I have not followed the Bordeaux markets in recent years as closely as I have Burgundy, so I am not sure about current pricing. But 10-20 years ago, yes the 1973 brought an additional premium for the reasons you suggest. Off the top of my head, I think it would have been about 1.5 - 2 times the price of other off vintages of similar era. It might have been more, except that the wine is far more readily available than many other poor vintage wines- perhaps in part because people saw the potential collector value in the 1st first growth vintage as well as the Picasso label. I wonder if perhaps the latter had the greater influence- pretty much anything associated with Picasso always had some extra cache.
drink to me, drink to my health, you know I can’t drink anymore…
When my interest for Bordeaux etc. began almost 40 years ago wines from the 70th and even 60th were easy to get to low prices. Therefore I tasted and bought lots. When the 1982 came onto the market they were very different. A young Bordeaux vintage with such body, sweetness of the tannins and hedonistic appeal? Something pretty new. Many wines of the 60th and 70th were thin, acid, green, unclean and so forth. Better wines could be found in almost any vintage (I said almost) but a vintage when the failures where the exception and not the rule like in 1982 was absolutely special. Everybody at age 60+ knows that fine 1964, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1975 existed and still exist. But you had to be very selective before buying and drinking.
I know that Parket is a persona non grata for many here on this board. But he was right when stating that these are the best times for Bordeaux lovers because the good vintages are the majority these days. And I think Michael Broadbent shares this opinion. You can buy traditional made wines such as Leoville Barton, Grand Puy Lacoste etc. in any vintage today and you will have at least a good if not outstanding wine in the glass. That can’t be said for the vintages of the 60th and 70th.
That does seem to be the case, but I wonder, do you put the 1980s in your commentary? Some of my all-time favorite Bordeaux - from FGs to basic Crus - come from various vintages in the 1980s.
The question now is what these farmers allow the winemakers and their illustrious consultants to do with the potentially finer, and more consistent vintages.
Robert,
there was a significant upswing in quality in the 80th without a doubt. I can understand that you like wines from 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1989. I love many of them too.
I am aware that you don’t like modern Bordeaux. But I am pretty sure that many wines from 2009 will be way more civilized once they are old enough. Many already are and not easy to identify as a 2009 in Blind Tastings. As an experienced wine drinker you know that baby fat melts away and the underlying structure will become more obvious. I guess the next generation will rave about the big names of 2009 as old-timers did with 59 and later 82. Even if the alc. in 2009 is higher. IMHO.
BTW: Even the good Left Bank Bordeaux and Burgundies from vintage 2003 aren’t flabby. They are ripe and fine and taste very different from what they were when young.
81 and (of course) 82 as well. The 80s were as consistently good as any decade in my lifetime
‘75 Haut Brion is a good wine, had it 3 times over the last 3 years. I intend to open one bottle a year from the OWC.
Neal,
I agree. But the number of well run Chateaux today is way bigger than in 1981, 1983 and so forth. That is logic because the Chateaux make and made good money the last 2 decades. That wasn’t true in the 80th for many owners and therefore the yields were often still too high, no good selection process, only a few second wines, old and Brett infected barrels and so forth. I think we are often a bit too nostalgic and the image of the 80th is dominated by the top experiences with Cordier wines and others. But while the wines were way better as in the 70th and 60th the number of very good wines in any area is way bigger today IMO.
Two things to remember:
1/Before 1985 poor vintages in Bordeaux were caused by a lack of sunshine. Now problems are often caused by what we might call California conditions. eg in 1991 we had early bud break break followed by frosts. 2003 was very very hot.
2/There have been too many changes in winemaking to count. One change is that before 1986 most chateaux put wine through ML in tank and barreled down the wine after. Now most chateaux put the wine through ML in barrel. This really changes the nature of the oak impact…less cigar box, pencil shavings characteristics.
From a quality viewpoint perhaps one can say today is a great day for Bordeaux wines, but from a price POV…not so much. The so called super seconds used to be affordable. Nowadays most of us are lucky to afford fifth growths.
Mel,
right – prices of today is the dark side of the story.
But I tasted 2015 Cantemerle recently and that wine is 29,50 Euros a bottle from a good retailer here in Germany. Its a steal. The wine is wonderful. So I think with a little bit of effort you can make very good deals today.
posted by Howard Cooper
One of the things that convinced me in my 20s to buy 1982 Bordeaux futures was that I bought and read an issue of Decanter where the writer (I cannot remember whether it was Peppercorn or Coates or Edmund Penning-Roswell or who (but I remember it was one of the major ones at the time)) praised the 1982s almost as highly as Parker did (I mean, after all, they are British so that it was much more understated) and liked pretty much the same wines he did.
