2004 Leoville Barton
So good. Just starting to be really drinkable. Shows more richness on the front than it has in the past. Just a treat to drink from 375ml.
2001 Donnhoff Niederhauser Hermannshöhle Riesling Auslese
Corked! Damn. It wasn’t brutal, and there was a ton of beautiful stuff still there, but the moldy newspaper won out over time.
“Off” year LB… generally solid!!!
Sucks on the Dönnhoff.
I reject the notion of 2004 as an off year even in the softening quotes. If 2004 had happened with the same end results in the 1970s it would have been lauded as one for the ages. We have been spoiled by good vintages, and deluded into thinking Bordeaux is supposed to be as rich as Napa Cabernet.
Ditto. The 2004 vintage is one of my recent favorites, and sadly, I stocked up on 03 and 05 over the 04 given the hype. I slowly built up some after starting to realize how good this vintage really was.
Fully agree. I’ve maintained for a long time that if it was a 70s or 80s vintage it would have been rated like 1978 or 1983 (minus the Margaux skew).