Michael Broadbent on old Bdx

[Jud_Reis]

I had a lovely bottle of 75 Leoville Barton Saturday night, with plenty of life left.

[Jurgen_Steinke]

I like aged Bordeaux but I am not a fan of Methusalems. I experienced that many people admire old wines simply because they are still somewhat alive and not completely dead. I saw people raving about old bottles with significant oxidation. I read tastings notes of ancient wines when people claimed that those bottles should be drunk with admiration. I read comments like … remember … this wine was bottled when Einstein was honored with the Nobel Price or something like that. All these informations doest better a drinking experience. At least not to me.

BTW. The few 68, 69, 72 I had the “pleasure” to taste long ago were no motivation to search for additional experiences. Those qualities doest exist anymore. I think not the cheapest supermarket would put them in their portfolio today as long as somebody with a brain and a palate is responsible for the assortment.

[Mark_Golodetz]

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.

Almost every single birth year since 1955 (an arbitrary number) has one region that was successful with I think two exceptions. Mine 1956 and 1965.

[Howard_Cooper]

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 have always thought of 1972 as the poster child for bad Bordeaux vintages. When the Bordeaux trade tried to get what was then high prices for the 72s, it tanked the entire Bordeaux trade and brought down at least one huge Bordeaux broker (Cruse).

[Greg_K]

Spotty, 1975s, some fabulous wines,

75 La Tour Haut-Brion
75 Lafleur
75 L’Evangile
75 Mission Haut Brion
75 Petrus
75 Haut Brion
75 Cheval Blanc

Love many '75s and have them in my cellar, for drinking over the next 20 years, if I last that long!!!

Also, Pichon Lalande and Leoville las Cases.

I’m not the biggest fan of LLC, but I had a really good 75 out of magnum a few years ago. Was quite surprised.

[Mark_Golodetz]

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 have always thought of 1972 as the poster child for bad Bordeaux vintages. When the Bordeaux trade tried to get what was then high prices for the 72s, it tanked the entire Bordeaux trade and brought down at least one huge Bordeaux broker (Cruse).

Cruse was brought down by adulterating wine. Nasty business, and the man responsible committed suicide.

[LMD_Ermitano]

Almost every single birth year since 1955 (an arbitrary number) has one region that was successful with I think two exceptions. Mine 1956 and 1965.

Mine is 1965. Horrible year for wine. I did manage to get a faded '65 Riojanas Monte Real Reserva in Arzak for my 50th birthday lunch though. It was not unpleasant, not vinegar, and still surprisingly alive; but that’s pretty much all I can say about it (the other '65 they had - Riojanas Viña Albina Reserva I vaguely recall - was DOA).

[Glen_Gold]

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 have always thought of 1972 as the poster child for bad Bordeaux vintages. When the Bordeaux trade tried to get what was then high prices for the 72s, it tanked the entire Bordeaux trade and brought down at least one huge Bordeaux broker (Cruse).

Cruse was brought down by adulterating wine. Nasty business, and the man responsible committed suicide.

A 1966 Cruse Pontet Canet was unexpectedly terrific just a couple of years ago, whatever was actually inside of it.

[Eric_Egan]

1970 is quite strong, and a couple of years ago, in a strong Bordeaux field, Figeac and Pichon Lalande showed best. 1974 has a few couple of good wines; Trotanoy and La Mission are solid, otherwise not I have not had anything I like. As mentioned in the above post, 1975 is a really strong vintage for Pomerol and a good one for Graves.
1978 has a few good wines, but prefer 1979 which I drink fairly regularly. And my favorites DDC, Giscours and du Tertre are drinking well.

Not to forget the 1970 Palmer, which I think is also one of the finest wines of the vintage.

As to Broadbent, I do think that his slaughter of less ripe or uneven vintages in part stems from his background in the British wine trade, which used to slate what they saw as weaker vintages in order to avoid excess year-on-year price inflation. It was important for the major export market for Bordeaux to pull prices down in these vintages so that producers could still hike up prices by 30% or so in stronger vintages without this having too much of a knock-on effect over time. Once the British wine trade’s dominance in the Bordeaux marked fell apart this led the way to the price inflation we’ve seen since the early 1990s.

That is quite a conspiracy theory, Eric. While it is true that most writers in the UK at the time were in the trade, Broadbent as head of Christie’s wine was dealing with older wines. Tasted with him a number of times, and found he had an incredibly fine palate, and was consistent a hallmark of a great taster.

To suggest he consciously or I unconciously had a pro trade agenda is ludicrous.

He was in the trade for 15 years before joining Cristies in '66. Indubitably one of the finest palates in the country but also clearly follows the old English practice of writing off vintages completely (his Vintage Wine is a testament to this). Though I wouldn’t insinuate that he has a conscious pro-trade agenda, his total and complete write-off of certain vintages (1967 Bordeaux as “A peroxide blonde of a vintage”), is a clear hangover from his trade days.