Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

I know it sounds like a crass question, but what in your opinion or experience is the best wine estate in the world? Not necessarily the most famous, or most celebrated or even the greatest?

Ian,

That's a bit like asking who the most beautiful woman in the world is! .

Alec

A very personal choice, and based on more than solely what is in the bottle:

Ch. Margaux, because of the dinner we had there in 2005.

What DavidG said.

Lucie & stefan

Trespass vineyard bottom of spring mt....no house/estate...just a clearing in between the vineyards..to where u r left to drink the wines labeled only by a strip of masking tape from Don's insulated wine cooler on some old patio furniture. Awesum

I would be tempted to also say Château Margaux. for sure, this is the Château I would like to buy the most.

nic

Ridge.

I'd be tempted to say DRC.

Another DRC vote here. As the proud owner, I could trade a bottle for almost any case anyone else produces!

The Legendary Lynch Bages based not only on what's in the bottle, but also on my experience at the estate...

As a side note: Before it became a weekend ritual zoo-like atmosphere, I had fond memories of Viansa on a small hilltop in Sonoma...Being nostalgic, I still visit the estate whenever I am in Napa with my wife...

Viansa, I had a cab from them a few years back, very enjoyable

I posted Ridge simply because it's a winery that I have a 20-year track-record with, and rarely do they have an "off year". The Zins are best in class and the cabs are the best made in Cali. This is the only winery where I actually do buy every year.

An answer that includes a wine and experience that is emotionally moving, then I start thinking Mouton and Petrus. While Petrus is probably the best wine I have ever experienced, the 1989 in particular, Mouton has a special place for me. I've visited it twice, while on honeymoon, have always enjoyed the sister estates, Clerc Milon and d'Armailiac, and candidly, I love the art label history. I'm a modern art buff, and love how the Baron was so progressive. I have a very cool bottle from my birth year, 1965, that I will be popping on my 50th. I know it is probably vinegar - exceptionally poor year - but it's just for fun. The art label by D. Tanning is awesome. The '82 Mouton, which I had twice not too long ago, is my second favorite wine of all time.

Sadly, Mouton is now out of my price league. I popped one of my last bottles, a 1975, with a close friend recently. Lovely stuff.

I like hearing about people's experiences with the estates they name. It adds a dimension beyond simply a "favorite wine" vote. Which makes me think I might start a similar thread on best wine merchant...

Tough one,
but I'm going to go a bit left-field and say:

Domaine Rossignol-Trapet.

Not because they are the greatest wines, but Nicolas Rossignol is an absolute gent, and you can pick up his superb Chambertin in the most recent bottle vintage for less than Euro 100 a bottle (09 was about 89 a bottle) from the cellar door. :p

Gosh, its tough, but I probably have to say, Pichon Lalande. It was my first visit to any winery, when I visited Bordeaux in 1994. The 78, 82, 83, 86, 89, 95, and 96 have been among my greatest wine experiences, easily more than any other estate. And such a beautiful chateau in such a beautiful spot in Pauillac, the center of the wine world.

DavidG wrote:I like hearing about people's experiences with the estates they name. It adds a dimension beyond simply a "favorite wine" vote. Which makes me think I might start a similar thread on best wine merchant...

I agree, David.

My first visit to Mouton remains a memorable, indelible experience in my mind. My wife and I had an afternoon appointment to visit the Chateau. After lunch, we popped in to a wine store to kill some time. A very tall, affable man heard us speaking in English, and came up to introduce himself. Turns out he was living the summer in Arcachon and was dying to speak with Americans! He had a lovely wife and five kids. Next thing you know, we drag them to Mouton, we enjoyed a visit of the museum, drank a a full glass of Mouton, Clerc Milion and D'Arm (how they served back then), then bought some wines on the way out. My wife and I were staying in Bordeaux, but they invited us for dinner at their place in Archacon. Turns out their "little" place in Arcachon was a 10-bedroom mansion on the ocean fully equipped with staff. While I did not know it at the time, he was the CEO of a major company, but just so grounded and humble. The two of us gents swam about a mile in the cold ocean (he was a competitive man that wanted to test this young triathlete, me) while the ladies went shopping for appetizers - oysters, of course, plus prawns and other delicacies. Then we all snacked on the deck over the ocean, popped some sauternes and had a great afternoon. Next thing you know, we were invited in to dinner for a multi-course meal and we popped more Bordeaux, including some very yummy mature Clerc Milons and D'Arms. Later we went out for dessert at a water-front place. From there, we crashed hard, very hard. A long day for us poor, newly-married kids!

