Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

I find myself in a wine funk. No it has nothing to do with drinking the juice, it’s buying and restocking that has me floundering. I’ve been buying since 1980 but I was never a power buyer. At my peak maybe a few hundred bottles of which 95% were Bordeaux. (I still have six bottles from 1982 that I am holding. Those bottles have been through the birth of my kids, new homes, 38 years of litigation practice. These are the last 6 from four or five cases of wine.) There was a time when I drank an older bottle, I would replace it with a bottle from the most recent vintage. Times change.

I guess that’s the problem, I’ve bought and held bottles with the anticipation of great wine in the future and those hopes have been largely fulfilled. Still, when you’re twenty or forty, the thought of holding a wine for twenty/thirty years is reasonable. However, when you are sixty-five, the thought of buying and holding a wine, especially a Bordeaux isn’t as appealing. As a recent retiree, I’m not prowling the auctions either. I’ve cut down on buying and drinking fine wine especially aged Bordeaux. I love aged wines, but the older I get, the more likely I become a statistic on the mortality tables.

To highlight this problem, the other day I saw 2012 Haut Bergey for $17.00 and the 2012 Rauzan Segla for $54.00. Rather than saying - back up the truck, I’m thinking – in ten years where will this wine be and were will I be.

You younger guys will laugh at this post, I would have at 45. I’m happy with 65 but I’m not getting any younger and the wines I used to buy are not aging any faster. I find myself drinking Oregon Pinot and some Cali Cabs because they are more accessible at a younger age. I’m not sure they pluck my defective heart like Bordeaux, but “time may change me, but I can’t change time.”

BTW, I did buy a ½ case of HB and two bottles of the RS. The RS is a very tasty wine and worth the gamble and Jim has already sung the praises of HB.

I hear you, Bill. I hear you.

I am 12 years younger Bill but I have been going through this thought process ever since the 2000 vintage but I have still been buying albeit less. 2010 was going to be absolutely the last vintage I ever bought, but that has shifted to 2015 and now the 2016s are shaping up just as good according to Izak 'you heard it here first.'

The good news is that you don't have to be Jim How or Alex R to appreciate and derive a lot of pleasure from many young Bordeaux wines up to and including the 2012 vintage, like the Rauzan Segla you mention which is a beauty, or for example equally affordable and delicious Pontet Canet 2011.

These wines are so much more accessible in their youth, especially from the non Trophy vintages. In many ways vintages like 2002/04/06/08/11 are more accessible than many 1995/96/98s. It will be interesting to see how they evolve. Wines from the mid-late 90s vintages mentioned seem to be evolving ever so slowly.

Nicely said Ian. I had been known to pander to trophy years but no more. Hope to see you in SF again next March. I enjoyed our conversation at the last SF convention.

Bill

There is an ocean of great wine out there, and the dollar continues to strengthen, so I don't think there is any advantage in having an oversized (relative to ones consumption/needs) cellar.

I am older than Bill but looking for new sources to buy because I recently quit dealing with several places. I don't worry about dying with a ton of wine left. Whatever Lucie doesn't drink stefanJr, T, and their spouses and children will consume. My great fear is looking in my cellar and not finding anything I want to drink right now.

As for the HB and RS you found, Bill, I would have bought at least a couple of cases of the HB and a case of the RS.

I'm in my mid-40's, but the 2005 vintage was my last big purchase (though I did end up with a decent amount of 2009 and 2010). I just don't get much enjoyment from young Bordeaux, as I've noted here before. I consider Bordeaux "young" when it has less than 15 years of age, but many 1995s, 1996s, 1998s, 2000s and even 2001s are still too foursquare for my tastes. If the 2005s take 20-25 years to reach the zone of I prefer, I'll be in my mid-to-late 50s before they're ready (and I have enough laid down to last me a long while once I start popping corks). And at that age, I expect to be drinking less than one can in their mid-40's.

If wine needs to be opened young, there are other regions I prefer to Bordeaux, but Comte's point about 'lesser' years in Bordeaux is also a good one.

