My Article: Bordeaux Blast from the Past

(MERIGNAC, FRANCE, DEC. 19, 2010) I was thinking about how many times I have waited for a flight at the airport in Mérignac outside of Bordeaux, and I must have waited close to 500 times over the last 27 years coming to France’s premier wine region.

You think about pretty useless things when you are in the waiting area of an airport!

However, I was also thinking about the 120 or so 2008 Bordeaux tasting notes I need to publish on Monday, and how I need to edit them and write an introduction to the tasting report. How many vintages have I done this for? And how many times have I been up against a deadline?

It all started with 1982. I still remember talking notes and shooting black and white photos of the tasting and lunch I did during VinExpo in 1983 at Château Prieuré-Lichine, the fourth growth Margaux. I think I took photos of Bruno Prats, the then owner of Cos d’Estournel, and Alexis Lichine, the American owner of the Prieuré.

It was the beginning of a friendship of the great author and wine merchant. And I met many other icons in the wine business that time including the late Jean-Eugene Borie of Ducru-Beaucaillou and wine merchant Huge Lawton, and negociant Daniel Lawton and Anthony Barton of Léoville Barton.

I had a déjà vu feeling of this period of my life as a wine critic on Friday. It was a blast from past having lunch at Château Rauzan-Ségla with Jean-Paul Gardere who was the manager of Château Latour from 1964 to 1988. He was in amazing shape for 90 years old. He came to taste the 2010 from vat at the chateau, and he said that he was impressed with the wine. (I hope I can do that when I am 90!)

Check out my free video on the homepage of tasting the 2010 in the kitchen of Rauzan-Ségla.

“There are so many great wines being produced in Bordeaux now,” Gardere said. “It wasn’t like that in the old days. Only the top names could afford to make truly great wines.”

I think that 2008 is a little like that. The average quality of the vintage may not be the best in Bordeaux but many of the top names made excellent wines.