What is the best 3 year run, and what is the best 5 year run?

[rthomaspaull]

i think the left bank reds (especially Pessac-Leognan) did very well from 2014-2016. I have not tasted any 2017 or later Bordeaux. rthomaspaull

[Claudius2]

Joel
For 6 yrs I have to go for 85 to 90 though 2014 to 2019 May beat it with time.

In relation to 81 to 85 vs 86 to 90 or 85 to 89, I have to rate 87 above 84 and 90 above 85.

I’d also say in time that 2014 to 2016 will challenge any triumvirate and wonder why 2015 gets little love here as the wines I have tried from that vintage have been very good.
Cheers
Mark

[DavidG]

I love 2015. Some say it was too ripe/solar.

[Racer Chris]

I bought heavily in Margaux appellation in 2015, hardly anything in the rest of Bordeaux that vintage.

[Nicklasss]

I like a lot 2015 too. I know doing vintage comparison is not good, but it reminded me a bit 2005 with just a tad more sun.

From the UGC tasting of the 2015 i attended in Montréal with JeanFred, many aoc are successful in that vintage. Wines that did a strong impression on me:

Domaine de Chevalier, Haut Bailly, Smith Haut Lafitte, La Lagune, Chasse Spleen, most of the Margaux (favorite being Brane Cantenac and Rauzan Ségla), Phelan Segur, the two Pichon (light preference for the Comtesse), Léoville Barton and Poyferré, Lagrange, Beychevelle, Canon (at the top), Valandraud, Canon la Gaffelière, Clinet.

[Nicklasss]

The more i look at it, the more it makes sense that the best 6 year run is 2014 to 2019.

The problem with vintages pre-1995 is that there was still some irregularities with grape ripeness, selection and sorting, winemaking quality, cellar issues, or others, at important Chateaux.

Some examples:

- except for 1982, it seems to me that one (or more) First Growth did not made their best wine every vintage.
- many Second Growth did not made their best wine every vintage (Ducru Beaucaillou had cellar issues, Pichon Baron or Montrose started to challenge the First in 1988 or 1989 and after, it is like Brane Cantenac started to be recongnized from 1995-1996...).
- in Pessac Léognan, it is like SHL and Carmes Haut Brion did not existed before 1995.
- in Pomerol and Saint Émilion, even the top producers seem to have some misses in some vintages (which wine you would prefer to taste at 20-25 years old? 1983/1987 Petrus or 2017, 1986/1987 Ausone or 2017).
- in Sauternes, it is more tricky to compare as they need the botrytis and the manpower to pick up at the right time.

In the sequence 2014 to 2019, seems like everyone (and mostly no fault from the top producers) did made great wines every vintage (or course different style than 25-50 years before), even in 2017 that is rated like 1984 or 1987 by Guide Hachette...

[rthomaspaull]

As happens not infrequently, I am revising part of my opinion.
Going by the Wine Advocate Vintage Ratings, I now say 2008-10 instead of 2014-16 for left bank red Bordeaux.
For that area I stick by 2014-18 for 5 years. rthomaspaull

[rthomaspaull]

If the Wine Spectator Vintage rating of 96 for 2018 left bank red Bordeaux applies to all 3 sub-areas eventually for the Wine Advocate Vintage Ratings, for Margaux only the best 3-year run would narrowly become 2016-18, I think. rthomaspaull