1984... thoughts?

[PhilR]

From what I've read, '84 is seen as an off vintage in general for Bordeaux. However, I read (albeit by someone from Haut Brion on their website) that Haut Brion made a nice wine that year. Having just bought a magnum of the Haut Brion '84 and with plans to drink it soon, I wondered what people thought about '84 in general... by way of a 'background'.

Phil

[Elmo]

I only know a few '84s, but the Angelus as well as the Canon la Gaffeliere were very good wines indeed. I wasn't too impressed with the Pichon Lalande, but I fully agree that it could simply have been an off-bottle. I've never had the Haut Brion, so I can't comment on it.

[JimHow]

I don't see many '84s around. I had an '84 Cos once about ten years ago that was pretty thin, as I recall. But these so-called off vintages have been known to surprise pleasantly in the past.

[stefan]

1984 was probably the worst of the last 30 years. Most wines were very hard with no fruit. Nevertheless, I enjoyed a retrospective in 2004 of some of the better 1984s. But I did not taste Haut Brion.

stefan

[DavidG]

I tasted a bunch of '84s on release and was not impressed enough to go back to buy any more. It was mostly an issue of verly little fruit and too much tannin. I think Stefan is right about it being one of the worst vintages in the last three decades. I have no more recent info than some short TNs from back in '87. Of the first growths, Haut Brion was my favorite, followed by Margaux, then Lafite and Latour, none of which got better than a "pretty good - OK" score from me. I didn't think they would develop into anything interesting, but sometimes wines will surprise you.

[Comte Flaneur]

Several of them were drinking beautifully in the mid-90s Phil, especially Mouton and Latour. But even then many of them were starting to crack up. I wouldn't be surprised if Latour is still drinking nicely today, but I doubt if many others would still be on their plateau.

The Latour and Mouton were much nicer then than their equivalent 1991s are today.

[Admin]

Thanks for the input everyone; some encouraging things, some not. I'm party holding out hope that a magnum bottling may have more longevity or may have had the better wine put in it at bottling anyway. I partly bought it for the price (£100.. compare that to Antique Wine's £200/bottle price), partly because I always remembered '84 as being one of my favourite years anyway.

Will report back. It'll be an experience, if nothing else.