It’s official: th 1995 Bordeaux vintage is open for business

[Comte Flaneur]

Scenes of joy as people take to the streets and hurt their hats in the air in the face of dystopian threats from the extremes of the political spectrum.

Over the last few weeks I have tried the following wines from the 1995 vintage, all of which have impressed, have reached their plateau of maturity and drank beautifully:

Palmer
Rauzan Segla
Leoville-Lascases
Leoville Barton
Canon La Gaffeliere
Clinet
Trotanoy

The last three we drank in DC last Friday.

The fact that those left banks are drinking is heartening. It was possible to imagine that Leoville Lascases would never come round. That only now applies to the 1986.

These wines can of course be Blanqitoed, but in many cases there is no need.

But I have encountered more than my fair share of corked or faulty bottles:

Calon-Segur - let’s see how the next one shows
L’Evangile -ditto
Clinet - one was mildly corked the other, above, was singing

Bottles pending:

Ducru Beaucaillou - this is a beauty ... on my last encounter over a year ago it was OFB and drank superbly

Magdelaine - could be a tough nut to crack!

OK so some of the first growths probably need more time, though Haut-Brion is drinking and so is Cheval Blanc on the RB. Bottles of Lafite and Mouton have been amazing, but Mouton sometimes closed for business.

Last night we opened the first bottle of 1995 Leoville-Barton:

On the nose rich, bright, intense red fruits.

Notes of graphite, lead pencil, then later Bourneville/dark chocolate, baking spices, then coffee notes.

The tannins are now resolved. On the palate, svelte, elegant, medium bodied, with a somewhat strict and bracing persona.

Different from the 1996 which packs more mid palate density and power but lacks the elegance and class of the 1995.

I would rate the 1995:

****1/2, 93 points

After nearly a quarter of a century, people understandably have been questioning the credentials of the 1995 vintage and many have given up on it.

Now they seem finally to be emerging and they provide an exciting contrast to the heavily praised 1996s.

I have always thought these two vintages are evenly matched but very different ever since I attended a 4 by 4 Medoc 1995-98 FG tasting in 2001. The 1995 and 1996 vintages were evenly matched and streets ahead of the 1997s and 1998s. The 1996s have always been more flattering to drink. But now with many of the 2000s starting to drink there is little to choose between these three vintages.

[marcs]

Are you saying that 95/96/2000 are all equal quality vintages? I might buy it for 95/96 but have always thought of 2000 as superior, combining classical style with greater heft and weight, comparable to 1989. However, I have a sentimental connection to 2000 as it is the first hyped vintage I experienced when I began collecting.

[Comte Flaneur]

Yes Marcus I am.

But, having said that, I think if I had to back one horse out of the three in the long term it would be 2000.

But ten years go the 2000s were as hard as nails.

[marcs]

sure, 2000 totally shut down for a while but they were amazing on release. Now they are re-emerging. Have had two 2000 Pichon Baron in recent months (including at our little BWE DC mini-convention in June) that absolutely blew me away. Strongly doubt that the 95 or 96 PB could compete, although I am not as familiar with those wines.

And Davidg will testify to the quality gap between the 1995 Canon La Gaffeliere (good, very enjoyable) we had and then the 2000 CLG I drank with him last week (flat-out great).

[Blanquito]

Let the lord and saints be praised!

I for one, I’ve had faith in the 95s, though Job-like, the faith was pushed to the limit. The 96s had the Parker praise and they’ve always been wonderfully aromatic in a way that the taciturn 95s never were, but unlike 1996, the 95s are strong on both banks and often would give glimpses of a depth that always helped keep the faith. The 2000 had even more buzz and many top estates made sensational wines, but overall 2000 was a huge crop and many made either over-extracted wines (RB) or hard, tannic wines (LB).

[marcs]

96 is definitely a cabernet year. In my limited experience there is a cool, elegant, lifted quality to 96 left banks that is distinctive and I really like.

[DavidG]

I think 1995s are finally in the zone. I’ve generally held 1996 left bankers in higher regard than 1995, but maybe worthy of review now that more 1995s are coming round.

The 2000 left bankers are as good or better but are still young. I feel pretty good about the direction they’re headed and expect more from them eventually than 1995 or 1996. We should make 2000 (and 1990!) themes for BWE DC next spring and take a look at a bunch of them.

