Red Bordeaux Flashcards
Bordeaux
Excellent Vintages: 1960s
1961, ‘62, ‘66
•1964 - Disaster for the Left Bank, but the Right Bank produce wines that are still showing well
Bordeaux
Excellent Vintages: 1970s
1970, ‘71, ‘78
Bordeaux
Disaster Vintages: 1980s
1980, ‘84, ‘87
Bordeaux
Excellent Vintages: 1980s
1982/83, ‘85/86, ‘89/90
Bordeaux
Disaster Vintages: 1990s
1991-94
Bordeaux
Excellent Vintages: 1990s
1990, ‘95, ‘96, ‘97, ‘98
•1996 - Avoid Right Bank
•1998 - Left Bank was variable
Bordeaux
Disaster Vintages: 2000s
Modern wine-making coupled with draconian selection has mitigated vintages to the point that there are no more “disaster vintages.”
•Worst vintages:
2002 - Pronounced underripeness
2004 - Classicly-styled; have become charming early
2007 - Extremely difficult vintage that produced overpriced, early drinking wines
1980 Bordeaux Vintage
Disaster Vintage
1981 Bordeaux Vintage
Decent Vintage (Over the Hill)
- Easy drinking wines on release, not worth cellaring
- Heavy rain at harvest caused wines without stuffing
1982 Bordeaux Vintage
Both Banks - Parker’s Vintage of the Century
1983 Bordeaux Vintage
Both Banks - Excellent Vintage
•Very warm, drought conditions
•Heat and rain in August forced growers to spray
•Warm, dry Sept. and Oct.
*Yields were too high, leaving many of the wines with less stuffing than their ‘82 counterparts
1984 Bordeaux Vintage
Poor vintage
1985 Bordeaux Vintage
Both Banks - Excellent Vintage
Uniformly fragrant and elegant wines, some lower quality wines are beginning to lose their fruit.
1986 Bordeaux Vintage
Both Banks - Excellent Vintage
They started out dense, brooding and viciously tannic. They have required enormous patience, but some are quite impressive.
1987 Bordeaux Vintage
Poor Vintage
Early maturing, many are showing very green notes.
1988 Bordeaux Vintage
Right Bank - Excellent Vintage
•Left Bank - ‘Classic’ style (firm and initially austere), overshadowed by 1989 and 1990
1989 Bordeaux Vintage
Both Banks - Excellent vintage
Haut Brion was the top wine, many First Growths were not the top wines–they were ripe, rich and silky
•Better in Pomerol than St. Emilion
1990 Bordeaux Vintage
Both Bank - Excellent Vintage
•More consistency for 1990 than 1989.
1991 Bordeaux Vintage
Disaster Vintage
The worst spring frost since 1945 and wet throughout September and October. Some producers did not even producer a Grand Vin.
1992 Bordeaux Vintage
Disaster Vintage
•300% more rain in August than usual, cold September and torrential rain during October harvest.
1993 Bordeaux Vintage
Disaster Vintage
•Very wet harvest.
1994 Bordeaux Vintage
Poor Vintage
Warm summer, but rainy September. Most of the wines are firm and austere, now showing a marked green character.
1995 Bordeaux Vintage
Both Banks - Classic Vintage
•Pauillac was most successful on the Left Bank
1996 Bordeaux Vintage
Left Bank - Very Good Vintage
•Robust Tannins
1997 Bordeaux Vintage
Poor vintage
Early maturing and over priced. Another vintage of moderate to poor quality ending in 7: ‘57, ‘67, ‘77, ‘87, ‘97, ‘07
1998 Bordeaux Vintage
Right Bank - Excellent Vintage
•Rain during Médoc harvest
*Pessac-Léognan was very successful from top to bottom.
1999 Bordeaux Vintage
Poor vintage - Early maturing
Hurricane vintage - it hit Dec. 27th, 1998.
•Hail on the 5th of September–St-Emilion took the brunt of it–followed by a month of rain.
*First vintage with modern technology. The wines were far better than they would have been otherwise.
2000 Bordeaux Vintage
Both Banks - Legendary Vintage
•Opulent character, freshness and purity
*Drought-like conditions = very high levels of tannins
2001 Bordeaux Vintage
Right Bank - Legendary vintage
Left Bank - Excellent vintage, originally poo-poo’d but resulted in elegant, classic wines
•Wet September
*The wines are more elegant than the 2000s
2002 Bordeaux Vintage
Left Bank - Classic Vintage
•Poor crop set
•Merlot did not ripen well
2003 Bordeaux Vintage
Heatwave - ripe fruit character and ripe tannins
•Avoid Pomerol and Graves
2004 Bordeaux Vintage
Both Banks - Decent ‘Classic’ wines, affordable pricetags
•Large, late crop
2005 Bordeaux Vintage
Both Banks - Legendary Vintage
•Tannic, but round
2006 Bordeaux Vintage
Pauillac and Pomerol - Excellent wines
•Warm, dry growing season until non-stop rain in September
•Tannic, broad wines
2007 Bordeaux Vintage
Poor vintage - Mildew
•Over priced, early maturing
2008 Bordeaux Vintage
Right Bank - Excellent Vintage; similar to ‘01
Left Bank - Very good
- Temperatures were below average, but grapes had an extremely long hang time; 135-160 days (compare to 100 days normally)
- Low yields
- Last reasonably priced vintage
2009 Bordeaux Vintage
Both Banks - Legendary Vintage
•Was vintage of the century until 2010, the wines from 2009 are riper, sexier and lusher than their 2010 counterparts.
2010 Bordeaux Vintage
Both Banks - Vintage of the Century
•More freshness than 2009 but comparable intensity
•Tannic, powerful, structured and rich wines
2011 Bordeaux Vintage
Right Bank (Pomerol) - Classic vintage
•Feb to June - drought conditions and heat spikes
•July - Coldest month in over 3 decades
•Sept 10th - Major Storm hit the Northern Médoc
2012 Bordeaux Vintage
Right Bank - Classic Vintage
•Very late harvest, brought on by late flowering, ended up with torrential rain over all of Bordeaux in Octobter.
•Draconian selection allowed Left Bank producers to make good wines, but lacked the depth of great vintages
2013 Bordeaux Vintage
Poor vintage - St Julien and Pomerol were the top appellations
•Red fruited, light wines
2014 Bordeaux Vintage
Both Banks - Excellent Vintage
•Draconian Selection and modern winemaking saved this vintage
- Cool and damp July and August
- Saved by dry, warm September and October
•High-acid, red fruited wines
2015 Bordeaux Vintage
Optimists are calling it the best vintage since 2010, with early reports favoring the right bank