Poll: HWSRN: Has he been good or has he been bad for Bdx?

[AlexR]

Tom,
As for Lafite, Jeff Leve is correct on this point. The same applies to a plot of Beychevelle in Cussac that is entitled to the St. Julien appellation. There are other examples, but not many. Very much the exception to the rule.

Jeff,
I doubt that Le Thil’s present day vineyards were part of the original Smith Haut Lafitte estate. Of course, the owners may wish to say so. Saves considerable embarrassment (by the way, you really should stop believing everything you’re told by these château owners – a dose of healthy scepticism would do you some good).
What Montrose did is perfectly legal and, yes, it is in their best interest not to let this affect quality. Still, admit it, there is something a little unsettling about rechristening cru bourgeois vineyards second growth ones and quadrupling the price of the wine from there… You’ll say “oh, it’ll all go into the second wine”. Yeah, tell that to the Marines…
Yes, the classification in St. Emilion is different, as we all know, from the Médoc. Still, some of the changes that were approved are none the less controversial. You may have heard that 3 growers are contesting the 2012 classsification. If they win, it will be finished forever.

Your belief that first growths taking over unknown estates will affect the wine is “nonsense” shows me that you clearly have a lot to learn, as you do about production figures and yields. You have swallowed the Bordeaux orthodoxy hook, line and sinker.

You also wrote “I do not offer opinions. I do not quote book or other print sources. I post on information provided from the owners. Most of that information is on my site”. My oh my, you don’t offer opinions? So the Pope isn’t Catholic? As for information provided by the owners, I hope you will learn one day to take this with a grain of salt. In summary, your sources are piecemeal and partial. Give me print sources any day! As for your site, I promise I’ll go and visit one day, but thank you very much, I really don’t need it to know the reality here.

Alex R.

[JonoB]

I'm surprised that the BWE didn't know about the blending of previous vintages.
It was originally allowed to beef up poor vintages.

So a 91 would have some 90 in it to keep it from being awful.
Well 92 is just pants!
93 is thus clearly a bit better,
and then 94 is better still.

Of course, someone unscrupulous may well blend some 94 into 95 to sell stocks,
etc, but somehow if I were making the wine it wouldn't happen. I'm sure there are those that do, but don't admit it, but the general belief is that it is "fairly" (with a pinch of salt) rare.

I think the figure is either 10 or 15%,

but then don't be surprised to find up to 15% white grapes in your Gevrey-Chambertin!

[Chateau Vin]

I'm surprised that the BWE didn't know about the blending of previous vintages.
It was originally allowed to beef up poor vintages.

So a 91 would have some 90 in it to keep it from being awful.
Well 92 is just pants!
93 is thus clearly a bit better,
and then 94 is better still.

Of course, someone unscrupulous may well blend some 94 into 95 to sell stocks,
etc, but somehow if I were making the wine it wouldn't happen. I'm sure there are those that do, but don't admit it, but the general belief is that it is "fairly" (with a pinch of salt) rare.

I think the figure is either 10 or 15%,

but then don't be surprised to find up to 15% white grapes in your Gevrey-Chambertin!

When I mentioned it in one my previous post ( http://www.bordeauxwineenthusiasts.com/ ... f=4&t=3865 ) I was expecting someone to expand and hardly any one responded. I thought that BWErs already know about this and that it's an old story...

[DavidG]

It is an old story. I figured it was either changed long ago or that no one (not the big boys anyway) actually did it, even if it was still allowed. I guess we really don't know how much it's employed. Bottom line is still whether what's in the bottle is good or not. I'm actually not as fussy about how it gets that way as it seems in some of my posts in this thread. Helicopters, plastic sheeting, copper sulfate, sulfites, spinning cones, some grapes from the neighboring commune, micro-ox, some of last year's wine, horses vs. tractors, cow manure buried in a horn at midnight on the new (or is it full?) moon and incantations to ??? - interesting to talk about but if the wine in the bottle is good and no one gets hurt I'm OK with it.