To all Haut Brion BLANC fans.....

WINE TALK
#1

…how is the 2000 drinkin these days?

I have never had one at all…thought $249 was too good to pass up…and am looking to be blown away, just like White Burgundy has done for me in the past year. I think I will pair it with the 2007 Château Graville-Lacoste Blanc Graves that I get and love for $17…and if it doesn’t blow the doors off that wine…I’m DONE forever with expensive wine! [shock.gif]

Any info would be welcomed…thanks!

#2

Boy I wish I had the experience to offer some expert advice.

But just a few layman’s thoughts [which are based on absolutely no experience whatsoever]: This wine could start to peak anywhere the 2020-2060 timeframe, and it’s very likely to be in an awkward “dumb phase” right now.

Also: this wine will probably show all sorts of different faces and different moods as the temperature is changed and as it moves along its oxidation curve.

I would plan to drink it over the course of no fewer than three days, and, if I had a lot of will-power, then I’d try to make it last a week. [It’s really fun to forget about the last few drops of a wine like this, and then re-discover it two or three weeks later, in the back of the fridge, where it had gotten lost in the shuffle.]

And I’d try it at all different temperatures, from icy cold to room temperature.

PS: If you want a little laugh at how rare the blanc really is [even for people in the business], then [u]go to JJ Buckley[/u] and look at the reviews for it.

PPS: And as I am glancing through some of these old professional reviews, it’s becoming abundantly obvious that Parker and Suckling just don’t “grok” HBB. For instance, on the 1998 [a wine that I’ve actually had], Suckling recommends a drinking window of “now through 2005”.

What an idiot - how can that guy get paid to review Bordeaux for a living?

PPPS: All of my thoughts on this are premised on the assumption that HBB is going to avoid the premox plague. But if premox [silicone-lubricated corks, soft presses, low sulphur, whatever] hits HBB, then all bets are off.

#3

A little off-topic, but Wine Exchange just sent out an email for some very aggressively priced [u]2007 Ygrec[/u].



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#4

I’m sorry (Not really).

I just don’t get people that drink wine over the course of a week. Really? I’ve tried it time and time again, and it’s stupid.

Wine is not meant to be consumed like this, and wine does NOT get “better”" after 24 hours. The BS “tertiary” blah blah blah notes you get are not the true expression of the wine through its bell-curve, but simply things a tired wine will show after oxidation.

Moreover, a wine open for days DOES NOT EQUATE or TAKE THE PLACE of aging. It is not indicative of how a wine will progress. Remember, the wine in the closed bottle is still “alive” the open wine is in an accelerated process of oxidizing NOT aging.

Does wine need to breath? Yes. Can a wine be stellar the second day? Yes. But after that…you’ve got to be kidding me? Maybe, maybe… if you gas the wine and keep it cool…it may show well a third day…but seriously…

If it’s good drink the damn thing.


Shaun

#5

Somebody needs to turn in his Anti-Flavor Elite secret decoder ring, at the front desk, with Miss Moneypenny - on his way out the door.

#6

I agree. The second day can be interesting, but anything beyond three is just oxidized. I guess some people enjoy oxidized flavors in their wine. I generally don’t.

#7

Hey, they already have a website for Hedonists.

Get your low-brow tastebuds the heck outta here.

#8

I shared the same line of thought until I had a taste of 2005 Beaucastel Blanc VV that had been open for seven days… See notes here: 2005 Beaucastel Blanc VV - On Day 7 - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I was told that the customer who opened the bottle seven days previous thought it was bad - turns out it was just sleeping. [worship.gif]

#9

While I agree that airing the wine is not the same as aging I think it can give some clues.

As far as the other, some wines do stay great or open after more than over night. I’ve seen it plenty of times so the histrionics about not doing that are a bit much. Drink however you like. Not everyone has the stamina or the time to drink a bottle per night.

#10

I accept that, but I have never seen it. I guess when I have a wine of that caliber open it never lasts more than 2-3 days. I will try to keep more of an open mind on the subject, but I do think it must be very rare for something like that to happen. I would also guess that the wine in question would have been drinking that well on day 2 or day 3 and wouldn’t have fallen off as fast after being reopened. But yes, of course people should drink what and how they like. I wasn’t being sarcastic when I wrote the thing about some people liking some oxidized flavors in their wine. Sometimes I like them in young chenin blanc.

#11

[u]Here’s a guy[/u] who forgot a Silex, in the back of the fridge, for two weeks, without even a cork in it.

#12

Nathan,
You are cracking me up!!!
[rofl.gif]

#13

Forget the thread drift and hold on to this wine. While you are waiting, drink Fieuzal, Carbonnieux, Louvière and the more expensive Smith Haut Lafitte and DdC when you can. I avoid most big house blancs - Ygrec, Lynch Bages, Pape Clement, etc. There’s loads of better Semillon and Sauv Blanc out there for the money. Remember, you’ve got a full bottle of this amazing wine. If you really want to just taste it, go to a WS Grand Tasting. It will cost even less than a bottle.

Best,
Joe

Best,
Joe