Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

Criteria: 1) you've tasted more than a tiny sip, preferably a glass or more 2) old or young (based on potential) 3) you have tasted it within the last 15 years 4) you would sell your first born to taste them again

Mine:

#1. 1961 Pérus
Tasted 5 times, all rated 100 by me except the fifth bottle, which was a magnum that was somehow even better so I had to rate it 100+.

#2. 1947 Cheval Blanc
Tasted several times, as magical as its reputation.

#3. 1959 Lafite
Reliably spectacular, still full of life.

So yes, all of my choices are the obvious trophy wines and all are old. But one I left out was 1945 Mouton, from straw packed OWC, tasted 5 times, all very good, but none spectacular.

Stuart

I don't think anyone is going to match, let alone beat, that Stuart!

Mine would be:

1. 1937 D'Yquem
2. 1971 Petrus
3. 1982 Latour

Comte Flaneur wrote:I don't think anyone is going to match, let alone beat, that Stuart!

It's not a contest, Comte. I've been incredibly fortunate, I know. I'm just curious what everyone else's experience has been.

Stuart

I will go with:
1959 Latour
1966 Palmer
1982 Pichon Lalande
My choices are somewhat arbitrary - these are what first came to mind. Probably another dozen very close.

Chris Bublitz

sdr wrote:

Comte Flaneur wrote:I don't think anyone is going to match, let alone beat, that Stuart!

It's not a contest, Comte. I've been incredibly fortunate, I know. I'm just curious what everyone else's experience has been.

Stuart

Yes I was actually pulling your leg a bit...not to say that I am not extremely envious!

2001 Rieussec and 2001 Climens - about the same
1989 Montrose
1982, 1986, 1996 Pichon Lalande - all about the same

====

I wonder where to put the 1998 Trotanoy. Another great one.

Sadly these are all mere memories now, difficult to justify repeating the experiences.

But there's always some new great wine to be found!

I like
1990 Beauséjour-Duffau-Lagarrosse
1986 LLC
1989 Pichon Baron ( It was rigged!. Jim will get it.)

Just my favotites.

Lots of memorable great ones and many shared with people on this board.

1959 Ducru Beaucaillou
1982 Certain de May
1959 and too close to call 1961 Latour

Non Bordeaux 1996 Vega Sicilia Unico Reserva 2005 Release 1985,91,96 blend was simply stunning and one of the best wines ever tried

1997 Verite La Muse and La Joie have left indellible prints in our minds..maybe for the wines or the moments surrounding but fabulous unforgettable memories regardless

Can't argue with any of they already stated choices but I'd like to try that 61 Pérus!

'82 Talbot
'82 Talbot
'82 Talbot

1. 1989 Lynch Bages
2. 1990 Margaux
3. 1986 Mouton Rothschild

1995 Cheval
1999 Margaux
Tie: 2000 Lynch Bages and 1995 GPL all courtesy of our BD.

Then I would add in the 1959 or 57 wine the Ferrari guy commissioned that Tom poured in Denver. Not a Bord but what the hell.

Well I would say though that since none of the Bords was actually all that mature (well actually the Cheval was certainly in the drinking plateau) I would pay homage to the several actually aged wines that delivered the goods beyond expectations, like a 30-year old 1982 Chateau Citran and a few others of that stripe.

That was indeed a great night in Lewiston with you and Kathy, Hound, I was tempted to put the '99 Margaux on my list.

1. 1982 Pichon Lelande
2. 1983 Palmer
3. 1989 Haut Brion.

Have you (or anyone) had the 1996 Lafite since then? Certainly that could eclipse those wines some day when it's ready.

A very fine (like 99.7 points) bottle of 1996 Lafite was enjoyed last July at Jim's place in Maine with a few DC area BWEers. Quite a comparison with the also great (99.8) 1989 Lynch Bages.

A few shout outs to some of the greats I left off my only three greatest Bordeaux: besides the two, above have to say 1983 and 1999 Margaux, 1962, 1966 and 1982 Latour, 1982 and 1986 Mouton, 1989 and 1990 Haut Brion, 1985 and 1990 La Mission Haut Brion, 1990 Leoville Poyferre, 1989 Palmer, 1982 Gruaud Larose and 1986 Talbot. I could go on and on - so many great Bordeaux.

Chris Bublitz

Man that 86 Talbot is right up there in the pantheon too.

I have only tasted Lafite 1996 once in 2001 and I sold my case in early 2011 for very silly money. I tasted it in a 4x4 1995-98 Medoc first growth line up, and it and Ch. Margaux 1996 were the two stars. I said at the time the best young wines I had ever tasted.

Like Chris there are several strong contenders for my top three. Another was the 1995 Lafite at one of the Monday night dinners that Jacques organised at Kittle House a few years ago. It literally obliterated a high class field of other top class Bordeaux including other first growths, super seconds and top right banks.

