13th disappointment with 1995 Branaire

A few years ago at a restaurant I enjoyed a bottle of 1995 Branaire so much that I went back a second evening for a second bottle. Then I bought a case, and found that the corks all had plug, rather than press, fits, thus letting in oxygen. Jenise mentioned on WLDG that she enjoyed a couple, so I couldn’t stand it any longer and bought one from a major NYC retailer for $85, just so I could once again experience the thrill that had lingered in my being.

Alas, it just wasn’t good enough, as though it had not been stored properly. Maybe a hint of heat damage; not much, just enough to take the blush off the rose. I know that Jenise mentioned that her second bottle was not quite as good as the first, suggesting that maybe 1995 Branaire has seen its best years already. But when something is not right, if you love Bordeaux, you can tell. It is like being 76-years-old, not at your prime, but in a natural aging process, and at the same time still being a little under the weather, maybe from a touch of a cold, or something.

This isn’t the first time that I have bought a ten- or fifteen-year-old bottle from a major retailer and found the bottle – not horrible, but not up to par. I don’t know what the dynamic is, but it has happened many times; way too many for the case to be an exception. I guess I must bite the bullet and begin buying classed growths again, regardless of the cost, upon release, and keeping them for ten or fifteen years, or I may not be able to enjoy good, aged Bordeaux in the future, when I feel like it. I can't rely on finding a properly aged bottle when I get the urge.

[David M. Bueker]

Covert,

The beauty of it is that you don't need to buy classed growths. There's a lot more good wine that isn't part of the 1855 classification than there was 15 years ago.

[Jenise]

Too bad you were disappointed, and it's too bad we can't predict the condition of a bottle before we buy it. My four 95 Branaires were all auction buys, and while none of the bottles since have been as spectacularly aromatic as the first one about five years ago, I have had some very good bottles whose only fault, if one can call it that, was continuing to age gracefully and not being identical to my first bottle. Perhaps your bottle suffered from some of that too.

...I have had some very good bottles whose only fault, if one can call it that, was continuing to age gracefully and not being identical to my first bottle.

"There are no great wines, only great bottles of wine".

[There seems to be a lot of controversy over just who was the first to say that - probably a piece of folk wisdom which goes back centuries.]

I had this wine only once, but did not experience the problems you did. I found it not yet at it's peak.

I have one bottle in my cellar for the future.

[Jenise]

I had this wine only once, but did not experience the problems you did. I found it not yet at it's peak.

I have one bottle in my cellar for the future.

Quoting from a TN posted at the time, I certainly wasn't disappointed in this bottle back in March: "1995 Branaire, St. Julien (Bordeaux)
When you get a wine that's really "drinking perfectly right now", you realize how rarely you get to say that. Well, this one's drinking perfectly right now. Effusive nose of black fruit, cedar/spice and wet earth/leaves that could only belong to Bordeaux, and on the palate rich black currant and cassis fruit with integrated oak and silky tannins. Nice to drink on it's own but really fantastic when sipped after a bite of rare steak. One of my favorite 95's--so far."