Has the book been written on Bordeaux?

[JimHow]

Is that it?
Is that all there is to say?
The Golden Decade of the 80s.
The 90s, when everything changed.
The 2000s and its oak, over-extraction, money, and grotesqueness.
The 2010s and a 1970s-like stretch of weak vintages.
Now He Who Shall Remain Nameless is retiring.
Asia.
Is there nothing left to write about?
Other regions (even Brunello) rising.
I can't think of anything "new" to say about Bordeaux.
I have...nothing...to...say.
Is that it?
Has Bordeaux had its run?

[stefan]

The prices say "no".

[tim]

Perhaps Bordeaux might discover terroir?

[AlexR]

There's one hell of a lot left to say about Bordeaux!
Just take a look at the Cocks & Féret (Bordeaux and Its Wines);
It's 2,333 pages long, and almost all of that decribes the region's thousands of châteaux.

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times: people get too hung up on the name wines.
These thoroughbreds have become increasingly less affordable, and that has left a bitter taste in the mouth of many wine lovers.
But there's a whole world of other wines out there to discover.

I just went through the list of the Médoc great growths. Half of them have changed hands (i.e. been sold by the family that owned them) in the time I've been in Bordeaux.
Things are constantly evolving.

There is infinitely more to Bordeaux than finding your way around classifications and spending a fortune.

Bordeaux has been making fine wine for centuries. I really don't see an end to the story in the near future!

Alex R.

[Comte Flaneur]

I think Bordeaux is on the cusp of a golden era.

I had Cos D'Estournel 1994 last night and it was easily the best wine I drank all week. Way better than Solengo 1997 for example, and 1994 was a difficult vintage.

Now that Parker has hung up his boots, we will see a move back to terroir driven wine.

I know Neal quite well and he has a much more 'European' palate and I don't use that expression to disparage American palates...but he will only have a fraction of the influence that Parker had anyway.

But the quality of wine being produced in Bordeaux these days is breath-taking.

I am very excited about the 2014 vintage. Maybe be it could be a hypothetical blend of 1978 and 2010?

[Roel]

Classified Growths are just a small percentage of what Bordeaux is. The Cru Bourgeois, Cru Artisans and Grand Cru's from the right bank, the better wines from the Côtes, etc., it's all so much better than most Classified Growths were two decades ago. Bordeaux is changing like always, with or without Parker, you and me.

[keith prothero]

Everyone keeps telling me that the quality of wine making and presumably the wine has improved considerably in the last twenty years,but are modern vintages and wine so much better than great vintages of the past? I accept that the average Bordeaux wine is probably superior,although I confess I do not do average so will rely on AlexR and others on this.
But I do question whether vintages such as 59,61,82,85,86,89,90 will be bettered by most of the modern vintages? 1996,2000 , 2005, 2010 maybe as good but who really knows for sure yet? well obviously no one !!!
People who know me,are aware that I drink almost exclusively mature wine,so I really have no reference point and am certainly not qualified to make a judgement on the more modern vintages.
Be interested to learn what you lovers of immature wine think

[AlexR]

Keith,

Your question/comments reminds me of the controversy - before our time - of pre-phyloxera versus post-phyloxera wines.

Of course, it is impossible to compare wines from different time periods, so nothing can be proved on way or the other.

However, the 82s and 86s I've had recently have been in great shape.
We're talking wines over 40 years old...

There's a philosophical question as well, that you should be able relate to as well with our exprience in South Africa:
if a wine is delicious 2, 5, 10 years after the vintage, why wait?
Is mere longevity a measure of quality?
In other words, if a wine at ten years of age can hold its own against another 20 years of age - but probably will be less good by the time it reaches that same 20-year mark - should that be seen to detract from its quality?

All the best,
Alex R.

[keith prothero]

Have genuinely not drunk a decent Bordeaux at ten years that I did not think would improve with at least another ten!!! But as you know,my palate is rather different to many ,including my wife !!
She loves lots of fruit but I loathe lots of fruit. Her wine of choice is young ripe sweet Bordeaux or Aussie shiraz. I absolutely detest both,which is why I do not envy and have no wish now,to visit Chateau and taste young wine.
I should park myself in an English club and enjoy my mature bottle of claret and not waste your and my time,trying to explain my rather eccentric palate

[stefan]

I cannot think of a Bordeaux that was very good at age ten that was not good at age twenty. One of the nice things about Bordeaux is that once it holds its "plateau of maturity" for a long time. That is not true for Burgundy or CA cabernet, in my experience.

On the other hand, there are quite a few classified quality Bordeaux that in most vintages are as good at age ten as they will be at age twenty. I don't mean only right bank wines; e.g., Du Tertre and Haut Batailley are in this category. I have even been amazed by some young La Lagunes: The '62 was great at age 8 and the '96 was excellent at age 10-12 even if it is still improving now.

My personal preference is for older wines (1978 is my favorite vintage for drinking now) and I have little tolerance for young, tannic, fruit intensive wines, but there are relatively young Bordeaux that I enjoy.

[keith prothero]

Interesting Stefan as 78 is also my favourite vintage for drinking now although confess I no longer have many. Still making my way through a case of LMHB,which is one of my very favourite wines. I guess the main reason I do not drink young Bordeaux,is that I have so much mature,and life is too short !! Also I confess to also loving Burgundy and also prefer my wines mature,and once gain the 78 is my favourite drinking vintage

[JimHow]

Mmmm 1978 LMHB, a great wine!

[Comte Flaneur]

For high end Bordeaux 5-10 years is the awkward/gawky phase. Even 15-20 years can be awkward. Try Rauzan Segla 1995. I like Bordeaux to have a significant amount of secondary/tertiary development, so I prefer them well into, perhaps into the second half of, their plateau of maturity, which of course cannot be measured ex ante.

Take wines like Ch. Latour 1982. Although it is astonishingly good now, I reckon it will be even better 10-20 years from now.