JC - the best I have tried by a decent margin is Pavillon Rouge 2004 tasted alongside the 2004 GV at the chateau in May 2015 with our friends at BWE. It had that unmistakeable Chateau Margaux magic, with the bonus that it was more accessible than the brooding and backward by comparison GV. If someone tried to pass the PR off as a GV from a lighter vintage I would not have had the slightest qualm nor suspicion. It is so much better than any PR you would get from the 1990s and especially the 1980s.
As a more general point second wines have clearly improved as the selections became more rigorous, but as a rule they generally do not represent better value than the first wines from lesser estates. There is also a lot of marketing bullshit surrounding second wines, which used to be second wines, but are deemed to be no longer by the marketeers. At Palmer good old plain speaking Reserve Du General was replaced Alto Ego (pretentious? Moi?) which was soon deemed not to be a second wine. Even though it is is more rigorously honed than the General, when you taste it next to the Palmer GV they are leagues apart. At Leoville Lascases Clos Du Marquis has relinquished its second wine status and now has its own second wine. Les Forts is a great wine but is it really as good as Leoville Lascases at about the same price point? I don’t think so.
I checked my records, and I sold some CdM at $50. I’ve drank enough of it over the years, and at that price point, I can find lots of other comparable/fungible Bdx or other cabernet wines.
'82 La Tour Haut-Brion (I think the consensus above agrees with my take all along that LTHB was the second of LMHB) and '82 Forts de Latour are the two best seconds I’ve encountered. 1975 LMHB was almost as good the one time I’ve tried it.
Funny side note, I love this Chateau and have more of it than any other Bordeaux, yet I have never once tried the second wine! Glad the main wine is not pricey!
Yes, but I´d rather say that the CC is a special cuvée of Malconsorts (coming from the parcel bordering La Tâche proper), but the (regular) Malconsorts is no 2nd wine …
Yes, I do think a real 2nd wine has to be kind of “declassified” … be it from young vines or lesser barrels … or lesser terroir (e.g. Chateau Latour).
I also think that the Clos Vougeot Vielles Vignes by Chateau de La Tour (or by Gerard Raphet) is a special cuvée (selection), but the regular CV is no 2nd wine.
Vosne-Romanée 1erCru Cuvee Duvault-Blochet by DRC is a real 2nd wine …