A dear friend and older wine mentor had me over to his house one Friday afternoon. It’s just he and I, and he had mentioned wanting to pull something “special”. So I opened a couple bottles and he goes back to his cellar for a minute. When he comes back, he asks, “what year we’re you born again?” “‘84”, I replied. “Well, 84 kinda sucked, so let’s open this…” and pulls out an 85 La Tache.
Now, I had mentioned some time in the past that LT is a dream/bucket list wine for me, so the most amazing part (and certainly worth hyping) was this friend’s generosity in sharing it with me.
We decanted briefly then crushed that bottle together over about 2+ hours. I think a lot of times when an expensive bottle is opened in a group setting it gets passed around a bunch with relatively small pours. Instead, we had time and “mass effect” to study the wine. The experience was incredibly special… the wine, not so much, we both agreed. Not a flawed bottle, just a little off. Lots of mushroom and a hint of Brett. A 90 Jadot Clos Des Mouches absolutely crushed it several weeks later.
I can’t make any claims about DRC or LT or 85 Burg etc being over-hyped based on one bottle, but it didn’t make me want to fork over a mortgage payment to figure it out any further. I was primed for a skull melting wine and it didn’t deliver on this day…
I think given the price escalation for northern Rhone generally, Gonon at 100 isn’t really all that bad. I don’t own a single bottle of the VV, but when I’ve had it…it’s pretty special stuff.
For me, personally, I’ll list a few things I’ve found are worth the price of admission. (I’m not that interest in listing things that aren’t - plenty of threads for that)
Allemand - easily the best syrah being made by anyone today, and the only thing on this list I’m still consistently buying
*Pre-99 Chave - even the lighter years are great
*Pre 92 Leflaive - absolutely spectacular, and my first “wow” moment with white Burgundy many years ago
*Leroy - a bit stylized, but a glass of the 1990 I had this year is still seared into my mind
*Salon 96 - best champagne I’ve ever had
*vintage Krug - Krug is Krug
*Pichon Lalande - consistently my favorite Bordeaux (since I don’t drink 1st growths on a remotely regular basis)
*Soldera - the only Sangiovese that transcends Sangiovese
Jean Louis fully took over, is my understanding. By all accounts he’s a very serious and thoughtful winemaker, but post 99 Chave isn’t quite “Chave“ anymore imho (not that I’m dumping glasses of it, mind ).
I was reminded of some wines that did not match the hype.
1947 Cheval Blanc, Latour a Pomerol 1961 and Lafleur 1975 and 1979.
All Parker 100 point darlings, all suffering from the same gloopy, raisiny profile.
Almost all the Leroy Burgundies I have tasted. They are not my style, too big, too intense with all of the subtlety of a World Wrestling event. I have tasted a couple of exceptions, particularly at the less expensive end of the market, but see more of a Leroy signature, than a precise expression of appellation.
As for great, the Palmer 1961 and La Mission 1955. But for me, the single greatest bottle, was the 1961 Hermitage La Chapelle, which I had hoped one day to taste, and never thought I would.
Lots of examples but these were probably the most instructive.
Worth it: a bottle of 1982 Grange that a friend popped in the back room of the wine store he managed right after release. I’d heard the hype. It was one of my first New World wow wines. Bought 2 six-packs on the spot. It was ~$45 and not hard to find back then, but still a splurge.
Not worth it: 1982 Grange after my palate had shifted. It was still Grange, and with age, and was a fine wine, but not the same wow it had been 20+ years earlier. The second six-pack was opened for friends who loved it more than me.
Greg
I could probably say the same for Dujac, Tremblay and a few others. Not sure it is a question of good or bad, but of taste. It is a little on the extreme side of the continuum of Burgundy styles.
I understand the point you’re making - it’s wines made with a certain style. So because I like Leroy’s style (and don’t Dujac’s, for instance), means I like Leroy more than you. Same can be said of other producers like Fourrier, Duband, etc. Have never had Tremblay, so can’t comment.
That said, I’ve had bad wines from producers I like with styles I like, but not from Leroy - though my experience with Leroy is much smaller. It’s…ah…a bit pricey
Stylistically I’ve not been bowled over by either Leroy or Jacques-era Dujac, the former on fairly low data points. That said, the ‘99 Dujacs before they shut down were pretty F’ing good. I’m not very familiar with post-Jacques Dujac. The wines have changed somewhat under Jeremy and Diana.
Contrast with Henri Jayer. Again, very small sample set, probably 3 times I’ve had Jayer, but it was spectacular every time. The latest was ‘93 village NSG.
I’m curious while we are on Burgundy if anyone thinks Rousseau does not live up to the hype? It’s out of reach now financially I think for many of us — or at least we won’t pay THAT much for a wine. But I love their wines.
Price, quality and personal taste are not always related. I’ve had 2010 Latour a few times, (sadly I won’t see it again until next year) and think it’s an incredible wine.
I might not buy it for 1K, but if I owned any, I wouldn’t sell mine.
There are numerous highly exalted, pricey wines that deliver all they’re supposed to deliver and more. However, there’s a lot of famous, pricey wines that fail to provide the bang for the buck.
Much of that for younger wines, and 2010 Latour is a younger wine, is about personal taste. For older wines, it’s a mix of provenance, personal taste and experience tasting older wines.
1996 Latour is a fabulous wine and while it’s still expensive, if you’re interested in what Latour is all about, maybe you can split a bottle of that among a friend, or friends to get an idea why people are in love with that wines singular character and style.
Did it really have all that much hype? I found it to be as near a perfect bottle of old-styled Bordeaux as there ever was. Too bad you had a less than stellar experience.
Whatever hype there is, I’ve never been disappointed by good bottles of 82-83 and 85-86 Gruaud. Flat out gorgeous wines. I also can’t recall a Bretty or Cordier funky bottle in probably 15 years from those based on a few samples of each. Does anyone else feel the Cordier funk, whatever it is, has dissipated on average on these 80s Gruauds?
I find 82 Gruaud Larose to be one of the wines of the vintage. For the money, it ranks as one of the best deals in high-quality, mature Bordeaux today.
I’ve had mixed experiences with Rousseau, though again it’s been very small sample sizes. Would be delighted to have more - but, there’s the small problem of price. Haven’t had Jayer. I find Dujac to be very stemmy, and I just don’t love stemmy pinot. I fully acknowledge that’s a stylistic preference and not a qualitative statement; I also don’t find the Leroy style as pronounced as, say, the Dujac style. Others may disagree.
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