There’s a very nice 1985 vs 1986 Bordeaux tasting in Fort Lauderdale on 2/17. After reading these notes I may have to purchase a seat.
Funny… I too had to rag those stems when I first saw those pics
Neanderthal stems for 1980s wines, like a historically-informed performance on vintage instruments. 
The thing is, I’m not saying that because of what’s on paper. It’s based on what’s in the glass.
Another point I’d like to make is not only how much better the wines are in the 10s, but the number of great wines being produced now, vs the 80s, and the performance of every appellation.
In the 80s in the Left Bank, only Pauillac and St. Julien were truly killing it. Today, St. Estephe, Margaux and Pessac Leognan are all on fire.
Haut Medoc in the 80s was a wasteland. Yes, you had a few nice wines. But today, there could be 100 estates making wines worth buying for $20 or less.
The same thing can be said about Pomerol and St. Emilion. Of course there were some incredible Right Bank wines in the 80s. But the number of strong Right Bank wines today is staggering!
More importantly, look at the smaller, petit appellations. In the Cotes Bordeaux you have at least 100 wines worth buying today. How many wines came from those appellations in the 80s did folks buy? A handful ? Or less?
I do not expect you, or Mark G (and a few of the others thinking yesterday was better,) to agree with anything I’ve said. But that’s how I see it on a rainy, Sunday morning. And on the other 6 days a week too. Though, I had a beautiful 82 Gruaud Larose last night!
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One way I think of 82-90 vs Now is back in the 80’s there were chateau to avoid due to issues with quality (dirty cellars, indifferent selection, overcropping, etc) but you could almost entirely buy the ‘style’ worry-free (but with some notable and fun commune-specific signatures). There were also wet, cool, weedy, thin vintages to generally avoid in this era.
In modern times (starting full-bore in 2005?), I feel like the situation is exactly reversed. It’s hard to find chateau not investing and trying and warmer weather has given the Bordelais a wealth of ripe material to work with, but (for my mileage) many lost the plot and made wines which stylistically share little resemblance to the wines made before the mid-to-late 90’s. There are also now hot, droughty, boozy, flabby vintages to generally avoid in this era.
So now we have to be careful to buy only chateau making wines in a style we like, which for a long while (annoyingly) was an ever-shrinking number (the tide seems to have turned on that front of late).
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Your preferred decade of wine could indeed be better but are they as distinctive. I do not think so, and it is pretty apparent that neither do or other Bordeaux aficionado friends, Pat and Marc. As I have noted, I have bought a lot of wines from some of these vintages that you love, and fully expect them to be beautiful at maturity, but I do not think they will drink like the wines that many of us grew up loving from the 1980s vintages. Will we ever see again another 1986 Gruaud Larose, for example?
Surprise! We do not agree again 
This board is where the majority of people preferring those tastes and textures live. Honest, you know I like all you guys because even though we do not like the same wines, we all like wine.
But there are reasons those old-school wines are no longer made. And don’t blame Parker. He retired over a decade ago.
As for today’s wines not being distinctive, sorry but that’s nonsense. In every appellation one wine is different from its peers.
FWIW, your thoughts are not new. The same laments have been going on forever. Post Phylloxera, the cellar master of Margaux wrote Bordeaux lost its soul.
1959 was said to be too ripe by folks that loved previous vintages. 82 was considered too ripe and early drinking. On the Parker Board, 2000 was the ruination of all things Bordeaux.
No, we are not going to have another 86. IMO, with its hard, rustic tannins, high yields, pyrazines, etc, that’s a good thing. And yes, I like 86 GL, a recently tasted 86 Lafite was beautiful, and a scant few other wines, but 3-4 wines does not make a vintage.
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I think Pat and I said pretty much the same thing. They are not the same wines; the vineyards may be the same, but climate and winemaking have changed. Even the definition of ripeness is not the same.
And of course the palates of the critics who score the wine are also different. Not much overlap there.
Please cite sources, Jeff. The only person to my knowledge who did not like 1982 was Robert Finnigan. And the English critics loved the 1982s, just didn’t take credit for discovering them.
As for 1959, I can’t think of any negative references to them. In fact Coates, Broadbent, Peppercorn and Penning-Rowsell had very positive views of the vintage.
What decade from last century do you think was best then?
For current drinking I can’t think of a better decade than 80’s
Thanks Robert. Great notes. I agree about the 80’s
Where’s the Zaltos?
And Jeff, 1986 produced many excellent wines, not just 3-4. And some great QPRs, like Meyney. I bet you discount 1983 even more, and it’s a sneaky good vintage!
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Some of us have been defending the 83 vintage in Bordeaux for what seems like ages now. I know in past debates I put together off the top of my head a list of 30+ chateau I thought made terrific or better wines in ‘83 (and generally far better than anything I’ve yet had from this century), and Jeff was of the opinion that most of these wines were never very good and most were well past their primes.
The 83s are very mature at this point, no doubt, but well stored bottles of those top 30 or so wines still weave their magic at my table at least.
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Sources. Easy. In my formative years, the older generation that bought 59s, and 61s on release, even importers from those days told me so.
I know some Europeans that also felt that way. The folks you’re citing were they writing at the time? In the early days, on and after release, that’s what I was told several retailers, importers were saying.
I am aware that Parker was not alone on 82s. But Finnnigan was not alone either.
I find that most 86s are hard, charmless wines. 83 has very few winners IMO. A handful of wines does not make a vintage.
Meh.
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First of all, make sure you’re aware that I love several wines from the 80s. None of my comments should be construed as not liking the decade. It was about the best decade of all time.
That being said, in response to your 2 questions…
Better decade last century is the 50s, 50, 53, 55 and 59. Even 52 had a few successes.
40s, 45, 47, 48 and 49.
As for the best decade in the last century to drink today, 90s, 90, 96 and 98 or the 80s with 82, 85 and 89 are the best, with, great and sublime wines.
Jeff, I definitely agree with you on 1996, a fantastic vintage in my opinion. I am also a fanatic of 1998 Pomerol, that is potentially one of the greatest vintages of any appellation in my lifetime.
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Other than Terry Robards who wrote in the Spectator not to overlook the 1981s with the excitement of the 1982s, I cannot remember a single person who said anything negative about the 1982s, and nobody actually agreed with Finnigan. Again Jeff, please cite sources.
As for 1959 and especially1961, again could you please cite contemporary sources rather than anecdotal evidence.
I know Broadbent was taking notes and his books talk about consistent notes., which assumes that later notes are consistent with early ones. Penning-Roswell first wrote about wine for Country Life in1954, and his later writings are ecstatic about both vintages. (I am curious as he also wrote for Marxism Today, what he said about the first growths and the impoverished masses). The other two, Coates and Peppercorn seem to have started writing well after the two vintages.
Again Jeff, if your point is that contemporaries did not consider some of the best post war vintages to be good, I would like to see sources.
Read my post. Those are real sources. In the pre Internet days, talking, listening to folks that were there is what mattered.
I’m sorry that’s not enough for you. Since when is relying on critics important to you ?