1971 Château Figeac- France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (8/27/2013)
My recollection is that in about 1977, Frank Prial wrote an article in the New York Times about various second and third tier Bordeaux that would substitute well for first growths. I do not remember all of them, but I believe that two were Figeac and La Gaffeliere. He also recommended Gloria and du Tertre, but I am not sure if it was in the same article. I went out and bought a half case of 1971 Figeac, possibly from Zachys or the Sokolin that used to be on Madison Ave. This was the last one. We were sitting around the back yard waiting for the rest of the crew to show up for dinner so I decided to see how this was doing. Opened with a Durand - cork was fully saturated and on its death bed, but it came out perfectly. Poured directly from the bottle. Color was light with a bit more red brick that I had hoped, and I was afraid it was badly maderized. However, there was only a tyiny bit of that dflavor as part of the profile. Color was light and the nose was cherry fruit. The palate opened up after about 10 minutes of air to reveal some very nice red fruit withy just a tiny bit of Bordeaux bandaid in the background. No left bank “Cordier” dirt and leather. Quite smooth and enjoyable. This wine is past its peak, but not yet on a violent downhill slide.
1971 was not known as a particularly good year in Bordeaux. Actually, the entire decade of the 70s, when I started collecting, did not bathe itself in glory. 1970 and 71 were supposed to be OK, 72 was blah, 73 was bleh, 74 was eh (but I got a case of Haut Brion for $6 a bottle) and 75 was supposed to be great, but Frank Prial definitely missed on that one. I have had some good 1970s Bordeaux over the years, but not something I would seek out, nor something I would have stocked up on if I had it to do over again. BUT I did like this bottle quite a lot. (91 pts.)
I’ve had quite a few '71s I’ve liked a lot over last few years- Forts des Latour, Giscours, DDC, Lafite, Haut Brion. My favorite value was the Canon, which traded for peanuts (Parker gave it something like a 68 and called it dead 3 decades ago, blind a table of experienced tasters disagree a few years back). But I think the vintage is variable, plus of course storage is a big factor almost 40 years after release.
My recollection is that '71 was better on the right bank than the left (the Trotanoy was great about 10 years ago, and Latour was good around the same time). It was a very good vintage for Sauternes and Barsac, though, and the Climans was been stunning when I last had it about 10 years ago.
Let’s just say that it was stored for the first 8 years that I owned it in a rack in my basement that was completely passive storage and the basement was under ground in the front and above ground in the back, so it wasn’t always as cold as it should be. BUT at least it was always horizontal. Under the circumstances, I’m happy with it.
1971 was a great year. Not just in Bordeaux, but everywhere and in fact in virtually everything wine and non-wine. I was born in 1971, so take my word on this one.
I enjoy reading notes on 71s, so thanks for the good read.
Total drift, but there’s some great 71 Sauternes and Rieslings.
There is no comparison between the 1971 Red Bordeaux, of which I have had many, and the 1971 Sauterne and German wines, of which I have had a few. The 1971 Climens, which I had with friends and escargot to celebrate my law school graduation in 1976, was the wine that sold me on Sauterne. I also recall Bernkastler Doktor and Eitelsbacher Marienholz 1971s that were not too shabby. BUT the 25 mile distance between Climens and Figeac (Google maps is a wonderful toy) made a huge difference. However, for me to give a Bordeaux 91 pts means it was pretty darned good.