[jckba]

Hi Ian,

A timely and thought provoking post and while I’ll agree with you that many 1995’s have entered an enjoyable drinking phase, the style of the wines on both banks are meaner and leaner than either of the other vintages mentioned. And much like Marcus, I much prefer the wines from the Medoc in 1996 whereas on the Right Bank, I will flip and agree with you that I prefer them to their 1996 counterparts, though, if I owned any I would seriously consider off loading them as they have appreciated nicely and then plowing those same funds into more 1998’s as they are underpriced and much better IMHO when compared to the 1995 versions of the same wine. Food for thought.

[Comte Flaneur]

Hi JC

The doubt in my mind was mainly in relation to the left banks and specifically the Medoc 1995s. My recent experience suggests that they too have stepped up, but they provide an interesting contrast to the 1996s, and a great theme for future shootouts. Yes the 1995s are still the underdogs in relation to the 1996s in the Medoc, but the difference in quality may be closer than we thought. But the 1995s are streets ahead of the 1998 left banks, imho, which was a biblical deluge like 1964...the only difference was 34 years of technology.

[Claret]

I enjoyed 95 Calon Segur the other night. Nicely developed nose and secondary flavors with cedar and earth. Old school tannins still present but not too harsh.

Dinner was at Hell's Kitchen in South Lake Tahoe. A fine pairing with Beef Wellington.

[Musigny 151]

I have never been a great fan of the 1995 vintage. I thought it was hyped because it was the first halfway decent vintage since the 1990, and the market needed something to sell. I missed the en primeur tastings in April but returned to Bordeaux in June of 1996 to taste the wine. The UGC collected around a hundred wines, and we tasted them at Chateau Loudenne.

By this time, not only were the wine being pushed in London and New York, but the first wave of Asian buyers (mostly Singapore) had pushed the prices to three times the official opening.

I tasted the wines with a close friend, Charles Eve MW, Alain Raynaud, head of the UGC and Bruno the winemaker at Loudenne. Sadly, we were all unimpressed. The wines were thin and long with almost no opulence. I have found with very few exceptions, the same leanness in most of the wines, and although a few like Pichon Lalande and Las Cases were decent, I did not buy the vintage. For the most part, I continue to avoid it with two notable exceptions. Haut Brion was magnificent that year, and continues to impress. There is a gap, but LMHB is also lovely.

[Comte Flaneur]

We got lucky in November 2019 when Mr Vino visited London town:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8704&p=76855&hilit= ... age#p76855

I agree that Ch. Haut-Brion is stunning, and La Mission is superb too, but Ch. Lafite is my wine of the vintage. Jacques’s friend Pierre brought a bottle of 95 Lafite to Kittle House ten years ago. We had an amazing line up of wines. But the Lafite was so far ahead of everything else it was almost embarrassing.

I think Margaux and Mouton are still coming round.

I have a dinner on Tuesday where we are going to compare 1995 vs 1996 Ch. Latour...out of Roberto Conterno Sensory glasses. Will report back.

[marcs]

Surprised no one has mentioned GPL which really excelled in 95. It has the opulence and fruit depth often missing in the vintage.

I have had two 95 Trotanoy and they were both corked. What are the odds? I own one more bottle, I wonder how it will show

[Hm$(still)]

I had the ‘95 GPL a month or so ago, and agree it was excellent.

At auction it’s $120/bottle which in today’s market is a steal.

Hm$

[JimHow]

As I have said many times, the 1995 GPL is the one excellent GPL in the past 50 years.
GPL does not perform well at auction because the market wise guys understand its mediocrity.
Jacques and I have been trying to tell this to you guys for years.

[Blanquito]

I had a wonderful bottle of the 95 Trotanoy six years ago which was still firmly on the upslope then. Bet it’s off the hook today.

[JoelD]

Call me lucky to have gotten to try both of Jim's "exception to the rule" wines this past year! 89 Lynch and 95 GPL. Both were great, although I may have actually preferred the GPL. Seemed to have more balance, oomph and consistency through the bottle.

[Blanquito]

A surprisingly good 95 these days is the Sociando. I’ve preferred it to the 96, which is also drinking great these days.

[jal]

That 1995 Lafite is probably the best wine I've ever tasted