Other contenders on my list not already mentioned would include:

2010: Margaux, LLC
2009: Mouton, Haut-Bailly
2004:Lafite
2001:D'Yquem
1995: Lafleur, Mouton
1990: Petrus, Le Pin, La Conseillante, Latour, Margaux
1989: Lafite, Haut-Brion
1986: Margaux
1985: Lafite, Mouton
1983: Margaux, Palmer
1982: Cheval Blanc, Haut-Brion, Pichon Lalande
1978: Petrus, Lafite, La Mission
1976: D'Yquem
1975: D'Yquem, Petrus
1971: Lafleur-Petrus
1970: Latour
1966: Lafite, Latour
1964: Petrus
1961: Margaux, LLC
1959: Haut-Brion, Margaux
1955: Lafite

1982 Margaux (courtesy of Comte)
1986 Mouton (courtesy of Tom)
1982 Pichon Lalande (courtesy of Stuart)

Honorable Mention
1989 Lynch Bages
1990 Leoville Poyferre
1990 Montrose
a bunch of 1982s (GPL, L. Poyferre, Canon, Gruaud, l'Evangile)
1970 Ducru
1983 Pichon Lalande

Jim's bottle of 1996 Lafite last summer was "grand vin indeed", but outpointed in a split decision by the '89 LB (the Ali of wines!)

Only had '61 Petrus once, from a beautiful bottle in the cellar that had decided to let the cork fall into the bottle - god bless unvented lead capsules! No idea how long the cork had "Elvis has left the building"d, but probably not long - the little seepage stain on the rack was still damp. Despite some obvious "saleability" issues, the wine was very impressive!

It was a '59 Ferrari, 'hound, and really a great bottle of wine. The best of our three bottles by far.

So, on to my list - like sdr, I'm sticking to wines I've tried a few times....

3) (tie) 1989 Haut Brion and 1989 La Mission - consistently amazing wines, particularly one evening long ago at CabFan and Victoria's house.
2) 1986 Mouton - the 1982 should justifiably be on this list, but after a bunch of side-by-side tastings, it's clear that the '86 goes to 11.
1) 1959 Lafite - as Stu states, the most reliably spectacular wine I've ever had. To be honest, this wine would probably take 5 spots of my lifetime ten best bottles list!

That '89 Lynch we had at my house last summer was the wine that was presented to me in DC the year before.
It was spectacular, obviously unbelievably stellar provenance.
the 96 Lafite was great but it needed more air. When Rob and Sue and Mike McNamara and Jay/Peggy came a few years back I decanted two half bottles of the 96 Lafite for 6 hours before they came and it was really singing.
The '82 Gruaud Larose and '86 Pichon Lalande are high on my honorable mention list, along with '99 Margaux, '95 and '11 d'Yquem, '89 Montrose, '83 Palmer, '61 Ducru, '90 Filhot Creme de la Tete, '86 de Lamarque, '90 Gazin, '95 and '96 Lafite, '91 Latour (surprisingly, I know), 2010 Pichon Baron, 1990 Beauséjour-Duffau-Lagarrosse, '86 Gruaud Larose, '86 Talbot, '88 Lynch, and obviously I'm not including the wines from the Stuart dinners, that's sort of a whole different discussion/analysis.

Chris, I forgot about that 85 La Mission Haut Brion, that was truly outstanding! And the 86 Talbot and 86 Rausan Segla were hauntingly good at DC '16.

Tom In DC wrote:Jim's bottle of 1996 Lafite last summer was "grand vin indeed", but outpointed in a split decision by the '89 LB (the Ali of wines!)

Only had '61 Petrus once, from a beautiful bottle in the cellar that had decided to let the cork fall into the bottle - god bless unvented lead capsules! No idea how long the cork had "Elvis has left the building"d, but probably not long - the little seepage stain on the rack was still damp. Despite some obvious "saleability" issues, the wine was very impressive!

It was a '59 Ferrari, 'hound, and really a great bottle of wine. The best of our three bottles by far.

So, on to my list - like sdr, I'm sticking to wines I've tried a few times....

3) (tie) 1989 Haut Brion and 1989 La Mission - consistently amazing wines, particularly one evening long ago at CabFan and Victoria's house.
2) 1986 Mouton - the 1982 should justifiably be on this list, but after a bunch of side-by-side tastings, it's clear that the '86 goes to 11.
1) 1959 Lafite - as Stu states, the most reliably spectacular wine I've ever had. To be honest, this wine would probably take 5 spots of my lifetime ten best bottles list!

Can the unvented lead capsules actually maintain an ok seal, if the corks fall in?

Tom In DC wrote:It was a '59 Ferrari, 'hound, and really a great bottle of wine. The best of our three bottles by far.

That was a top 3 dessert wine for me probably.

The three most memorable for me would be:

- 1955 Figeac. A bottle that completely opened my eyes to the wonders of aged Bordeaux and lead me down this damn road.

- 1982 Mouton. It was my first experience at tasting an iconic wine and futher reinforced my love of the left bank.

- 1986 Talbot. This was the eye opener to me that truly great wines could be found which could rival 1st or 2nd growths.

