People often remark that Jadot made great wines in ‘97. And that Truchot made great ‘04s. Beyond Burgundy, ‘08 Rayas way out-performs its vintage; so does ‘02 Monfortino; and so does ‘11 Ridge Monte Bello.
What are some other examples?
Although I have not had it, and therefore cannot verify the claim, people speak highly of Chave Hermitage 2003. It could therefore make the list of great wines in absolutely stunningly awful vintages.
1 Like
Jadot 1997
Truchot 2003
I also thought about Ridge Monte Bello 2011
Timely post as I’m looking at some 87 Produttori right now…would love thoughts
1994 Chateau Pontet Canet
1 Like
I’ve also always heard that Roumier way outperformed in ‘95, but at least as far as I can recall, I haven’t had any of the wines.
‘10 Vilmart Coeur de Cuvée is pretty phenomenal for a reputedly weak vintage, but I haven’t had enough other ‘10 Champagnes to compare.
1 Like
For my tastes (much more on the classic end of the spectrum) I believe many ‘94 Bordeaux have turned out great, given the reputation of the vintage. I have great experiences with the 94 Pontet Canet as well (actually bought a case of magnums late last year at auction after drinking almost all of my original stash) and the 94 Leoville Barton might be even better. 94 Latour has been awesome as well, but for the price it had better be!
1 Like
1998 Araujo!!!
95 Roumier wines are better than 96.
1980 Ponsot CdlR was great.
1997 Faiveley wines were great.
Probably hundreds of examples of wines rising above vintage and appellation.
IMO that wine is horrific, the poster child of a too hot year. But Chave indeed excels in poor years on the lean side, for example 1987, 1992, and 2002. Those wines don’t stand out young but they age beautifully.
1 Like
'99 Palmer
I like 1994 Bordeaux though I don’t think they will appeal to everyone. As you say, it’s for those who like classic Bordeaux (if you like 95, 88, 81, and 75 you may well like 94 as well, though it’s not quite like any of them). Some of the prices on WS are a bit scary, though. Of the wines I own, the best (and probably most friendly to many people) are Angelus and Haut Brion. Both are excellent but I couldn’t recommend them at current WS low.
2002 Chave Hermitage is really good
2010 Pierre Peters Chetillons is delicious but I don’t know that 2010 is a consensus “bad” vintage, unlike say 2011
Craig, I thought (and feared) that might be the case - i.e. I would “enjoy” the wine about as much as you and about as much as all of the other '03 Hermitage I’ve tried. Oh well.
For my second nomination: Sauzet Puligny Montrachet Combettes 2006, maybe I’ve just been lucky, but outstanding wine compared to my other '06 experiences. Better than the Batard.
I would 2nd 1999 Palmer, except I’m unsure the vintage qualifies as mediocre.
1994 Haut-Brion. Smashing stuff.
‘93 Lafleur
1 Like
Excellent producers produce excellent product regardless of the vintage. If you’re buying to drink instead of collect or speculate, the lower tier vintages are sometimes tastier and more accessible than the great vintages, and are certainly less expensive on the secondary market.
Mouton 1994
Mouton 1987 (they apparently put some 1986 in it, as it was the year Philippe died)
Margaux appellation 1979. Pomerol did pretty well too.
Giscours 1980
Pomerols in 1975. They seemed to miss out on the hard tannins of the vintage.
Palmer 1999
Trotanoy 1974
Faiveley Combes aux Moines 1981
I am afraid so. I have had it twice, and hard to get past the prunes.
Is 1979 a mediocre vintage? It was the first vintage I bought when I got to DC out of law school and, while it is not a great vintage, I have had a bunch of really good ones including Palmer, Lafleur, and Pichon Lalande. I think of it as a very good vintage, probably the second or third best of the 1970s (certainly behind 1970 and around the same as 1978), not a mediocre one.
Mark, I know you drink a lot more Bordeaux than I do, and I am sure you have a lot more experience with 1979s than I do (mine were drunk some time ago) and I recognize we are now talking about an era with a bunch of underperforming estates, and so I am curious about your thoughts on the vintage.
1 Like