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Bordeaux debate of the day... - Printable Version

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- AlpineOeno - 08-20-2005

So, as I continue to develop my cellar, I find an interesting dilemma that faces Bordeaux buyers of today. The premise is that you are looking for the best quality for the price and name recognition is secondary. Restricting ourselves to the world of Bordeaux for the moment, does one buy '01s and '02s from the traditionally known classified producers, or for the same price, do you continue to collect lesser designated producers form the 2000 vintage? I have tasted over 300 of the 2000s, and can attest to their greatness (especially the lesser designated wines). However, I lack the longevity "in the game" to know, at least firsthand, which of the two options will put the biggest smile on my face in 10-20. I have the opinions form some of the leading Bordeaux gurus of the last 40 years, but I've learned that one man's opinion is just that. So, lets collect many...


- dananne - 08-20-2005

I don't buy (or drink) much Bordeaux, but my purchases over the past year have mostly involved '01s, which I find to have good value compared to the '00s. '00 prices, at least here in Atlanta, are commonly outrageous because of the hype of the vintage. Haven't been buying the '02s, yet, as I haven't seen anything at a price that has had me excited.


- hotwine - 08-20-2005

Do a search on my username in this thread and you'll see the ones I've tried from '00, '01 and '02. I've not tried enough of any of them to generalize; each vintage has had its winners with me. As to which will keep the longest in cellar? We won't really know until we try them a decade or so from vintage; and sampling at a rate of one bottle every six months means I'll likely be finishing off a case more or less as it reaches its peak (although some are bound to mature earlier and some later).

I'm no longer buying '00s, but snag the '01s and '02s from St Julien, St Emilion and Paulliac when available at attractive prices.


- AlpineOeno - 08-20-2005

Hmmm....i've been leaning the other way. With my recent tastings, i have found that many of the wines from 2000 with a mere Bordeaux Superieur classification have been showing more long term potential than the classified chateaux of 01 or 02.


- hotwine - 08-20-2005

I favor the bigger names (Talbot, Lagrange, et al) over the cats & dogs. The woofers are too inconsistent. That's not to say you can't find a gem among them.... you certainly can. But for consistency and dependability, I favor the bigger producers.

For example: when buying a wine that's new to me, I'll buy three bottles, and try at least two of them before deciding to buy more, to allow for bottle variation, travel shock, or whatever. And that may mean waiting a few days for the right menu to be presented by CINC House. If the decision is made to buy a case, it will then be at least a week after the initial purchase, and if the wine is indeed a winner, that may be long enough for local stocks to be exhausted... so I could already be too late to find more.

With Lagrange et al, that's not a problem... if it appears at a good price, buy a case without dilly-dallying around about it. And if it's indeed a real winner, buy a second case, and may a third.

Odds are pretty good that I wouldn't do that with a woofer.


- TheEngineer - 08-20-2005

Actually, I had the same issue as you moving through the last two years. Current, I have enough 2000's to last me a while but since they are not ready, I'm doing the following

(1) buying some 95 and 96's that are still on the market
(2) buying and drinking lesser 2000's
(3) buying 01 and 02 when they are cheap enough to be daily drinks
(4) buying nicer 2000's when I see them and they are of "reasonable" price
(5) waiting for my 03 futures but not buying.

I also am a newbie at this long term storage thing so I do not know which one of the 00, 01 or 02 will last longer but based on trying, reading and asking, I fixated on the 2000's. Not sure about the 2003's yet but then again, not tried any.....that's why I read this forum!!! [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]


- winoweenie - 08-21-2005

See my posting below. IMHO the 00s', if found at comparable prices, even the lesser growths, offer some extravagant wines. Some of the lesser wines to look for that I've tried and bought are Barrabaque, Labat, Les Trois Croix, Malacasse, d'Agassac, Reignac, Frombage, and Bernadotte. I scored all of the above in the superior class FWIW. WW