1988 Haut Brion Pessac Leognan

1988 Haut Brion Pessac Leognan

Randomly picked a bottle of good wine for my New Years’ Eve drink, to pair with lamb. I was sufficiently impressed with some 1988 Bordeaux, although definitely not comprehensive, as I think 1988 was a relatively poor vintage for Bordeaux. However, my experience has been very mixed, Mouton Rothschild 1988 was totally hopeless, but I do have good luck with all other first growths like Lafite Rothschild, a totally stunning wine, Latour 1988 never fail to disappoint, Margaux 1988 performed extremely well in a blind tasting of vertical Margaux. Thus, I picked something that I have never tasted before, and I must admit, it would have gone any direction. I decanted it for at least an hour before tasting a sip before my dinner, felt that it was slightly diluted, despite very elegant smoke on the bouquet. It possessed a bit of the Graves character of earthy notes, however, primarily red fruits driven. When I had my lamb dish, at the mark of about 1.5 hours of decanting, everything was off the chart! Haut Brion 1988 suddenly became so feminine, soft and approachable that was totally beyond my description! I really enjoyed the content when I had some food, I was not persuaded it was the lamb that ticked the magic, I’m sure given sufficient decanting time, the content of this stunning wine changed sufficiently to be very impressive. Try it to believe yourself!