I am with Stefan. My children will inherit and drink what is left when we depart. My strategy has been to back fill older vintages at good prices from reputable retailers. In the end, it's all about the journey....I still love the chase...don't we all?

Going through the same exercise, Bill, Jim, Ian, bill, Pat, RPCV, et. al. Probably culling the cellar big time this winter to get ready for a nascent pre-retirement move west.

If we've taught our kids to love wine (I think we've succeeded) they may delight in inheriting some good stuff. Otherwise, I won't feel bad that they have to find a way to sell it off (but I'll make sure they have contact info for Whuzzup and moevino!)

I'm also older than Bill and lack a steady paycheck. I have no kids to finish my stash but my wife will be happy to turn my liquid assets to cash the day after I'm gone.

My strategy now is to try to drink, trade or sell two bottles for every one I drink, keeping the ones I really like. Plus, to feed the obsession, buy some good stuff too in small quantities.

Don't ignore auctions if you like the older vintages. For example, WineBid still has a few bottles left of '82 Rahoul for $16 plus vig.

Stu

Tom In DC wrote:Going through the same exercise, Bill, Jim, Ian, bill, Pat, RPCV, et. al. Probably culling the cellar big time this winter to get ready for a nascent pre-retirement move west.

If we've taught our kids to love wine (I think we've succeeded) they may delight in inheriting some good stuff. Otherwise, I won't feel bad that they have to find a way to sell it off (but I'll make sure they have contact info for Whuzzup and moevino!)

Where you and Gail moving to, Tom? (he asked with hopeful expectation).

Chateau Rahoul. Now that's funny. I had that wine--the 1982--in 1985 or 86. It was rather rounder that the other $4 petit chateau I dabbled in in those days. I sometimes wonder what the likes of Chx. les Moines, du Cartillon and Brame les Tours would taste like now, or in ordinary maturity. They were pretty tannic/rustic at age four. But judging from the 82 Citran I had a couple of years ago, could be well worth a throw.

AlexR must love where this thread is going.

Hi Patrick -:).

Hey, I think the spectrum of Bordeaux is so great that there is something for everyone!

I mean, really, what difference does it make if (let's say) you prefer Saint-Emilion and I prefer Médoc?
Or you like your wine at 25 years of age and me at 10-15?

The point is, I'm not likely to snub your wine past it's best, nor you to snub my wine that's too young.

People who are passionate about something often disagree... passionately.
That's par for the course!

As for the tenor of the original post, I am only too aware of the problem... What is more complicated for me is that neither of my chidren are into wine, plus thet fact that I almost never buy in case lots, so "disposing" of my cellar would be complicated.
I cope with this by:
A - drinking a lot
B - buying mid-term rather than long-term wines
C - keeping an up-to-date computer file of inventory, with color codes as to short-term, medium-term, and long-term drinking, as well as what the most expensive wines are!

As regards mid-term wines, I have neve branched out so much in my life from Bordeaux as I have recently. This is not being unfaithful, just practical.
Bordeaux is still my true love .

Best regards,
Alex R.

Colorado seems the likely destination, Blanquito.

Denver BWE Convention in 2019!!

Blanquito wrote:Denver BWE Convention in 2019!!

I'm in like Flynn

Every time a move a couple of thousand miles, the place I was before (e.g., DC) becomes the locus of activity. Now it will be the high plains. Beware the lack of atmospheric pressure. Wines don't taste well because of it, I'm told often enough.

Makes life hard for the bullpen too

AlexR wrote:Hi Patrick -:).

Hey, I think the spectrum of Bordeaux is so great that there is something for everyone!

I mean, really, what difference does it make if (let's say) you prefer Saint-Emilion and I prefer Médoc?
Or you like your wine at 25 years of age and me at 10-15?

The point is, I'm not likely to snub your wine past it's best, nor you to snub my wine that's too young.

People who are passionate about something often disagree... passionately.
That's par for the course!

Alex R.

Definitely meant in good fun (as you divined). I actually quite admire your affection and championing of petite chateau. Indeed, the first 10+ years of my Bordeaux education was firmly in the Cru bourgeois firmament.