'Escart Bordeaux Superieure vintage 1996. I have had this bottle for several years. Apparently, it won a Medaille d'Or prize in the Concours d'Aquitaine in 1998. The other one is a much newer wine, one of the top wines of excellent argentine winery Nieto y Senetiner. With my friend Horace, we still remember drinking several years ago some fantastic, ancient wines from the same winery, vintage 1982, sold under the Santa Isabel brand. The wine we are drinking tonight is a Don Nicanor blend vintage 2006.

Now, the corks. The corks of both are good, but not of the best quality. Both have several imperfections, although both are made of one single piece of cork. Not any “modern” screw-tops here. Not for wines that have aged or can age for more than a decade. The concept of screw-tops might be very fashionable, “New World” (and go quite a long way towards improving the bottom lines of more than one Australian or American winery, as they are significantly cheaper than natural cork), but no amount of sleek marketing is going to “sell” the concept to people who knows about the advantages of natural cork. Good ol'cork will ALWAYS be better for the micro-oxygenation that these beauties need in their long life spans. Wine is a live thing that needs to breath. Of course, plastic corks or screw-tops are OK for young wines that are not expected to age.

The first impression of a closed Don Nicanor says little in terms of bouquet: we have just opened it some 30' ago. The colour is ruby, with violet shades that probably come from the malbec in it. However, the taste is very powerful. The wine has structure, but it does not have a powerful attack. The middle is round although not too fleshy and it has a very long finish that is most enjoyable. Well balanced, smooth and well proportioned.

Interestingly, this Don Nicanor seems to be older that it is. Now it is some two hours since we opened it and it has opened more (although not fully). The wine seems to have become more mellow and sweet in the mouth, especially the crucial middle. And the finish of the wine continues to make you want to drink more of it. We find it more astringent on the upper part of the mouth rather than the lower part.

The Chateau L'Escart has a topaz colour, which does not show its age (12 years) as much as one would expect (from past experience with other ancient wines). It has that beautiful, never forgotten aroma of old wines, woody but not the strong vanilla of new oak casks. The attack is very soft. The middle is astringent, given the age of the wine, but not fleshy or round. It also has that difficult-to-describe taste of old wines which is related to the time spent in the bottle, slowly oxidising. The one problem with this wine is that it goes down like water. It is so easy to drink. Which quite a lot to say for a wine with so much Cabernet Sauvignon in it.

One conclusion that we agree on with Horace is that the Don Nicanor, although good to drink now, will improve substantially with time. We would give it some five more years. The aging potential of this wine is, we believe, substantially longer, though. Ten years at the very least.

Second glass of the L'Escart. The bouquet, now two hours and a half since opening, is extremely complex, with notes of tobacco and leather. The taste is even better, blows your mind and the rest away. Intense, the taste of the middle is hypnotising. That's the thing to regret about these wines: you have too few bottles of them!. In my case, only one. It was a gift from a friend of mine many years ago, and I don't remember who gave it to me , but THANKS!!!. PLEASE, BRING MORE BOTTLES!!!!.

At the beginning, when we first started to drink both wines, the Don Nicanor made an excellent showing, but now, after being given time to open, the L'Escart is killing the other one. Ok, let's be honest, it is NOT a fair fight. And we think that the Don Nicanor, given some 5-7 years will be able to take on quite a few excellent wines.

Another interesting point is the alcohol difference between both wines. The Don Nicanor has 14% alcohol and it does smell more alcoholic at this third glass we are having now. Much more than the 12,5% alcohol of the L'Escart. Of late, however, I've read that the weather change in Bordeaux due to global warming seems to be leading to more sun and more alcohol in more recent wines produced in the region. If this is true, in the future newer versions of this wine may not be comparable to the older ones, for obvious reasons.

The third glass of Don Nicanor feels very powerful after the milder L'Escart. Another thing is that it tastes less woody, and more fruity. My friend Horace tells me that this wine duel reminds him of a classic, never forgotten duel we made ten years ago of a Rodas Du Valle 1986 against a Martins Cab. Sauv. 1983, both from Argentina and now almost impossible to find. Well, almost: I have two bottles left of the latter in my wine cellar!

Well, the wine is coming to an end. We are down to the last glasses of each one of the two jewels we have had the luck to enjoy tonight. Wine is a work of art that you only enjoy once. Imagine watching the Mona Lisa only once. Disturbing, isn't it? Well, that's how I feel right now, knowing that I will NEVER again try this wine, as this is probably the last bottle of it I will ever try. So, we will make the best of this glass. Cheers, mates!

IN VINO, VERITAS!