With Hart, Ben, SM, BSG and M. The Ch BAM is a very interesting wine. The wine was never classified in 1855, because the Lord-owner had reserved it exclusively for personal drinking. The vineyards to this day contains vines that survived the French Blight and are old as shit; they also do not use any oak in aging their wine – only stainless. To this day, it’s actually incredibly easy to find 20-60 year old bottles at fairly reasonable prices; certainly much cheaper than even fresh first growths. The downside (but also, interesting) to this wine has been that their wines can truly vary significantly inter vintages. This was one of the first few wines Hart and I shared, either at Praelum or Le Bon Funk, and we’ve always always enjoyed it.

In any case, Hart bought this for my birthday in 2023, as part of a trio. The 2009 has been by far the best: on the nose, perfumey, smelled of high alcohol, aged red fruit, touch of pepper. On the palette, high acidity, mid-high tannins, medium-light body. On exhale: pure leather, earthy, mild mushroom, very little fruit.

Candidly, it wasn’t the most IMPRESSIVE of Margaux (BAM rarely is, but I don’t expect that from them anyway), but it had the quintessential elements of a good one. I think most people might find it to lack fruits, but I’ve always associate BAM with more secondary and tertiary notes.