On my path of learning about wine, I haven’t had the opportunity to drink very much Bordeaux or follow its evolution, and I’d like to remedy that. I can always buy aged bottles to get an idea of what aged Bordeaux is like, but I’d have no way of knowing what it tasted like 10, 15, 20, etc. years ago, and that’s more what I’d like to learn about. I’d like to, for the next few years, strategically put together a case or two of Bordeaux to “check in on” every 5-7 or so years. My plan is to buy 4 identical bottles of 3 or 6 producers in the $35-90/bottle range each time that I can stagger consumption of and keep consistent notes about. I know “great” BDX frequently costs an order of magnitude or two above that price, but I don’t think I should sink that kind of money unless I first figure out if I even care about Bordeaux. I’d love any input as to some of the better producers in this price range that maybe punch above their “growth” in people’s experience. I probably won’t plan on getting the same producers every time for some diversity, so feel free to rattle off as many as you like.
Thanks!
Wow, I’m surprised this hasn’t had more immediate traction, really…fascinating concept, too. I look forward to hearing about it once you get going.
I’d suggest the following:
Rauzan-Ségla
Calon-Ségur
d’Armailhac
La Lagune
Giscours
All of those should be in your price range, no matter how ‘vintage of the century’ the vintage is, and all deliver pretty consistently, in my opinion. You’ve got St. Estèphe, Pauillac, and Margaux represented, so it’s a bit of a mix.
Awesome, thanks Todd!
I’m serious, Bryan, this is a fantastic idea! I’m guessing our Bordeaux-fanboys here haven’t yet seen the thread, and actually, I thought it was a ‘for sale’ post, so I didn’t originally open the thread. You might want to amend the title a bit, ask a question
Why don’t you do it with the don’t really wait approach. Buy a vertical. Not sure how much you want to spend, and looking at the web site of a local store here in DC, I see:
Branaire Ducru - 1995 and 2005
Cos D’Estournal - 1985, 1989, 1996, 2001, 2008, 2012
Domaine de Chevalier, Ducru Beaucaillou, Grand Puy Lacoste, Leoville Barton, Montrose, Vieux Chateau Certan - multiple vintages, we you get the idea.
Doing it your way, make sure to try wines from a variety of villages. Say
St. Estephe - Meyney or Sociando Mallet (actually north of St. Estephe but close enough.
Pauillac - Higher - Grand Puy Lacoste; cheaper - Haut Batailley
St. Julien - Higher - Gruaud Larose or Leoville Barton or Lagrange; cheaper - Gloria
Margaux - Higher - Brane Cantenac, Rausan Segla; a little cheaper - la Lagune or Cantemerle (again not really in Margaux, but close enough) or Tertre
Graves - Higher - Domaine de Chevalier; cheaper - not sure
St. Emilion - try Canon
Pomerol - maybe la Consellante
Oh that’s a good tip, changed the title to more accurately reflect the contents.
I love learning about wine, and going forward I’d like to be a little more intentional about what I buy. As it stands, besides the wineries whose lists I’m on/clubs I belong to, most of my purchases have been fairly opportunistic: I see something in the store that looks interesting, or I go to a winery and taste something I like, or I see a deal and pick something new up. Bordeaux is tricky because it is quite a deep category, there is wild quality variation among price points, it can be quite expensive, and needs longer in the bottle than a lot of other regions, so randomly buying a bottle here and a bottle there doesn’t seem like it would be worthwhile from a learning standpoint.
I thought about the vertical aspect as well, and that’s a good suggestion. 
I disagree, Howard, as he won’t know the various storage history of each of those. Sure, they COULD be all one location for their entire shelf life, but very, very doubtful. He can buy and age these under the same conditions. Yes, it will take a while, but I think it will be valuable.
He is putting together a case or two of wine. Why not do some of both.
I would hate to wait 10 years to have any idea whether he likes Bordeaux. Bordeaux takes an enormous amount of time to mature. I am now 61 and I am drinking wines I bought in my 20s and 30s. Also, right now the 2014s and 2015s (esp. the 2014s) have come out at fairly attractive prices much more so than 2009 and 2010. I am getting him a way to buy sooner.
