Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

Indecision, procrastination/prevarication and caveats welcome.

Gosh that is a tough one. Lafite ticks all boxes for me. It is first among equals on the first growths. As stefan sagely observed the only problem with Lafite is the price, and it is not just the Chinese who have a lot to answer for. Then Ch. Margaux is clearly #2 in the pecking order based on our vertical FG tastings over the last five years.

But much as I love Ch. Margaux and have more Leoville Barton than any other wine and a lot of d’Yquem, because my daughter is ‘Josephine Yquem’ my second wine would have to be a right bank.

Much as I love Cheval Blanc, and regard it as the best wine on the right bank, two of my epiphanous wines from 30 years ago were La Conseillante and Figeac. While both have gone a bit over to the dark side in recent years - associating with the wrong types, but I don’t think being overly swayed by them - my second vote goes to La Conseillante by dint of the class, precociousness and magical quality of the wine they produced in the decade from 1981 to 1990.

My favorites are also not based mostly on the quality but on my emotional response to the wines. My second favorite is Ducru-Beaucaillou even though I drink it much less often than other Bordeaux wines that we like because (like Lafite, which contends for second for me) it has a low QPR.

I liked your post Ian. So my vote is a value pick. La Lagune. I drink much more LL than Pichon L.

My second favorite after Calon Segur these days is Sociando Mallet.

If I use value in my cellar as a metric, after Chateau Talbot, its Ch. Meyney.

So if my first is Pichon Lalande, my second has to be Lafite. It could have easily been the other way around though.

Château la Conseillante

Pichon Lalande

Ducru Beaucaillou (the Lafite Rothschild of Saint Julien)

jckba wrote: ↑Tue May 03, 2022 2:36 pm Ducru Beaucaillou (the Lafite Rothschild of Saint Julien)

Very similar. Interesting that Ducru is physically closer to Latour than Lafite.

Angelus

Chateau Chasse-Spleen

Danielle Ducru Beaucaillou and myself I've turned to Tour St Christophe as the #1 holding bottle count in my cellar. 7 full cases 2014-19 and mags of 16. No influence here but loved our visit there and have enjoyed the few sampled to date. Yes there are others that I could put ahead of this like Pichon Baron or La Conseillante and personal favourites but this little TSC has caught our hearts for many reasons. An emotional pick for sure.

This is a harder one for me. Chose La Conseillante for my favorite.

The more I think about it, it probably has to be Pichon Lalande. I just haven't had enough Haut Brion to justify, yet.

I could also have easily gone with d'Issan, Pichon Baron, or Lynch Bages.

Danielle Ducru Beaucaillou and myself I've turned to Tour St Christophe as the #1 holding bottle count in my cellar.

See, to me, this is the spirit of what we are talking about...

Sure, I can say Petrus is my #1 choice, Lafite a close #2....

Instead, I pick... Calon Segur, and Sociando...

Don't remember Danny's first pick, but I've got no problem with Tour St. Christophe as number two, for numerous reasons...

Margaux, Pichon Lalande, or Conseillante, hmm, tough choice for #2. Probably depends on which day you’re asking. Today it’s Pichon Lalande.

What is fun, is there are no good or bad answers.

You can have Le Pin and Petrus as number 1 and 2, or Croizet-Bages and Péby Faugères.

But something is amazing: i would have never guessed that Pichon Lalande would be number 1 or 2 for many.

La Lagune - also for its value/QPR.

So much love on this board for Pichon Lalande.

I think we can say unequivocally that Pichon Lalande is BWE’s favourite wine.

And people have translated that love into purchases - see M151’s thread

So should we promote Pichon Lalande up from super second to first growth?

Ian
I’ve always regarded Pichon Lalande as a wine that is arguably a 1er Cru in quality particularly in the 80s. I just wish I could still buy it for the same price. It is so smooth and balanced.

I picked Ducru Beaucaillou as my fav partly as it is about a quarter the price of Margaux here. Otherwise Margaux is a fav so I’ll pick it as second ahead of Pichon Lalande but these days I will not pay SGD1000 a bottle. And I don’t have enough patience for wines that take 30 years to mature.

Cheers
Mark

Mark makes a good point. Is classification based on quality alone or do other factors come into play? Cost was a consideration in picking favorites (yes I love Haut Brion that much). Contrary to the original 1855 classification, I didn’t consider it for the BWE Classification.

Comte Flaneur wrote: ↑Wed May 04, 2022 7:55 am So much love on this board for Pichon Lalande.

I think we can say unequivocally that Pichon Lalande is BWE’s favourite wine.

And people have translated that love into purchases - see M151’s thread

So should we promote Pichon Lalande up from super second to first growth?

Reasonable consideration, however we didn't see people's reasonings as to why it was in their favorites. I think that cost came into play as until the last year or two Pichon Lalande was always very reasonably priced compared to first growths. I'd personally vote to leave it at the very top of the super seconds, possibly even edging out La Mission Haut Brion.

Chateau Beychevelle.

Cost or ratings weren’t the reasons I chose Giscours for #1 and Le Gay #2. A 1976 Giscours turned me on to fine wine besides Gallo and Almaden. A 1982 Le Gay made me decide to start hoarding Bordeaux!

Pontet Canet

Gruaud Larose!

Rauzan Segla

Leoville Barton

Amen my brother.
Let’s face it, Leoville Barton is as steady as it comes in Bordeaux.
Let’s try to scoop up as much 2019 Leoville Barton as possible when it comes out in NH, it usually disappears pretty quickly.