Helen and I are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary this weekend, so I'm digging down to the bottom of the cellar for wines from the 1986 vintage. Tonight I made a roasted Rohan duck with duck fat roasted fingerling potatoes and duck fat roasted Brussels sprouts (it was a great sacrifice making the vile veggie, but true love will out and they are one of her favorites, besides which duck fat can make anything taste good).
The Heitz had thrown quite a bit of sediment, but the wine still presented as a deep ruby with remarkably little bricking. The bouquet was immense, filling the entire dining room with aromas of pencil shavings, leather, prunes, and dried currants. On the palate, the flavor associations that came to mind were much the same plus some pepper and oriental spices. The finish was still surprisingly tannic suggesting that this vintage could last at least until our 40th. Sadly, however, this was my only bottle.
Grade: 98