A very, very memorable time was had by all. Small world, but these folks were good friends with one of our neighbors in Orlando, and thus, we remained in contact.

Perhaps that's one reason why Mouton is so memorable to me. Wine brings good people together.

I narrowed it down to five, and four of them are in Bordeaux.

DRC has a strong case, as is probably the runner up because it arguably scales the heights more than another when it gets it right;it arguably makes the greatest dry white wine and it is certainly the most celebrated and expensive wine estate in the world. But it can be a bit inconsistent.

Ch. D'Yquem has a strong case and is simply impeccable, flawless; but it is Sauternes and we only drink Sauternes rarely.

Ch. Margaux and Ch. Lafite are the finest wines on the left bank in my opinion, but they were below par in the '60s, and most of the '70s.

So my nomination goes to Ch. Petrus. It is consistently brilliant and lives up to its reputation. It may have gone through a so-so period in the early-mid '80s but I think time will resolve that. The 1964, drunk on the night Princess Diana died, and the 1971 particularly stick in the memory. I think it is the best wine in Bordeaux and the best wine in the world. Keep filling out those lottery coupons

Just curious, Ian: how many individual bottles of Petrus have you had?

I've had it only once, the 1986 Petrus that Tom blinded us with at the 86 horizontal in NYC.

I have had a few Patrick, starting from 1964 through until 2001, including 64, 71, 75, 78, 81, 82, 86, 90 and 01. Of all these the revelation was probably the 1978 (Parker rated 83, and hence not quite so stratospherically priced). From what I have read, across a range of critics, there have been some spectacular wines either side of these dates - e.g., 40s, 50s, and 00s. I guess the problem is that one could have a hard time reconciling a wine which is close to 100% merlot as being the best estate in the world. Though clearly not a contender for wotn given the caliber of left bank opposition I thought Tom's 1986 was pretty good and better than an earlier example tasted in 2000, which was gawky.

My only Petrus was the 78 and it was stupendous. Have tried it twice within a week as well from different sources!
Nothing else, and it remains in my top 5 wines ever drunk!

64 La Conseillante is a fantastic wine and whilst I love the estate until recently, there isn't the consistency to make it my top estate.

I wouldn't claim to have tasted enough DRC to comment, but everything I have tried has been superb.
I think I'll stick with Rossignol-Trapet... they continuosly do the business, and I have never been put more at ease in a winery other than in Piemonte (but at humble estates).

My sole tasting of DRC was a 1962 La Tache provided by an enthuisast at a 3 person get-together in the late 1980s. This was well before I became an enthusiast, but my friend alerted me that it was a "$600 bottle of wine." It was remarkably complex, earthy, silky; lightly colored compared to what I was used to, with a little browning at the edges.....wow. I've never had anything that good before or since. But it didn't convince me to develop a wine hobby; it far exceed my league.

So it gets my vote on the strength of one bottle of wine, assuming that there must be other bottles and vintages like it.

I've had many bottles of Petrus, and they have ranged from epiphanal to mundane. Wines from the DRC have always exceeded expectations.

If I were to put a personal touch on the selection, Bruno Giacosa and his family would be in the top rank, but I didn't take that interpretation based on the original subject (i.e., "Best wine estate in the world?")

You should have Tom, it is meant to apply to all 'estates'...maybe I should have chosen a different word, may be 'outfits'...from the smallest to the largest conglomerates...from Coche Dury to Penfolds...so Giacosa definitely counts. I do remember that sublime 1989 Giacosa you brought along to Fabios in 2008...

I did have one mundane Petrus, the 1981, which will probably remain mundane, and have had quite a few dud DRCs, including three in a head to head against Rousseau in 2011, which Rousseau romped.