Cellar Favorite: 1939 & 1950 Cheval Blanc
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Bordeaux
, Dec 2019
There is always a frisson of excitement in coming eyeball to eyeball with a prewar bottle of Bordeaux, especially one from a vintage dismissed and written out of history.
Cellar Journal: Bordeaux 1920-2015
France: Bordeaux, featured
, Dec 2019
As the year winds down, this article gathers Bordeaux tasting notes from old to young, derided to legendary vintages, and value-for-money wines to ridiculously expensive...with a few surprises along the way.
Cellar Favorite: 1970 La Tour Haut-Brion
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Bordeaux
, Nov 2019
I admit I have a penchant for deceased châteaux, perhaps none more so than La Tour Haut-Brion since it provided such a bevy of memorable bottles. Its history is entwined with that of La Mission Haut-Brion.
The Future’s Not What It Was: Bordeaux 2018
France: Bordeaux, featured
, Nov 2019
Having tasted en primeur during Spring for over 20 years, for one time only, I assess the 2018 vintage six months later than normal in September. The big question is this: Does 2018 truly belong among the legendary Bordeaux vintages?
Cellar Favorite: 1990 Château Latour
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Bordeaux
, Nov 2019
Tasting the 1990 Latour is like running into a long-lost friend. Still dark, deep and spectacularly flamboyant, the 1990 possesses remarkable textural richness from the very first taste.
A Century - Not Out: Talbot 1919-2010
France: Bordeaux, Verticals & Retrospectives, featured
, Oct 2019
In December last year, Château Talbot celebrated a century of ownership by the Cordier family with a vertical tasting at the property. This article assesses the vintages and where they place Talbot in the Saint-Julien hierarchy as a new chapter opens.
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Remembering Jean-Bernard Delmas
France: Bordeaux, featured
, Oct 2019
Jean-Bernard Delmas, who passed away at the age of 83 on 3 October 2019, was a giant figure in Bordeaux and especially the Graves. In 1960 Delmas succeeded his father, Georges Delmas, as régisseur of Château Haut-Brion, not just a First Growth for him, but where he was born in 1935. They were large shoes to fill since his father had overseen every vintage since 1921. However, not only did Jean-Bernard Delmas debut with the regal 1961 Haut-Brion that continues to astonish to this day, but he made the audacious decision to replace the château’s old wooden fermentation vats with twelve stainless-steel vessels. Its revolutionary impact cannot be overstated.
The Cat’s Whiskers: Bordeaux 1961
France: Bordeaux, featured
, Oct 2019
The 1961 vintage continues to elicit tingles down the spine of Bordeaux-lovers. Almost sixty years later, how are they holding up and do they still deserve our reverence? What factors determined their quality? And who is Chairman Miaow?
The Other Side of Bordeaux
France: Bordeaux, featured
, Sep 2019
This article moves the Bordeaux spotlight to its more unfamiliar and esoteric producers, towards wines that are reminders that it can offer tremendous value-for-money.
Cellar Favorite: 1947 Carbonnieux Blanc
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Bordeaux
, Sep 2019
Mature white Bordeaux is rarely discussed and, to be honest, rarely tasted. In my own experience, lunches or dinners commencing with a venerable Bordeaux Blanc are as regular as Halley’s comet. That’s a pity, because whenever they do form the opening act, they offer pertinent reminders of their quality.