Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

I really only discovered Bordeaux a couple years ago, having rarely even thought about buying French wine in the past.
Now Bordeaux is at the center of my wine passion and I don't expect that will change.
My challenge, since I'm already 58 and have a small budget, is finding inexpensive bottles worthy of cellaring for the next 10-25 years.

stefan wrote:Tonight, 2000 La Lagune with chicken soufflé. The first few bottles of this wine were not very good. Then about 2 years ago it got better. Now it is wonderful--great nose, elegant, good structure. I am amazed at the fast turn around. I have not experienced this previously with La Lagune.

That was my impression with the last bottle I had as well. Great palates drink alike!

Agree on the Lagune 2000. It took a while but has blossomed in the last few years.

I may regret it but my "drinking" experience with aged Bordeaux has not been satisfying. I do have fond memories of drinking a very young 1995 Pontet-Canet and for the first time I actually tasted something that could be described as "chocolate". However, subsequent tasting was not near as satisfying and I used the excuse I have often read that the wine had "closed up". Well, it never opened after 20 years. I have come to the conclusion: "Let no person rate your palatte". I searched for a "wine expert" who was in synch with my wine palatte. I found it to be Kermit Lynch. However, things can change as you grow older. I remember Robert Mondavi was seen adding water to his cabernet as he aged and it seemed to me that R. Parker started gravitating toward "fruit bombs". So my sage advice to aged Boredeaux affectionados: Keep drinking it while you are young: age may disappoint in so many ways!

I like Kermit Lynch's Rhone wines too. (I recommend his breezy books, which are more like travelogues than heavy duty wine tomes). Not sure why, but I still get monthly snail mailers from them, despite rarely only buying anything directly from them. Probably a decade plus. Only reason to is to get large format VT.

In Bordeaux, I've not cared for his selections that much. He is always flogging Gombaude Guillotte and Graville Lacoste blanc.

Kermit Lynch makes it very hard for grey marketers to bring in his represented wines, so if one wants anything from that portfolio, it will be a full and fair price. I think he trademarks the label or something. Vieux Telegraphe makes like 20,000 cases a year (which is a lot in the Rhone) and ought to be a little cheaper in my mind, but no chance of that.

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Racer Chris - if you can get wine delivered in NH, check out MacArthur's, K&L, and Hart Davis Hart. They also stock an extensive spectrum of Bordeaux that is actually worth paying shipping on. The first two can direct import so will often have estates that are not to be had anywhere else. In addition their buyers are clueful, so even if an estate is not reviewed / rated, I'd be willing to take a chance based on their palates. I won't do that for other vendors.

AKR wrote: Racer Chris - if you can get wine delivered in NH, check out MacArthur's, K&L, and Hart Davis Hart.

I'm actually in Connecticut, so K&L isn't an option.
Macarthur's has a few things of interest to me but I've had no trouble blowing my monthly budget without going beyond a 200 mile radius.
Lots of NJ and NY stores are within an overnight shipping range.
I always compare on Wine Searcher before I decide where I'll buy a particular wine from.

Racer Chris wrote:

AKR wrote: Racer Chris - if you can get wine delivered in NH, check out MacArthur's, K&L, and Hart Davis Hart.

I'm actually in Connecticut, so K&L isn't an option.
Macarthur's has a few things of interest to me but I've had no trouble blowing my monthly budget without going beyond a 200 mile radius.
Lots of NJ and NY stores are within an overnight shipping range.
I always compare on Wine Searcher before I decide where I'll buy a particular wine from.

Ahh. I used to live in Darien a long time ago, and shipping was a headache. It was easier to get stuff sent to our Vermont place, and just have it left on the porch (rural, low crime area), during the spring/fall shipping seasons.

I am so happy I moved back to the west coast.

Popped 2012 D'armailhac last night....I was hesitant to open it, but glad I did...very enjoyable young bordeaux with plenty of those bordeaux characteristics that we love...semi sweet, cigar, graphite, leather....will grab another

Mmm now that's what I'm talking about Bobby G. Young Bordeaux, big fresh crispy fruit up front, with a hearty meal to complement it. There are exceptions, of course -- the 82 Mouton and the 89/90 Le Conseillantes we had at Stefan's are prime examples -- but in general give me my Bordeaux younger than older. For drinking right now, I'll take 2009 Pontet Canet, for example, over the 96. I'll take 2010 Pichon Baron over the 1990. I'll take the 2010 Cantemerle over the 1989. As long as they are matched up with the appropriate cuisine and are allowed to unfold over dinner.

I like them young too on occasion, but make no mistake....when I taste a truly epic bottle of bordeaux....
It has age

Do you consider those 2004s you've been drinking to be "aged" Bobby G?

Not sure my true definition of aged is....but when i experience that "game changer" bordeaux its generally 15 plus years old....'04 SHL the exception

Depends on the vintage... Except a handful, I bought all classified growths from the vintage 1990 for example. For my taste, most of them began losing their magic already in the early 2000's. Today, Pichon Baron is only a shadow of what is was in late nineties, at least for me. On the other hand, 2001, my favorite vintage since 1990, has never lost its seductive charm and magic. Quite the contrary... I think each vintage has its own development curve.

Rudi,

I'm a great fan of 2001 too .

I am on the medium part of the Spectrum.

I have known Bordeaux wines that needed 30 years of longer to come into their own. They wern't unbalanced, they just needed loads of time.

However, such wines are very few and far between. In my humble opinion, a lot of people don't "get" Bordeaux and they like the musty, tertiary qualities to the point where they miss out on the wine's sex drive (so to speak) and fruit...

Of course, serve me a Bordeaux that's past its best and I'll still be very pleased to sip it. But there will be a pang knowing that it's force of character has been weakened, and that it's subtlety can compensate only partly for its loss of vitality.

Best,
Alex R.