Disappointment with certain wines

[Nicklasss]

The search. The buying. The storage. The waiting. The expectation. The good moment. The opening. The tasting. The disappointment.

A chain that brings you to think that those rare expensive bottle doesn't worth it after all.

The 2001 Guigal La Mouline I brought to Washington DC was good, but for that wine "only good" is a disappointment.

What have been some of your biggest disappointing wine? Again, a bit like the thread on corked wines, is there some Chateaux on specific vintages that are way overrated?

Nic

[dstgolf]

2001 not the best year but the best producers should still shine. La Mouline at its best is incredible along with the other lala sisters. Not unlike any other great perceived wine it is infanticide and sad when opened too early or too late for that matter and I wouldn't blame your disappointment on the Mouline but maybe opened too early??

Many will disagree but my biggest disappointment was 82 Leoville Las Cases....100pt wine. 3 bottles later and though each good I opened them probably too young and found them uni-dimensional and hohum. Recently people are saying it's now coming into its own. Toughest part of wine loving is finding that great bottle in the perfect drinking window!

[stefan]

Any wine from Domaine Leflaive. At least I have never drunk one that justified its price from the village level to the Grand Cru level.

In Bordeaux, modern Pavie is probably the worst--I would not buy it at a small fraction of its price. Among traditional wines, I include Petrus, which is great but not three times as good as Lafite, as well as Lafleur.

[AlexR]

Nic,

For information, "déception" and "deception" are faux amis.

I'm sure all of us have had the wind taken out of our sales by expensive name wines that either underperformed or were corked/past it/whatever.

Fortunately, this is more than compensated by modestly priced and little known wines that are delightful .

All the best,
Alex R.

[Nicklasss]

Correction made Alex. Thanks.

Precision: I mean disappointment on a wine that was in it's right spot for your taste normally, not corked.

If the 2001 La Mouline, after 18 years was "not ready", I guess it will never be. All the comments on cellartracker and from the main critic are suggesting it is at a right spot. Surely a disappointment in my case.

Nic

[jckba]

Young wines amongst mature examples at a dinner is one that strikes disappointment in me more times than not, and usually, it is because I am the one that is bringing them

[DavidG]

I’m with you Danny on 1982 LLC. I’m willing to accept that bottles I opened were just not ready, but the disappointment was just as real regardless.

I don’t think the 2001 La Mouline will turn magical with more time. My take was similar to Nic's. I was blown away by some of the late 70s and 80s LaLas but more recently they haven’t rung my chimes. Possibly a palate shift on my part, possibly a change in what Guigal is producing.

A lot of popular modern Chateauneufs have disappointed me with their candied sweet over-ripe (to me) Grenache: Usseglio, Janasse, most of the luxury CdP cuvées, the list goes on. It’s gotten to the point where it’s easier to name the 4 or 5 that haven’t disappointed.

Back to Bordeaux, I’ve been disappointed by recent, modern versions of a number of St Emilions that I used to love. A lot of that is on me as my palate has shifted.

[Blanquito]

I'm on the record that LLC is my most disappointing chateau. Either too austere or brutally young. The only one I've really enjoyed was the 1983 which was mature but like a 92 pt wine and Jim's 1996 which was epic back in 2008 but still primordial.

[finner]

The search. The buying. The storage. The waiting. The expectation. The good moment. The opening. The tasting. The disappointment.

I recently opened at 1992 Heitz Martha's for my son (his birthyear wine) on a casual weekend. It was badly corked.

[AKR]

I’m with you Danny on 1982 LLC. I’m willing to accept that bottles I opened were just not ready, but the disappointment was just as real regardless.

I don’t think the 2001 La Mouline will turn magical with more time. My take was similar to Nic's. I was blown away by some of the late 70s and 80s LaLas but more recently they haven’t rung my chimes. Possibly a palate shift on my part, possibly a change in what Guigal is producing.

A lot of popular modern Chateauneufs have disappointed me with their candied sweet over-ripe (to me) Grenache: Usseglio, Janasse, most of the luxury CdP cuvées, the list goes on. It’s gotten to the point where it’s easier to name the 4 or 5 that haven’t disappointed.

Back to Bordeaux, I’ve been disappointed by recent, modern versions of a number of St Emilions that I used to love. A lot of that is on me as my palate has shifted.

I find those tete de cuvee's in the Rhone generally are underwhelming as time goes on. They cost much more, and by the time one pulls the corks, they seem to have gone pruney/unbalanced. I guess this is one where I should be glad that Vieux Telegraphe and the general idea of just one blend works out best.

[AKR]

A lot of popular modern Chateauneufs have disappointed me with their candied sweet over-ripe (to me) Grenache: Usseglio, Janasse, most of the luxury CdP cuvées, the list goes on. It’s gotten to the point where it’s easier to name the 4 or 5 that haven’t disappointed.

I had an 01 Janasse yest that was pretty much as you described.

https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/vi ... 6#p3034467

[DavidG]

Sorry that bottle disappointed, Arv. I still have a couple of the 2010 Janasse Vieilles Vignes which I expect to peg the gobs-o-jammy-fruit-meter.

[Winona Chief]

I drink a lot less Chateauneuf these days than I used to and in many ways prefer Cotes du Rhône or French Rose made from classic Rhône grapes. With a few exceptions, I have found many big name Rhône wines to be too much for my taste. I often prefer the less heralded years to the top vintages. Same goes for many of the wines from St Emilion - many are just too much.

Chris Bublitz

[DavidG]

Same here Chris, at least with respect to Châteauneuf. Those dollars have shifted to N. Rhône or Côtes du Rhône.

[Harry C.]

I am sorry a wine did not live up to your hopes. But I am leery when a wine which usually gets good reviews is reviewed less good by 1 experience. Have you had this wine before? was it the same or could that wine be heat damaged, etc.

[Musigny 151]

The first was a Van der Muelen bottle of 1947 Cheval. I mentioned this on another thread, as well as the screaming match that almost came to blows over the merits of Robert Parker. After everything settled down, we opened the Cheval. A smell of skunk filled the room. It grew, obliterating all else, an essence that few of the brave souls present wanted to taste. But I had spent more on this bottle than any other, and I was determined and also, it has to be said, quite foolish. Well, the skunk smell translated quite easily into a skunk taste. Even though I managed to spit out most of it, enough went down my throat to make me nauseous. I grabbed a piece of cheddar, but it wasn’t enough, but a piece of Stilton did the trick. I have had a correct bottle since, and I have to confess, I found it pruney and very simple.

The second was the famous La Tache 1962 that Sotheby’s was serving at a pre auction tasting. I came back early from a business trip, paid a change fee, and took a cab straight in from the airport. I needn’t have bothered. The wine was dead. Utterly, completely dead.

I also have a Las Cases 1982 story. I belonged to a wine group, and every month one of the people would host a tasting. We had a $400 budget, and most people exceeded it. There were 12 people there, and our host decided that he would open a single bottle worth $400, the Las Cases. So we were supposed to nurse a two ounce pour for a couple of hours, seeing how it changed in the glass. Never mind that we had driven nearly an hour to this tasting, with one mouthful it was almost gone. And yes, it wasn’t good either.That horrible dilemma, a bad wine, and there wasn’t enough of it.

There were rumblings, and finally we shamed our host into opening other wines. One of the more memorable evenings, and even if the wine(s) were lacking, a great story.