1976 Ch. Margaux - An exercise in wine thanatology as this is from the
Ginestet era when Margaux was scraping the bottom of the barrel
(recovery didn't take place until the 1978 vintage..The nose on this
brown edged wine was actually very presentable, but it was lacking on
palate, with insufficient fruit to balance out the remaining tannins
and finished short. I was strangely drawn to the corpse, however, and
my friend and I finished most of the bottle in a sort of wake while
thinking good thoughts about better vintages.

1975 Warres - I've always liked 1975 Ports more than many people seem
to. Now getting quite pale in colour, the wine had a warm spicy nose,
decent body and medium length elegant finish.

Bill S. wrote:
> 1976 Ch. Margaux - An exercise in wine thanatology as this is from the
> Ginestet era when Margaux was scraping the bottom of the barrel
> (recovery didn't take place until the 1978 vintage..The nose on this
> brown edged wine was actually very presentable, but it was lacking on
> palate, with insufficient fruit to balance out the remaining tannins
> and finished short. I was strangely drawn to the corpse, however, and
> my friend and I finished most of the bottle in a sort of wake while
> thinking good thoughts about better vintages.

I have tasted the 1970 and 75 Ch. Margaux, but not the 1976. Yes, this
was a bad era for Ch. Margaux. The 70 and 75 still are drinking fairly
well, but are considerably below the quality expected for a 1st growth
- somewhat lacking in fruit, complexity, and balance. I have had very
mixed results for 76 red Bordeaux in general. Some were very good and
held well; others started turning brown quite early and now are ready
to pour down the sink. So I would not consider a 76 of much importance
in judging the average style of a wine. At least your 76 Ch. Margaux
was still drinkable, which is more than you can say for many 76s from
estates that usually make a long-lasting, at least decent, wine in most
years that do not have severe problems with the vintage.