Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

In reviewing my cellar composition lately I've discover that my tastes have officially changed and I've been lured over the ocean from CA to Brdx. Previously my cellar was lopsided towards CA and I viewed Brdx as a wine that you had to wait 30 years to drink and had to pay through the nose for the privledge.

Over the last year my eyes have been opened to the beauty of moderately aged Brdx from 1986 to 1996. I owe much of this to the generosity of Andy J. and Michael M. who also turned me on to this forum. Many of these wines are very approachable and, dare I say, some are even closing in on maturity. A bigger surprise when I went looking for these wines was that their prices were still quite reasonable compared to CA. With most better CA cabs or blends closing in or exceeding $100/btl I ceased to see the value in these wines compared to Brdx. I've also discovered that I find the nuances of Brdx much more intersting than CA and what terroir is all about. Call it a maturing of my tastes or not but this is the road I'm traveling.

I've started to sell off many of my previously trendy bottles of CA cab and move the money into moderately priced Brdx from the mid eighties through nineties. My strategy has been to start building a stock of older brdx to drink shorter term while selectively buying new releases as well.

What I'd like to seek is everyones advice on what you would recommend for bottles that can be had for less than $100 (maybe a few just over that) from the eighties and nineties that you would regard as a "must have" in the cellar. I'm also not totally hung up on RP scores either.


Thanks!

Well done, Gerry, very well done!

Pontet Canet (from the nineties)
Lynch Bages
Sociando Mallet
Gruaud Larose (from the eighties)
Leoville Poyferre
Grand Puy Lacoste

Lagrange
Branaire Ducru
Leoville Barton

Welcome, Gerry. I too sold a bunch of my Cali Cabs when I realized they were not going to turn into Bordeaux after 10-15-20 years in the bottle. I still like them, but no need to have them in quantity for long-term celllaring. They're great for drinking while waiting for the Bdx to come around, so don't sell them all off...

Gerry M. wrote:In reviewing my cellar composition lately I've discover that my tastes have officially changed and I've been lured over the ocean from CA to Brdx.

"Patience my friend. In time he will seek *you* out, and when he does, you must bring him before me. He has grown strong. Only together can we turn him to the Dark Side of the Force."


Gerry, good to hear you’ve finally accepted your destiny. A mere mortal can only hope to hold out for so long before succumbing to the Siren’s call.

Andy

There are many relatively cheap Bordx which are great values. Some of those I have tried:
Absolutly convincing: St. Pierre 1985
Gaffeliere 1982
Pretty good : Lafon Rochet 1985
Pontet Canet 1989

I think cellartracker is a good source.

I also would recomend the 1985 St. Pierre - showed very well in a DC blind tasting last December.

Chris Bublitz

Thanks everyone for your suggestions!

I'll definately keep my eyes open for the 85' St Pierre. The eightie's are the years that are really a crap shoot for me. Not from personal experience, but from looking at reviews, I believe that a lot of the 3rd thru 5th growths really started to produce some great wine after 1989 but before that you really had to look mostly at 1st or 2nd growths to find quality with a few exceptions like the 86' Talbot, 82' Beycheville and a handfull of others.

After reading on CT and here, I've picked up the 1990 Ch Lagrange, 1986 Pichon Lalande, a couple of more 96' Cos (I loved this when I had it), a flyer on a 1970 Ducru and finally a couple of 88' Gruaud Larose. I also picked up about 3 mixed cases of 06' based on some decent pricing in NH. After just typing this I realize that I better start selling off some more stuff to help pay for my new obsession!

Gerry
you will enjoy

I have had great luck with the 80s and really like the the 88 GL is nice ...I had it a few weeks ago
along with the GL 81,82,86

rick

1990 Lagrange. Nice! Other nice pickups, too, Gerry. Bring some of those Nov 7th!!

Gerry M. wrote:The eightie's are the years that are really a crap shoot for me. Not from personal experience, but from looking at reviews, I believe that a lot of the 3rd thru 5th growths really started to produce some great wine after 1989 but before that you really had to look mostly at 1st or 2nd growths to find quality with a few exceptions like the 86' Talbot, 82' Beycheville and a handfull of others.

Hi Gerry,

I read that quote and was thinking "What the #$%*???", the 80's were like shooting ducks in a barrel. Solid or better wines from '81, '82, '83, '85, '86, '88, and '89 (that's 7 out of 10!) makes this one of the best decades in Bordeaux history, right? We went through many, many cases of Bordeaux from the 80's that were fantastic values. Surely I can produce a litany of great under-the-radar wines from the decade...

Well, I start looking through the inventory, and lo and behold, we have almost nothing left but 2nd's, 1st's, Palmer, and upper tier Pomerols and St. Emilions. I don't want to apologize for being a geezer, but when you could buy (off the shelf, not futures) cases of 1981 Margaux at $250, 1983 Palmer at $275, 1985 La Mission for $400, 1986 Leoville Las Cases at $300, 1989 Lynch Bages for $320, blah, blah, blah, why would you buy Cru Bourgeois or off-the radar 5th growths? I'm just saying...

What I can recommend based on what's still lurking in the cellar(skipping the 82's due to pricing and provenance issues): 1989 Chasse-Spleen, 1989 La Dominique, 1985 and 1986 Langoa Barton, 1985 Lynch Bages, 1981 Meyney, 1986 Pape Clement, 1986 Poujeaux, and 1986 Potensac. I can also suggest that '81, '83, '85, '86, '88, and '89 Gruaud Larose (yes, a 2nd, but what the hey) have all become undervalued due to the estate's underperformance in the intervening years.

Hope this helps,
Tom

Tom

you have my mouth watering readng your list

Tom,

Thanks so much for all your suggestions, I'll definately be on the lookout for any of your recommendations. I totally agree about
Ch. Gruaud Larose, It is extremely undervalued due to RP's recent trashing. I'm no expert and maybe some of their recent wines don't measure up but not too long ago our poker group enjoyed a vertical tasting that was really eye opening.

I probably slandered the lesser classified growths of the 80's. I don't doubt that many were quite enjoyable at some point but I wonder how they've held up over time with a few exceptions.

Michael,

You can bet I'll bring a couple of these on the 7th as long as they arrive at Mikes' in NH in time to get to me on Nov 1st!

Over the last year my eyes have been opened to the beauty of moderately aged Brdx from 1986 to 1996.

Amen, Gerry.

I've been drinking some of my Bordeaux from even younger vintages like 1996L, 1998R, and 2000. They are young to moderately aged but they are offering up a lot of smoothed-out drinking right now, without the need to wait twenty or more years.