1997 GPL and a 2005 Bordeaux Piker Pick

I saw the tower and la Tour St Bonnet on the label from the isle of a local wine store. I had gone in to buy one of about five remaining bottles of 1997 GPL which I had influenced the shoppe owner to purchase in 2000. These are great for the money, I told him, one of the sleepers of the vintage. Your customers will love it.

This wine was the very first bottle I opened in 2000 when my shipment of mixed cases arrived after my en primeur purchase. Bought it all on a lark because I could drink it all right away in a massive horizontal tasting, I reasoned. It had traveled, but I pulled the first bottle from a case blind: Grand Puy Lacoste, it said; I said (to my wife, Lynn) let's open it. I held my breath; Lynn took a sniff and sip. "This is the best wine I have ever tasted." Granted, we were novices then, but first impressions mean a lot. Didn't tell Lynn on Saturday night that it was the same wine that elicited her famous (to me) line, which she would never remember anyway. She sniffed and sipped the nine-year-old wine, which critics place at the very end of its plateau. "This is great! Wonderful! What is it?" I told her without the reference and I concurred. On top of a lovely, complex, still sexy, but now deep and foresty, nose, it had that silky sweetness, not of sugar, but of graceful age. Lots of cedar, so you would know it was a Pauillac, and a very long finish, which is new. How delightful. I'll buy the rest of the bottles over time, as I have bought all the others the shop owner had, out of a sense of responsibility, and pure hedonism - or love. Apparently no one else in Clifton Park, New York liked them. They rested from Y2K unmolested.

But I saw that tower. And then the price: $15!!! It looked like a bottle of Latour, and it was a 2005 Bordeaux, albeit a Cru Bourgeois, but a Medoc! My God it was/is very good! Very drinkable and tasty. What a huge gap in price between it (which I discovered rated 88 to 90 Parker points when I went back for the other 11 bottles) and a 2005 Latour, which you can't even drink, costs...I don't even know. Anyway, I say get it while you can. After the billionaires gobble up all the classed growths, their personal sommeliers might recommend something lesser, but not bad at all.

[David M. Bueker]

The '97s have provided mostly pleasurable drinking for a few years now. A recent bottle of Clerc Milon was amazingly good, and I have also had excellent bottles of Montrose, Leoville Barton, Leoville Las Cases (just a wee bit more expensive than I would prefer), Pichon Baron & Pontet Canet. Once the prices dropped from the initial, ridiculous levels the '97s became a very good buy.

There are some good 2005 values out there. There are also some 2005 land mines.

[Jenise]

The '97s have provided mostly pleasurable drinking for a few years now. A recent bottle of Clerc Milon was amazingly good, and I have also had excellent bottles of Montrose, Leoville Barton, Leoville Las Cases (just a wee bit more expensive than I would prefer), Pichon Baron & Pontet Canet. Once the prices dropped from the initial, ridiculous levels the '97s became a very good buy.

There are some good 2005 values out there. There are also some 2005 land mines.

I still have LMHB, Pontet Canet, Montrose, GPL, Cos and Bernadotte, and I'm glad to have them. The Montrose in particular is mighty fine right now.

[David M. Bueker]

'97 Bordeaux was just prior to my real interest in the genre. I only bought a few, and they are all gone. Since then I have gone long on some good but unheralded vintages (e.g. '01, '02) which are already providing rewards and will do so long into the future.

Once the prices dropped from the initial, ridiculous levels the '97s became a very good buy..

The biggest issue from beginning were the '97 Bordeaux were priced at same level as '96 Left and '95 Right, a big jump from '93/'94. It was an ok early drinking (by Bdx standards) vintage, but priced at a premium. Once the backlog became too much, and wines started getting dumped, there were some good deals, mostly drinking well from maybe 2002 till now. I drank all of my 1997 red Bordeaux except Lafleur, though I restocked on Lagrange recently at $16/bottle.

Once the prices dropped from the initial, ridiculous levels the '97s became a very good buy..

The biggest issue from beginning were the '97 Bordeaux were priced at same level as '96 Left and '95 Right, a big jump from '93/'94. It was an ok early drinking (by Bdx standards) vintage, but priced at a premium. Once the backlog became too much, and wines started getting dumped, there were some good deals, mostly drinking well from maybe 2002 till now. I drank all of my 1997 red Bordeaux except Lafleur, though I restocked on Lagrange recently at $16/bottle.

Yeah, I bought most of my '97s as the retailers were pushing to clear inventory before the '00s arrived. I have a distinct memory of trying (and liking) the '97 GPL at a big tasting years ago, but I can't locate any notes for it.

Mark Lipton

Unfortunately finished my case of 97 GPL some time ago, and my 3 cases of Poujeaux [the best vintage of that wine I have had including those from much more famous vintages] and my 2 cases of Moulin St. Georges BUT still have some bottles from my last cases of Cos d'Estournel and Leoville Poyferre which are still drinking well - though none IMO have been consistently better than the best of the Poujeaux. Perhaps the half case of the Leoville Las Cases - gradually and not always.

I even bought a case of the 97 Monbousquet to see what the fuss was about and have enjoyed it too even if it is a bit animal and oaky.

