My view that night was that the 2005 and 2016 were the best wines by a good bit.
I understand that Brane somewhat toes the line between traditional and modern in most vintages. Is that pretty accurate?
Out of curiosity, which chateaus would you say have dialed it back to a more old-school approach (similar in winemaking to what was made in the '80s and early '90s)?
I’d put it in traditional but “updated” winemaking. It’s polished but not as sleek as Rauzan. It does not have the rusticity I would associated with a firmly traditional house. I’m a big fan of Brane
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Can’t question tastes and the styles of the wines were very different so one’s favorites will depend on the preferred style. For me the 2009 was easily the most pleasurable of the night — I tend to go for wines that have a rich, sensual aspect without being over the top or unbalanced and the 2009 was that. But if you like a cool, crisp, elegant style then I’m not surprised if you much preferred the 2016, which excelled in that style. The 2005 just fell flat for me honestly.
My favorites of the night were the 2000, 2009, 2016, and 2020, showing a great range of styles (the 2000 was an old school well aged dark and complex Bordeaux).
The 2004 was an off vintage dark horse, very light bodied and charming.
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Our wine group is ‘doing’ the 09 Bordeaux through this year into 2025. Our first foray was the ‘super-seconds’ of the Left Bank and Graves with the First Growths later this year followed by the Right Bank in 2025. The 9 reds considered at the first dinner in the series were generally excellent with only the Leovile Poyferre and particularly the Cos stepping into the overdone category. Even they seemed to express their terroir more clearly than when first tasted over 10 years ago. The LLC, Montrose, Pichon Baron and Ducru Beaucaillou were all tremendous wines of character and flavour. We had the Palmer last year in a 2005 through to 2018 vertical and it too was a top wine expressing both the year and vineyard perfectly.
Our impressions are that so far this a great vintage albeit more 1982 or 1990 than 2000 or 2005. We are confident that this will hold up for the First Growths that we will review in September but not so sure about the Right Bank particularly St Emilion given others observations. In other news we finished our dinner with the 09 Suduiraut which was simply a honey of a wine - delicious !
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Good shout, just picked up a case of 09 Lanessan, lots of good value back vintage Bordeaux out there right now.
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Drank the '10 Ducru with skirt steaks last night. Zero sediment, pours a purplish hue, lot’s of cool and black fruits, graphite, blackberries, herbs, blueberries, cassis, a touch of alcohol, cool ocean breeze and blueberry compote on the nose. There is a lot of stuffing in here, but everything is held back so you only get a glimpse of these flavors. The balance of the acid and tannins is quite good. This seemed to be at its best when first opened. I slow-oxed for a few hours and then followed it for a few hours in the decanter. We left about a glass in the decanter and tasting it this morning the alcohol stood out more than the night before. I think this needs a lot more time, but it should be great eventually.
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I sense it happening on a broad scale- most notably in alcohol, new oak and extract levels coming back down a bit. Not always a reversion to the 80s and 90s as a whole, but just less extreme than what we started seeing in the mid 1990s as market demand took off and chateaux were seeking new paths to match the demands of a new generation of wine drinkers.
For a time I was nervous about Leoville Barton and Lynch-Bages, but I am once again buying every vintage. They never strayed too far from a good path, but for a time they were not the buy-every-year favorite they once were with me. And while I enjoy older Palmer vintages, I really like the level of detail and nuance showing even from a young age in the newer vintages. They never really went off the rails for me, but the wines are at a new level now IMHO. Cos has also improved- still not back to where I would like, but I can at least admire and appreciate the newer vintages where for a time I thought they were train wrecks. L’Evangile is another one. I adored that wine in the 80s and early 90s. The 1999 was beautiful at release but an oak-bomb within a couple of years. But lately, once again I find them reliably wonderful.
Those are just some examples of the positive trend I am seeing overall. Sometimes returning back to former glories, sometimes finding a good new path and sometimes less awful than they once were- but all IMHO as a caveat.
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I would buy VCC 2008 and 2011 and sell 2009 and 2010.
In our recent tasting the 09 was fine to drink and the 10 was still pretty backward, but neither one was a star. For me the general takeaway was that the modern VCC wines will be best in “lesser” (but not awful) vintages and too ripe in the “best” vintages. Of course if you wanted riper wines than they made in say 2005 or 1998, YMMV.
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Ditto to this, 100%. And these vintages are much cheaper!
Any thoughts on 07? Benchmark offered it in their summer sale for 166/b
Not tried that vintage. Not really a great deal tho. I recently bought more 2011 in the 170s.
I haven’t had that one but it sounds worth a try.
Kevin shin has some of the 08 for 175 btw
I feel the same way about Rhone wines. Critics particularly Dunnuck are drawn to the riper wines, when I buy Chateauneuf in particular, I look for edgy less OTT wines, and the bonus is they are cheaper.
I would agree that the VCC 2008 and 2011 (leaner vintages) are more interesting, and of course I would add 2014. But then riper vintages 2016 and 2019 were very promising. I found the two super ripe years 2010 and 2018 mediocre.
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I would add 2012 VCC to the mix too. La Conseillante also had a great 2012- their last truly classic year. Early on there was a lot of press for Trotanoy, but as I encounter them I am finding there is a lot to love in 2012 on that side of the river.
FWIW, there are no top estates making wine like they did in the 80s, and 90s today.
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Had a 2009 Pontet Canet recently that was shockingly classic. I was truly surprised when it was revealed.
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