MENTIONED IN THIS POST: -Pichon Lalande 1982 -Angelus -Latour When I asked my uncle to name his all-time favorite bottle of Bordeaux, his answer surprised me. “It’s 1982 Pichon Lalande, by far,” he said. Although he had uncorked other greats like Angelus and Latour, he loved the 1982 Pichon Lalande most of all. This vintage…
MENTIONED IN THIS POST: -Ausone -Angelus -Cheval Blanc Close to one year after Burgundy’s devastating 2016 frost, Bordeaux went through an equally destructive cold snap that damaged up to 90 percent of the vines on some estates. On April 27, 2017, winemakers in most regions of Bordeaux awakened to temperatures as low as 24.8°F, cold…
MENTIONED IN THIS POST: -Lafite -Latour -Haut-Brion -Margaux -Mouton Rothschild -Leoville Las Cases -Cos d’Estournel -Pontet Canet -Pichon Lalande -Lynch Bages It’s the time of year when the entire wine world is focused on one thing – Bordeaux futures. After several years of decreased demand in the U.S., the 2015 vintage ignited new interest with…
MENTIONED IN THIS POST: –Montrose 2009 –Montrose 2010 When I originally looked into some of the latest releases from Montrose, I assumed that the 2009 was more collectible than the 2010. After all, the 2009 costs about $100 more per bottle than the 2010. But after digging through numerous tasting notes and looking at the…
The problem with legendary vintages that are more than 90 years old is not whether they’re worth investing in–they undoubtedly are–it’s that finding an authentic bottle becomes more and more difficult every year. A wine like 1928 Mouton-Rothschild combines rarity, old age, and quality, and it’s these factors that make it one of the greatest…
MENTIONED IN THIS POST: Chateau Petrus Chateau Lafleur Chateau l’Eglise Clinet The words on nearly every collector’s lips this year are “2016 Bordeaux.” I haven’t seen collectors get this excited over a new Bordeaux vintage since the iconic 2009. During the past five years, many of my closest wine loving friends have complained that Bordeaux…
The last time I was in France, I found some surprisingly delicious 2012 Bordeaux in a wine shop on the outskirts of Paris. This was surprising because I’ve listened to collectors and wine critics alike complain about the subpar quality of 2012 Bordeaux, especially the sweet white wines. Uneven flowering followed by mildew made the…
Deciding on a vintage’s quality before all of the grapes have been plucked from the vines can be a gamble. Years ago, when I first heard reports about Bordeaux’s 2012 grapes, I was ready to write the vintage off entirely; cold, wet spring weather resulted in uneven flowering, and by July, a massive heat wave…
Growing up in a wine-loving family, I learned that patience makes great wines. My great uncle had an apartment in New York that was covered wall-to-wall in empty bottles of Bordeaux Grand Cru, but he was the most proud of his dust-covered collection of 40-year-old wines that he had yet to drink. I own one…
Ex-chateau Bordeaux is in the midst of a historical identity crisis. For centuries now, Bordeaux has been lauded as one of the finest wine regions in the world, but fraud and a market bubble have forced its winemakers to make a drastic move: forgoing en primeur sales in favor of ex-chateau. More estates than ever…
It all started with a rainstorm. My buddy, a local sommelier, had just finished up work for the night at a restaurant and was in the process of closing everything down. Neither of us felt like braving the rainy weather yet, and we’d both worked up a thirst, so we pulled out a bottle of…
Over the past decade, Bordeaux has seen some of the most extreme ups and downs in the history of wine. Coming off a high note in 2000, when wines received excellent scores and were the most expensive in Bordeaux’s history, critics had high hopes for Bordeaux in the new millennium. However, their hopes were dashed…