Tasting Classic Bordeaux: A Walk Back in Time

Looking at the classic aged Bordeaux that framed James’ career as a wine critic isn’t something we get to do every day in Hong Kong; so it was a unique moment for James and our four tasters/editors to sit down together this week and taste and discuss some of the great modern wines of his generation. James admits that it’s different today with all the great wines around the world, but great, aged Bordeaux still is a serious reference point for any wine lover or critic.

The wines that James shared were some of the classic vintages of the first 20 years of his career, including 1982 (his first vintage tasted from barrel), 1989, 1990 and 2000. They were the Château La Conseillante Pomerol 2000, Château Léoville Las Cases St.-Julien 1990, Château Pichon-Longueville Baron Pauillac 1989 and Château Haut-Brion Pessac-Léognan 1982. All the wines were decanted before serving.

We began the night with a bottle of a stunning non-Bordeaux: the mineral, laser-focused Dönnhoff Riesling Nahe Dellchen GG 2019, before uncorking the Bordeaux wines and working back in time. The 2000 Chateau La Conseillante showed focus and tension. It was perhaps still too young but opened up and evolved in the glass, from bitter chocolate and graphite to iodine and iron – Right Bank power, yet without the obvious opulence in fashion at the time.

Moving on to the Left Bank, the 1990 Chateau Leoville Las Cases expressed real Bordeaux soul – elegant and very fine, with classic blackcurrant, lead pencil and blackberry leaf aromas, turning to sweet berry fruit in beautiful purity, 33 years on.

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The 1989 Chateau Pichon Baron, one of the star wines of a stunning vintage in Bordeaux that James compared back in the day to 1961 and 1959, conveyed class and power, with silky, glossy tannins and pure aromas of ink, currants and lead pencil.

The 1982 Chateau Haut Brion was stunning. 1982 was a remarkable vintage in Bordeaux, producing great and balanced wines with unexpectedly bountiful yields. It was the first vintage that James tasted from barrel, and he vividly recalls tasting the young, unfinished Haut Brion, with the same intensity, sophistication, and graphite and tobacco leaf character. It was so aromatically complex that we almost couldn’t bring ourselves to taste it, and it has also developed seductive peaty and smoky elements, alongside pine needles and dried mushroom. Poised and seamless throughout.

The evening ended with a legendary sweet wine from Bordeaux from one of the greatest recent vintages in Sauternes. The half-bottle of Château d’Yquem Sauternes 2001 had taken on a golden amber color, with so much rich, spicy botrytis character that the honey, dried fruit and vanilla bean turned to savory white truffle, candle wax and mushroom on a never-ending finish. It was a perfect (half) bottle of a perfect wine.

The dinner, held at James Suckling Wine Central, was a moment for our tasting team to be together in Hong Kong and to welcome in a new year for JamesSuckling.com . We are looking forward to tasting together this year and bringing you many more wine ratings and reports.

– Claire Nesbitt, Associate Editor