One was lucky to miss 1997 en primeur and I avoided it for price-related reasons similar to today although, in truth, my age is now just as powerful a brake as price. 1997 was later available, maturing fast in the wake of the highly priced and promoted 2000 en primeur, at greatly reduced prices and has provided very nice bottles for those that simply like good, tasty claret and a reasonable price.

One was lucky to miss 1997 en primeur and I avoided it for price-related reasons similar to today although, in truth, my age is now just as powerful a brake as price.

I don't know your age, but I am 64. There was a piece in the New York Times newspaper this morning about old brains and how they focus on gestalts rather than more narrow issues, even like value. I have said this before, but my 1997 en primeur purchase brought me one of the most pleasurable events of my life. All these cases arrived at once. Thousands of dollars worth. I had ordered bottles from all growths and all appellations, so that I had representative examples of just about every terroir. There was the incredible thrill of anticipation, since I had no idea of what a 1997 Bordeaux would taste like; many critics said not much. But I read I could drink them right then. I remember the smell of all those brand new bottles, the intense bright colors, labels that I had never seen before—some reminiscent of ancient times and far away places—and grand legends. There was a quietness about them, like a sepulcher, which took up most of the cellar floor, stepping over and between the bottles to get anywhere. But with a sense of fairytale magic, that each sleeping beauty could be awakened at my command. And when I opened that GPL and my wife loved it, I got to prove her trust in me, of bringing joy from places of which she didn’t know, of bringing a plane in on a wing and a prayer when I wasn’t even a pilot. And all that we learned by drinking one of each and comparing them. And yes, liking Poujeaux probably best of all overall. Even better than the First Growths. But I have empty bottles of those first growths which I arranged with a picture of a Paris wine store, named the Amateur, all from the same year, like stamps or newly minted coins I collected as a boy. And it ushered me into the only hobby I probably will never give up. Yes, sure it would have been more rational to wait until I had tried a few 1997s here and there and the prices came down. I could be as miser able as the next guy if I so chose. But I am not lucky like those folks who get their greatest joy out of saving a buck. If I were one of those I could afford the 2005 First Growths now, and maybe I would be even happier.

Nigel, I really liked the '97 Poujeaux, one of my favorites of the vintage.

Covert, no one here is begrudging anyone enjoying any purchase they made. But for most of us, our resources are finite. So we do try to get as much pleasure for our limited dollars as possible (as you seemed to in your purchase of the '05 La Tour St. Bonnet). I've made purchases I was happy with, and others that I was unhappy with (even in some cases where the wines actually went up sharply in value). I'd scarcely say saving a buck was my greatest joy. But I do enjoy thinking that my purchases are a good value.

[David M. Bueker]

Dale,

I think your response makes a lot of sense, but it ignores one crucial fact: for Covert there is no wine world outside of Bordeaux. You and I will move our pruchase dollars elsewhere if there's no value, but it's not so easy for our friend Covert. There's nothing wrong with that; it's just the way it is.

Nigel, I really liked the '07 Poujeaux, one of my favorites of the vintage.

Big call on the '07 Poujeaux, Dale. I would have thought the wine was still in oak myself.

Oops, edited to fix.

One was lucky to miss 1997 en primeur and I avoided it for price-related reasons similar to today although, in truth, my age is now just as powerful a brake as price.

I don't know your age, but I am 64.

I have said this before, but my 1997 en primeur purchase brought me one of the most pleasurable events of my life. All these cases arrived at once.

And it ushered me into the only hobby I probably will never give up. Yes, sure it would have been more rational to wait until I had tried a few 1997s here and there and the prices came down. I could be as miser able as the next guy if I so chose. But I am not lucky like those folks who get their greatest joy out of saving a buck. If I were one of those I could afford the 2005 First Growths now, and maybe I would be even happier.

Well Covert I am 64 too but unless I misunderstand your post the 97s were your first major Bordeaux purchase.

If so I would understand your delight and your resistance to the idea that it might have been better to have waited. Your experience and delight in writing about it more than supports your decision.

However I already had a cellar full of Bordeaux from a hobby which stretches back to the late 60s and I felt that the Bordelais were seeking an unreasonable price en primeur for the 97s; so I bought none. I only bought right bank wines from the 98 vintage and only a few cases of 99 left bank en primeur before filling up on the 2000s.

It was only after that that the 97s came back into balance with truly great wines like the Poujeaux and at prices that made sense versus the many alternatives – as well as relief following the big 2000 price hikes. So I bought a bunch of mainly left bank 97s that I always liked and have enjoyed them all.

I probably bought far too many 2003s [having bought a fair amount of the 2001s and fewer 2002s] because the idea of a freak appealed to me and the thought that they would probably drink early. I skipped 2004 almost entirely.

The 2005s may well be wonderful but I only bought 2 minor cases [Dame de Montrose and de Fonbel] because the wines I would usually buy were too expensive and, just as importantly, intimations of mortality intervened in the light of the age requirements of many of the wines. The 2 I bought should not survive me with any luck.

Thank you for your original TN and later comments. Your sentiments are completely understood and appreciated.