TN: 1994 D’Armailhac

Grabbed a couple 94s from WineBid and honestly had no idea what to expect given the vintage and CT notes. No wine of the year and I’m not a bdx aficionado but this was a great drink that probably needs a bit more time. Really stacked both in fruit and tannin, I liked the gravelly/funk notes that supported the fruit. Touch of brett that blew off quickly upon decant. I’ll sit on my other bottle for 5 years to see if the tannin abates a bit.

I haven’t had the '94, but I am sitting on some Château d’Armailhac from before Bdx prices went stupid high. Traditional produce that you can’t go wrong in any vintage (I will probably be hung in the town square for saying this).

TW

I love D’Armailhac. On the brett - there’s been good discussion here before on whether it “blows off”, or what tasters are experiencing is something else.

I drank a bunch of this 94 off a wine list near my office when I was younger. I think it was $50 or so at the time, and a pretty good deal for a wine bar.

Had the 99 recently and it was still hanging in there too!

I agree…I’ve loved D’Armailhac in every vintage that I’ve bought, put in my cellar and forgot about for a good number of years. Even vintages that would ‘never become much’ were interesting, in the right context.

Thanks for the interesting note, Peter! I’m surprised that you don’t mention the acidity. I’m a fan of D’Armailhac, but not of their 1994. Too thin, too little fruit, far too much green vegetable notes, acidity and tannin.

BTW, for me, 1994, with its excess of acidity, is an atypical vintage for red Bordeaux and not a classic vintage. When it comes to classic red Bordeaux , it’s all about balance, elegance, finesse and delicacy –not too acidic, not too tannic, not to alcoholic, not too green, and no over-ripe, jammy fruit – but the latter is certainly not a flaw of the 1994 vintage.

I didn’t notice any green veggies or high acid in the wine, on the contrary it was very dark fruited with a complementary earth component.