1981 Bordeaux and an old Rosè

Last night enjoyed some wonderful 1981s with friends. It also seemed like a good time to see how the Tempier experiment went. Despite the disappointing results of the experiment, it was a nice night of food, wine and friends.

• 1981 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (7/22/2017)
  Garnet/Dark red color. Reticent nose of faded spice and cherry. Definitely Bordeaux on the palate with a light spicy tingle and plum/raspberry/cherry in the forefront. Virtually no sediment. Served alongside a 1981 Leoville las Cases with grilled butterflied leg of lamb, this was a quintessential Bordeaux experience. Excellent. (92 pts.)
• 1981 Château Léoville Las Cases - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (7/22/2017)
  Dark red. Strong nose of cedar, mushroom and leather. The palate is deep with plum, cedar, leather and dark fruit. Very little sediment. This was served alongside a 1981 Ducru Beaucaillou with grilled butterflied leg of lamb and was a quintessential Bordeaux experience. Been loving the underappreciated 1981 vintage. Excellent. (92 pts.)
• 2007 Château d’Epiré Savennières Cuvée Spéciale - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières (7/22/2017)
  Pale. This was tightly wound apple and citrus. Vaguely floral on the nose. Fine match for scallops in a Pierre Ferrand curacao reduction. Excellent. (91 pts.)
• 2004 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé - France, Provence, Bandol (7/22/2017)
  The experiment. Age one high-end Rose for 13 years. Open and drink. Brilliant whiskey orange color. Experienced the spice and dried orange peel that others have as well, but it is fairly oxised and makes this a bit difficult. Given the age not unexpected so cannot called it flawed. Merely a flawed concept of overaging a wine best enjoyed in years 1-5. (79 pts.)

Really great to see notes from an under-hyped vintage such as 1981. Plenty of good wines outside of the prestige vintages.

A good experiment on the Rosé. I find oxidation a tricky subject, having wines made in an oxidative style we should like, whilst wines where those elements emerge in the bottle we should not! It ends up with me mostly being ‘tolerant’ of such elements, happy enough if it comes with additional complexity, but never quite wrapping my head around the distinction.

Ian,
I’m continuing to keep an eye out for 1981s.There is a lot of pleasure to be found! While the 81 LLC isn’t monumental like the 82, it’s also open and ready to go.

Pity about the Tempier.

There is a lot of fun to be had with 1981 Bordeaux. I just bought an '81 Conseillante for less than a bottle of the '13 (truly abysmal vintage) would cost me. Very much looking forward to it.

Angludet is a real '81 sleeper if you ever see it.

Photos of the beauties along with the ugly duckling.

I had a good '81 Conseillante back in the fall. Birth year wines for me. PLL has been very good also.

I recommend Rauzan Segla if you can find it. Drinking great right now.

I have a bottle of that one Oliver, thanks for the tip. I’m another who’s enjoyed a variety of '81s in recent years, cool vintage from the old era.

I bought 10 cases of 1981s as futures (Las Cases, Ducru, La Mission, et al) and was pleased with the purchase. Drank them over a 20-25 year period but I suspect that they would still be in good shape today. If you see them at auction, they’re a good gamble.
Re Tempier Rose, I’ve felt that they are best with 1-2 years of bottle age. I recently discovered a few bottles of 2009 hiding in the cellar. They were fine but lacking the vibrancy of youth.
DoctorJay