Same here. I don’t remember Coates writing that much at the time, I think he started “The Vine” later. I want to say it was Peppercorn and Penning-Roswell.
I bet heavily on 2005, 08, 10 and 14, with 14 and 05 being my biggest purchases, over 2009. I have selectively picked up some choice offerings in 2009, however. Off the top of my head, Leaoville Barton, Calon Segur, GPL, Sociando, Cantemerle, Lanessan, etc. MarcF got me to buy some Giscours as well!
Jurgen
That is a good point. Figure in rising quality+inflation and $30 bux for Cantemerle 2015 sounds just fine. As a geezer I have the problem of remembering when we sold Cantemerle etc for $5.
There are some good deals out there but you have to strike quickly. About ten years ago I bought Branaire 2002 for 30$ and 2002 Ausone for $200. Wish I had bought more. Jancis wrote up 2012 Phelan Segur
as a bargain --gave it the same score as a first growth–$30??–so I bought what I could. Of course I paid 20$ for the 2009. What gets me is that St Estephe cru bourgeois used to demand 10/15 years in bottle and these wines are quite drinkable…why wait?? This is good news for people my age who aren’t buying green bananas any more.
During the 70’s when I was in High School my dad worked for EF Hutton. Every year the company gave him a budget to buy gifts for clients with a portfolio of a certain size. He would get 4 cases of the current vintage of Lafite. He would give 3 cases away and one case would find it’s way to a cool corner of the basement. He ended up with quite a few bottles of 68, 69, 70, 71, and 72. All were stored at a cool temp. Years later they were all not very good, but he still treasured them. Because of these wines I grew up thinking I didn’t like Bordeaux and didn’t try again until 96 my sons birth year.
Sometimes a wine will show up from an off year – not at a wine store or restaurant but from a friend or at a tasting – that completely defies the common wisdom about that vintage. My wife and I took a 1973 Beychevelle to a restaurant to celebrate her birthday with some friends of ours, and had trepidation. We warned the excellent sommelier that it might not be worth bringing the wine to the table after she decanted it.
But it turned out great! All the wonderful characteristics of beautifully aged Bordeaux, you would never know what a terrible year it was.
I’ve also had a couple of bottles of '68 Yquem that Broadbent described as terrible, but they were excellent. Just ended up in the cellar of a friend after her husband died, and he had inherited them from his father. Not as great as great Yquem, but very enjoyable.
Important to keep an open mind! That’s true with old CA cab and pinot, too. I’ve had some excellent California pinot from the '50s that I never would have thought would be any good.
With the discussion of 1973s, I’ll throw out a pleasant recent experience:
1973 Château La Dominique - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (3/9/2019)
I didn’t expect much from this wine, but thought it would be fun to celebrate my brother’s birthday by sharing a birth year wine with him that I knew would be one of the oldest wines he’d ever had. I pulled the cork in the early afternoon and gave it a gentle double decant about an hour before dinner at which point it wasn’t showing much.
My hopes rose when it was poured a couple hours later. Very nice on the nose with bell pepper, red currant, and a touch of leather and earth, which are mirrored on the palate. While it lacked the tannic or acidic structure it needed to bring it definition when drinking it on its own, it came to life once prime steaks were added to the equation. Not a great wine, but a satisfying performance from a wine for which I had few expectations and a particular thrill to be able to share the experience with my family. (88 pts.)
Not really. They’re all terrible.
There’s two things that make products desirable- quality and rarity. Most of those wines are now long since drunk or poured down the sink, so they are, by comparison, rare. That’s what makes them expensive to buy 40 years later.
Again I’d be shocked to see anyone extolling the virtues of 63, 68, 69, and 72. They sucked when they were young, when they were middle aged, and to the extent they still exist, they still suck and are dead to boot. Seriously, what is the question here?
I haven’t read everyone’s response, so apologies if mentioned already…
He wasn’t wrong - fact is there are a bunch of middle aged folks with money that like the idea of birth year wines or hosting verticals with older juice in there for context/ balla factor (did I use that term properly, hipsters?).
Those bottles suddenly become something of value.
Mouton bottles in older, so-called “off years” are crazy expensive, price driven by those seeking a vertical collection.