Is 96 the best Bordeaux vintage of the 90's (90 excluded)?

Yesterday we had an informal lunch of the Commanderie de Bordeaux of PR and we tasted 96 Lynch, 96 Montrose and 96 Lalande. I was surprised, not having tasted many 96’s before, by the accessibility and purity of the fruit and by the flavor and balance of these wines. The Montrose was the best of the three and it showed the typical power but also elegance and balance. The Lynch had its typical sweetness and was more open for business than the Lalande which was still serious and a little closed.

What are your thoughts on the 96 vintage? How do you compare it to other vintages of the 90’s (90 excluded)? 95 vs. 96? Favorite wines of the vintage?

Cheers,

Carlos

For Left Bank, it must be. For Right Bank, probably 95 or 98.

I used to think so for the left bank, but the 95s (finally) are coming on strong even in the Medoc. When you include Right Bank, I think 95 is probably superior overall, it is just such a vin garde vintage we kinda forgot about it. That said, I think the very top Medocs are superior in 96 (most first growths, some super seconds).

Some are big fans of the 98 Right Bank. Personally, many of these 98s are too hard still to be sure, like the 95s were 4-5 years ago.

96 Baron been killin’ last few years.

Left 96 followed by 95. Right 98 followed by 95 or 96.

96 Left has perfectly ripened fruit. There may never be a vintage like this again. If the 95 Medoc’s finally open up and approach the level of 96 I will be very happy. I always liked 95 on the Right.

My Bordeaux purchasing tapered off dramatically after 98 but I have a decent supply of 95 and 96 resting.

For the Left Bank, yes. But not for the Right Bank. That title belongs to 1998. I’m not a big fan of 1995. I sold almost all my wines from 95. I find the wines hard, overly dry and tannic for most of them.

Thanks for the responses so far. I was spooked by 95 Left since it reminded me a lot of 86. Have not tried many 95 Right Bank. Will have to fix that. Any suggestions?

For left bank -definitely 1996 vintage. 1995 is bit too hard/angular/four square.

I like '95 for both banks.

l’Evangile 1995 is great, still a baby buy finally showing signs of life. Same for Angelus.

On the 1995 Left, I am a big fan of Haut Brion, La Mission Haut Brion, Pichon Lalande, Grand Puy Lacoste, Calon Segur, Pontet Canet, Cos d’Estournel. These are as nearly good or even better than their 96 counterparts. However, they are still young for my money.

Amazing that I largely passed on this vintage, thinking the '95s were the prize.

If I had to backfill on 3 from 1996 - not first growths - what should I look at?

I like 1996

I love Grand Puy Lacoste.
Leoville Poyferre is pretty good.
Had a nice bottle of Lafon Rochet a couple of months ago, maybe not to the level of the first two but not at the same price either.

I saw some 1996 Barons the other day in Tampa, Now I know I’m going back for them!!

Cantemerle is really nice and almost free.

The Leoville las Cases is great, but expensive. I liked the Cos D’Estournal and Calon Segur.

Agree with 1996 for the Left Bank. Except for Pessac, where I like the 98’s better.

Thanks,
Ed

I really like Lalande, GPL, L Barton and Cantemerle.
Montrose is pretty good too, but a big step behind 89/90.
Latour is awesome but you can load up on all the others for same money. I don’t love PB in '96 but it’s good, just not great (so poor QPR) IMHO.

The Cos d’Estournel and Pichon Lalande I’ve had have been very good. LLC also but less ready in the next few years. These are all wines that will be good for a very long time.