I've had many of the wines mentioned above by others and many of them probably were better wines than those I have chosen yet these are the ones that most impacted my Bordeaux experience.

Oh jeez

1989 Lafite
1990 Lynch Bages (!)
1995 Lafite

But so many others come close
1990 Beausejour Duffau
1989 Cheval Blanc
1982 Gruaud Larose
1989 Lynch Bages
1986 Margaux
1986 Pichon Lalande
1978 Latour
1970 Yquem

1961 Haut Brion
1989 Haut Brion
2001 Ch. Yquem

3) 1990 Petrus
2) 1989 Haut Brion
1) 1959 Lafite

No. 1: 1982 Pichon Lalande
No. 2: 1982 Mouton
No. 3: 1983 Palmer

Runners up: 1982 Margaux, 1990 Troplong Mondot, 1949 Figeac, the 1988/1990/2001 Yquem, 1982 Gruaud Larose, 1991 Dominus, 1989 Lynch Bages, 1982 Haut Brion, 1989 La Mission HB
(I didn't realize how hard this would be!)

Does one notice generational bias? Interesting.

1959 Haut Brion (tasted 10 times over last 20 years, never a bad bottle)
1990 Montrose
1982 Lafleur

List of honour:

1865 Palmer (prephylloxera)
1953 Margaux
1947-8-9 Cheval Blanc
1964 Petrus
1982-2005 Lafite
1929-59-82-2000 Mouton Rothschild
2010 Tertre Roteboeuf
1961 Palmer
1937 Gilette
1967-71-75-76-83-2001 Climens
1906-47-67-76-2001 Yquem

and many others (probably 500+)

1959 La Mission Haut Brion
1964 Cheval Blanc
and the best wine I have ever tasted
1967 d'Yquem

SF Ed

William P wrote:Does one notice generational bias? Interesting.

While it's certainly generational, Bill, I can't see it as bias. The lines first break down along the style of wine one enjoys - a continuum from vins ancienne through Bordeaux Nouveau, but with most folks falling roughly into two groupings , the "best before age 15" and "best between 30-50 years."

The generational part has to do with the consumable nature of wine - over time, any given vintage becomes rare and expensive and to some tastes unpalatable. This differs from say art, where through preservation and some luck, people may still enjoy fine art from ancient times through the Renaissance and on to today. While one's taste may differ, hopefully no one will declare the Laocoön over the hill and pour it down the drain!

When I started down the vine-covered slippery slope, current releases were from the late seventies and early eighties. Wines from the 1950's were still around - not in quantity, but available - and in the sweet spot for tasting mature Bordeaux, Burgundy, Hermitage, Barolo and many others. All of these wines had been made in the old style, the wineries expecting their customers to hold the bottles in the cellar until ready. In general, the decades of the 60's and 70's were not nearly as successful for Bordeaux; sure, plenty of great wines were made, but not as many great vintages occurred, significantly reducing availability of aged wines from these decades.

BWE'ers getting started in the 21st century are enjoying a similar window of opportunity into the past - wines from the 80's are at the same place in their aging curve as wines from the 50's were when I got started. Wines from the 80's reflect more modern winemaking but still seem to be ageable. It will be interesting to see if the wines of today age in the fashion of older vintages.

Excellent points Tom.

I think there is another timing/generational issue - the ability for the non-super wealthy to be able to taste mature top wines today. I know if I were starting out today I would not have gotten to taste the bevy of first growths I was able to 15-20 years ago.

SF Ed

When I first started, I could buy a middling vintage of Pichon Lalande for under $5.00. So Ed, your point is well taken.

My first first growth purchases were '64 Haut-Brion for $10 and '67 Haut-Brion for $8. At that time my salary (a starting salary) was $10K. Now in my profession the starting salaries are $50-60K, and I don't know anyone making that amount of money who buys first growths. Heck, it has been years since I bought more than a very occasional bottle.

I am part of the latter camp, having graduated from high school in '97, college in '01 and getting into wine shortly thereafter. Most of the wine I own is post 2000 though I am trying to back fill a little more recently so that I can enjoy some aged treasures while I wait on most of what I own. Anyways, onto my top 3 Bdx drinking experiences:

1996 Mouton
1982 Gruaud Larose
1989 Montrose

Top 3:
1986 Talbot
1986 Gruaud Larose
1986 Rausan Segla

Not far behind:
1981 Haut Bailly
1988 Haut Marbuzet
1989 Haut Marbuzet
1986 Potensac

All were consumed within the last 2 years.

Tough to name just 3 so have to cheat. 1. 82 1st growth flight at Stuart's dinner at Equinox and include the 55 Mouton Tom brought. 2. Mouton vertical in Napa-62, 70, 82, 86 and another vintage-wow. 3. 375 of 1927 Sauternes that SFEd brought to a convention dinner in SF-oxidized after about 15 minutes but the depth of the wine was really impressive. Wait a minute, Stuart opened a 61 PB plus other great wines at a recent dinner in Florida-all showed well. Various d'Yquem at various dinners-always a treat.