First of all, thank you to Leve to having thewinecellarinsider for us to use.
I was perusing his notes on 1949 Ch. Latour and found that the scores have gone up with each tasting. I’ll share with you here the scores (for notes check out his site)
All for 1949 Ch. Latour
2006 - 87pts
2007 - 88pts
2007 - 90pts
2018 - 95pts
2023 - 97pts
2023 - 99pts
Maybe in time he will become the new Francois . . . ?
87 to 99 is quite the journey. How does one “miss” a nearly perfect wine that badly the first 3 times when it was already 55+ years old? Bottle variation?
I imagine it’s perfectly normal to have several dud botles when drinking 60+ year old wine.
It’s not a matter of missing it. After 15/20 years of age, all wines age differently, even bottles from the same case. Some bottles age better, some worse.
Next, you have a myriad of changes in corks and their ability to hold the seal and not degrade over time.
After that you have provenance. A lot of older bottles were not stored perfectly and many have been traded quite a bit. Bottles stored in cold, dark, humid cellars are always going to offer the best experiences.
It is a fact that all older bottles will show differently. Some, and probably a large percentage are dead on arrival. However, the best older bottles provide unequaled tasting experiences.
FWIW, I remember that last bottle poured blind as part of a Latour flight. That was a rockstar bottle leaving everyone speechless!
I’m aware of all of that. If it’s all bottle variation, I guess it’s just uncanny luck that each bottle you’ve had has been better than the last.
It’s not bottle variation. It’s more about the provenance, meaning storage. In those early years, the people I was tasting with were not that concerned with provenance. Today, in my old wine tasting group, they already own, or are willing and able to pay up for provenance.
FWIW, none of those bottles were mine and I do not own a single bottle.
I believe I was at the 2006 French Laundry dinner where we drank that bottle of '49 Latour. In my opinion, Jeff was generous with his score. We drank many legends that night, including a perfect to my palate '61 Latour. Some of the older wines were past prime. It happens with 60 year old wines.
Just to be clear, my comment was not to slight Jeff’s reviews.
Moreso it was intended to be a subtle nod to his perceived reputation as a lover of the fresh and modern style, as opposed to the classical style, while paying tribute to Audouze’s affection for old, old wines.
Those were the days. We drank some crazy bottles at those dinners. Thanks for reminding me of those days gone by.
I look for good wines with character that make me want to drink, share, and write about it.
I think I like, enjoy, buy, and drink a wider array of Bordeaux in as you noted, a myriad of styles.
Clearly, there are wines, and characteristics I prefer more than others. We all do.
At any rate, I’m happy you enjoy and learn things from my site. It’s why I do it.
I consider provenance as part of bottle variation so we’re saying the same thing.
Provenance is not part of bottle variation.
Bottle variation means that bottles treated the exact same way perform differently. Premox is the extreme example of this phenomenon. You don’t get bottle variation by having wines of different provenances, you just get wines with different provenances.
For example Chateau Musar is notorious for their bottle variation. You can get a case of bottles that have been kept the same way since they left the winery, yet several of the wines might be wildly different from others - especially with some years under their belts.
Typically wines with identical provenance should show very little if any bottle variation, even with some age. With different provenances it’s simply impossible to tell.
I have always said this about true Bordeaux aficionados, draw a Venn Diagram, and the intersection among us is large. Jeff likes the modern wines and the ripe ones, but it is also obvious that he loves the classics in great years. I would be happy to drink a lot of what Jeff drinks. We just don’t play together on the margins.
If you are looking a bottles with similar provenance, one major variable lis the cork. Some years ago, Penfolds did some cork experiments and found that there was a huge amount of variation in the tightness of the seal. and how some bottles got more oxygen than others. I could not find any details in cursory look on the net, and I can only remember being surprised by the amount of differences.
I guess it s palate developement.
This should not surprise anyone, hence my view is that both are kinda correct.
I think this is the correct way to categorize it; however, I don’t know if I can tell by tasting a wine that is off if it is from poor storage (provenance) or poor closure or other factors with bottling (bottle variation). Are there other factors with bottle variation other than closure? So with say a screw top closure do you see bottle variation?
As I mentioned previously, and as others pointed out, provenance is not bottle variation. Bottle variation in those days is an issue that became apparent over time, after decades of aging.
Back then, not every winery used blending vats for bottling. Wines were bottled over varying times, so some wines remained in the barrel longer than others. Then, as I pointed out previously, the issue of corks and their ability to retain their seal, even with bottles from the same case can vary widely over time.
We had a 49 Latour last month that was drinking pretty pretty good.
This sentence needs to be read in a Larry David voice. . .