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Past Becomes Now: Lafite-Rothschild 1874-1982
France: Bordeaux, Verticals & Retrospectives, featured
, Apr 2024
Lafite-Rothschild can age for decades, but it can be a difficult wine to understand. This vertical stretches back to the 19th century and features some riveting examples of the First Growth and vintages that were reminders of how precarious it can be opening ancient Claret.
Cellar Favorite: 1993 Domaine de Chevalier
France: Bordeaux, Cellar Favorites, cellar favorite
, Apr 2024
Last October, I was in Bordeaux during the autumn Porte Ouverte days, when locals can tour châteaux and attend evening dinners, many of which are inexpensive to take part in. I was tasting the 2021s on the same day as Domaine de Chevalier’s soirées, and proprietor Olivier Bernard invited me, along with around 200 other guests. With so many people, you need a large bottle!
Cellar Favorite: 1990 Latour à Pomerol
France: Bordeaux, Cellar Favorites, cellar favorite
, Apr 2024
The 1990 Latour à Pomerol epitomizes everything one could wish for in a mature Pomerol, but without paying a king’s ransom. Despite the highly regarded growing season, I approach this with modest expectations because these were not halcyon days for the estate.
An Exploration of Time: Gruaud Larose 1831-2018
France: Bordeaux, Verticals & Retrospectives, featured
, Mar 2024
Do you want one of the most comprehensive reports on Gruaud Larose ever written? Do you want to know its history and first-hand information from proprietor Jean Merlaut? Do you want 70 tasting notes stretching back in time to 1831? You’ve come to the right place.
Test of Endurance: Bordeaux 2014 Ten Years On
France: Bordeaux, Verticals & Retrospectives, featured
, Mar 2024
The Bordeaux 2014 vintage has reached ten years of age, an ideal opportunity to look back, both in blind and sighted tastings, and see how the wines are evolving. As usual, there were plenty of surprises, not always positive, however.
Cellar Favorite: 1948 Coufran
France: Bordeaux, Cellar Favorites, cellar favorite
, Mar 2024
I do not wish to sound like a broken record, but allow me to reiterate the most sage advice I will ever dispense on old bottles of wine. Provenance is key. Perhaps even more than producer or vineyard, how that bottle has lived its life determines how it will show once released from incarceration.
2021 Bordeaux: L’Enfant Terrible
France: Bordeaux, featured
, Feb 2024
After three highly successful vintages, Bordeaux owners and winemakers were presented with a highly challenging growing season in 2021. En primeur tastings presaged a vintage with a high degree of variability. Extensive tastings from bottle confirm that initial first impression. Within that context, though, readers will find a wide range of compelling wines that merit attention.
Cellar Favorite: 1973 La Fleur-Pétrus
France: Bordeaux, Cellar Favorites, cellar favorite
, Feb 2024
The latest in the series of “Don’t dismiss a poor vintage ‘til you’ve tasted it first” is a bottle of 1973 La Fleur-Pétrus that was poured blind at the excellent Lorne restaurant in London in January. Several years earlier, at the inaugural “Grouse Club”, Lord Bruce had left us dumbfounded by a 1973 La Fleur-Pétrus from his legendary cellar. This bottle left us equally lost for words.
2+2=5: Bordeaux 2021 In Bottle
France: Bordeaux, featured
, Feb 2024
Bordeaux winemakers endured a tumultuous season in 2021. It is easy to say that the wines are inferior as a result. But years of experience have taught me that is not necessarily true. Wine can defy logic, as if two plus two equals five. Keep an open mind, and you’ll find pleasant surprises.
Cellar Favorite: Château Latour: 2024 New Releases
France: Bordeaux, Cellar Favorites, cellar favorite
, Feb 2024
For more than a decade now, Château Latour has released their wines in bottle only after several years, when the team feels they are ready to start drinking. This year’s releases provide an opportunity to revisit wines from three very different vintages, each with something to offer. I tasted the wines with Technical Director Hélène Genin during a visit to the château in December 2023.