What is More Consistently Good: Burg or Bordeaux?

In the last several weeks, I have experienced the highs and lows of Burgundy. A couple of wines were absolutely wonderful, one friend proclaiming a very nice premier cru wine “brilliant” and saying it entirely changed his perspective on drinking fine wine (he is a relatively new collector). Over the same time period, I have had two Grand Crus that were really disappointing. (I am purposefully excluding the exact wines to avoid the inevitable debate about vintage, producer, etc.). Let’s just say all of the wines were well reviewed by Burghound and were drank during the appropriate drinking windows.

Tonight, I had my third straight Bordeaux over the same time period that exceeded expectations. None of the three hit the highs of the best performing Burgs, but all were more than enjoyable especially for the price (between $50 to $100).

I have twice as much Burgundy as Bordeaux but am starting to regret it. It seems I am disappointed almost as much as I am happy and I’m getting tired of $100+ bottles of wine that are mediocre.

I feel like I’ve read similar posts over the years beginning on the Ebob Board, but always dismissed them as trolls. Now I’m not so sure.

let’s see specifics and reasons—cooked, corked, too young, or just not good?

Bordeaux is way more predictable and consistent. Is that a pro or a con? That’s for you to decide — I’m not implying one way or the other.

Alan, it is a fair question and honestly I did not get into specifics because that was not intended to be the point for me. None of the wines were flawed. Sure, we can argue about the validity of each of the wines, but this is an ongoing experience for me. The highs over time are some of best wines I’ve ever had, but just as often I am disappointed especially at the price point. I’ve had d’Angervilles, Lambrays and Faiveley (probably three of my favorite producers that I would drink relatively regularly) that have rocked my world and had the same wines from similar vintages and I have been sorely disappointed. I’ve tried to use Burghound and others to preview vintages and specific wines and I’m sure there are some hits and misses using that method. Butt in the end it seems more of a crapshoot than most regions. I’ve had hundreds and hundreds of these wines and while I’m not an expert by any means, I think I know what I like and dislike at this point.

Again, I have more Burgundy than any other region, but dollar for dollar I’m just been as disappointed as I am happy

I’ve heard Jasper Morris say that the fun in Burgundy is that you never know what you’re going to get once you open a bottle. I totally see his point, but when you’re spending top dollar on those bottles it really can be a drag, and makes you think twice about it.

Without trying to get too abstract or flowery here, I do think there is an element of the transcendent and ethereal that we are seeking in great bottles of Burgundy. I don’t claim to have even a fraction of the experience with either blue-chip Bordeaux or world-class Burgundy that many others here do, but the exceptional examples of aged, high-quality Bordeaux I have had I would describe more with adjectives as stately, elegant, harmonious, resolved, balanced. Whereas, with Burgundy, I would use words like achingly beautiful, transparent, delicate, exquisite, and perhaps even spiritual.

The highs are higher but the lows are lower, because there’s inevitably some small expectation of the divine spark that we hope to see more and more of as we climb the classification ladder. We’re constantly chasing that dragon, even in only to get a glimpse of it with perhaps a “mere” village-level wine, but there is always some level of disappointment when it’s absent.

Sometimes drinking Burgundy young is the safest bet. After that it’s a crapshoot. Obviously you’re missing out on the highs, but your also avoiding the lows.

Non wine drinkers would be amazed that higher prices don’t equate to more certainty of a positive experience.

is bordeaux consistently good?

Consistently corked in my experience [swearing.gif]

Yup. That’s my take on it.

I think bordeaux is simply just more “consistent” . . . not necessary “consistently good”. I suppose one can argue that if you like the particular style of any Chateau or Domaine, that producer / wine would be “consistently good” year in and year out in that person’s perspective.

Does it depend on the level of wine you are buying? I love both, but can’t afford the best burgundies. I do find more consistency in cru classe bordeaux, but find a lot of overworked wines at the grand bourgeois level where a village Santenay would be an easier more food friendly drink.

I am offering even money that this thread will exceed 1000 posts. Where’s Bill Klapp when you need him.

I take it that OP is talking about classed growth Bordeaux? and not the other 95% of the wine from the region?

Heart vs head yes, but not sure that really explains perceived consistency.
I wonder if scale of production is a factor too; also not relying on a single variety, at least on the left bank.

I assume we’re talking about reds? Don’t even get me started on white Burgundy! Sean’s take is excellent, but I’m with James Billy on this - I dropped out of Burgundy very early on because of all the uncertainty, after one bad bottle too many.

Bordeaux CCs have the advantage of higher production, which in the past meant lower prices, but also they are blends of different grapes, as Richard says.
Also, they have that wonderful invention called “wine consultants”! If nothing else, Rolland is certainly consistent.

But of course consistency can be boring and I’m quite prepared to accept that Burgundy is more idiosyncratic and interesting, if you’re prepared to take the frogs with the princes.

What do you mean?

No. Consistently great!

People who like Bordeaux better tend to find Bordeaux better and more consistent and people who like Burgundy better tend to find Burgundy better and more consistent. When we are talking about consistent Bordeaux, are we leaving out Rolland wines? Depends on the Bordeaux lover - Alfert hates the wines, Leve loves them. Is Bordeaux consistent? When you are talking about Bordeaux, are you just describing the classified wines and some St. Emilions, Pomerols and a few others or are you including the ocean of wine from lesser regions, some of which are great values and many of which are plonk.

And, at what age are we drinking the Bordeaux and Burgundy. Drink them both at 6 years old or so when many have lost their initial fruit and have not yet gained secondary characteristics and you will find that neither is very consistent.

I don’t know of any “consistently good” wine regions in the world where I can buy wines from random producers and be happy. I know that I recently had a Clos des Lambrays 2002 that I loved (and have since it was young) and not too long ago had a 2005 Clos de l’Oratoire that surprised me - I did not like the wine that much when it was young, but it has gotten pretty good with time.

If you are paying $100+ on wines from either region and find them to be inconsistent, then you probably don’t really like the wines from that region very much, you are not real good at knowing producers of that region that fit your taste preferences or you are drinking them at the wrong age. It is not really that hard to find wines from either region at that price point that are really good. The key is learning producers, and not just who is a good producer and who is a mediocre producer, but who makes wines in a style you like. Wines in Bordeaux IMHO tend to taste more similar than Burgundies, so it probably is easier to find Bordeaux that fit your palate than it is to find Burgundies that fit your palate, until you learn producers. There is one HUGE caveat to this - Rolland. Bordeaux becomes much less consistent if your palate is more like that of Alfert than is your palate is more like Leve.

It is possible that your palate is just changing and you now like Bordeaux better than Burgundy. Palate changes are a big part of wine drinking.

Maybe I should link you to some of your comments over the years on Rolland wines?

Ha. That’s not Bordeaux. That’s some modernized, international crap. [wow.gif]