Yeah I was thinking of buying a case or two per year for a couple three years to get a decent cross-section, I think the idea of buying a vertical is good as a sort of “is this even a good idea?” barometer and will probably do that too I am only 34 and sort of new at this, consequently the number of wines older than 15 years that I’ve had is not very high.
My favorites in your price range are:
Sociando Mallett
Leoville Barton
Cantemerle
Age-worthy classics
I like Howard’s recommendation too. Easy to find the following vintages of Sociando in that $40-$75 range, and all are solid and distinct: 2000, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010 and the pre-release and future, 2014 and 2015. Excellent range right there. I’ve also recently had killer bottles from 89, 90 and 95. A ridiculously consistent producer.
Maybe try two or three combos of a 2009 or 2010 (or 2011 or 2012) with an older wine from the same winery. See if you like the wines, focusing on the older wines. But, also, try to get a handle on whether you can see anything in the young wines that carry through to the older wines so that you can taste young wines in the future and have some idea of when you will like them when mature. I will tell you with Bordeaux for me this is never easy and has become much harder. Young Bordeaux has so much oak these days that it is really hard to get underneath this and see what the wines will eventually taste like. The only way I really know to do this is track record.
Some older vintages that you may be able to find that I like are 1996, 2001, 2004 and 2005 - I mean if you can go back into the 1980s, great, but that won’t be easy. Avoid 2007 and probably 2013.
Once a long time ago I was able to find a 1978, 1982 and 1986 Potensac (the 1986 then was pretty young) and that was a great cross-section.
Both Sociando and Leoville Barton are excellent wines, as Robert says, but I would only do one of these. They are both pretty structured wines. Right up Robert’s style, but you don’t know your style yet. Maybe get the Sociando and Cantemerle (or la Lagune) and substitute say a Grand Puy Lacoste or a Lagrange for the Leoville.
I also recently had a very nice 2006 Domaine du Jaugaret. http://madrose.com/bordeaux/medoc/domaine-du-jaugaret/ Seemed pretty mature.
You gotta have Leoville Barton and Leoville Poyferre. Those are some great classic bordeaux that will age gracefully (ie. 1996, 2000.) Buy some “off vintages” as those are cheaper and should provide a good example of how the Chateaux do in those vintages.
You can buy some recent vintages and some older ones. Keep tasting and find out what you like. Lots of the producers written above are good to try. Good luck!
As I said, buy a variety of styles and learn what you like.
See Complete All About Bordeaux Guide to the Best Bordeaux Wines
I like a lot of the suggestions already made. Personally I would choose:
Prieuré Lichine (Margaux)
Grand Puy Lacoste (Pauillac)
Haut Bailly (Pessac Leognan/Graves red)
Carbonnieux (Pessac white)
Canon (St. Emilion)
Either Monbousquet or Larcis Ducasse (or Troplong Mondot if room in the budget) for a more modern-styled St. Em, or Beauregard if you want to try a Pomerol
I tried to pick a mix of styles in addition to a mix of communes to give you a sense of the breadth of Bordeaux. Some cheaper and some more expensive but they should average out to about your budget.
Unfortunately there are now 24 suggestions - makes it tough
I agree. My post could have been clearer, these were options. Until you know your style, experiment with the range: left bank and right bank, classic versus modern. Now that said, I could still justify Sociando and one of those other two, Barton or Cantemerle, as Sociando is so distinct and showcases every vintage so differently. If I could only pick one, I’d pick Sociando over Barton, even though I think Barton is a superior wine. I just love the distinctiveness of Sociando.
I totally disagree. Barton is classic, Poyferre is dead-on modern. Rolland is the consultant. It’s turned Napa on us. Moreover, Poyferre really does not showcase vintages that distinctly since they have transitioned to such a universal style. My recent bottles of 2000, 03 and 04 were totally boring. I am done buying this Chateau. Hard to make a finer recommendation, however, than Leoville Barton. An archetype Bordeaux.
I agree with Howard’s post and producer suggestions. Also, you can find some solid wines in the $20-$30 range. There are quite a few threads on these if you use the search function on the site.