1986 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, France, Bordeaux, St. Julien, Wine Review

A dangerous vintage for this wine as they had winery wide issues with cork taint in the late 80's.  This bottle, however, showed very well.  Pop and pour, it took about 30 minutes to really get going.  After that it kept opening in stages for the next couple hours.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  Mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is nice with cassis, leather, a slight horse note and with air, cigar box.  On the palate, this is fresh and drinking well.  Tannins are pretty much resolved.  Layers of fruit and earth unwind in the glass.  Good finish.  I would drink these sooner than later, though a well stored proper bottle should easily go another ten years.  This will work well with stews and roasted veggies or meat.