2007 Bordeaux early drinkability question

Drank my penultimate 1997 Bordeaux on Friday evening, Smith Haut Lafitte. The fruit had faded a tiny bit, accentuating the tannins a little, but it had developed a nice earthiness in addition to retaining the quintessential Graves characteristics, such as tobacco and the mouth feeling of soft gravel, which is probably a figment of suggestion.

Other than the 1997 clarets that did pick up the earthiness over ten years, most of them, in my opinion, and I drank a lot of them throughout the ten year period, were at their best in 2000, when they were released.

Now I understand that the 2007 growing season was in some ways like the 1997, and that the 2007s might be ready to drink upon their release. But in attempting to research this question, I happened upon the Wine Doctor website which seemed to confirm this at first, but then near the end said the wines should be ready to drink in 10 years!?! Maybe I misread something. Does anybody have the skinny on this question of early drinkability?

My barrel tastings of the 2007 Bordeaux wines indeed indicate that many (perhaps even most) will be approachable and even thoroughly enjoyable on release. That does not mean that they will be at their peak at that time, for as enjoyable as they will be most will attain their peak only starting in 2013 or later.

Best
Rogov

My barrel tastings of the 2007 Bordeaux wines indeed indicate that many (perhaps even most) will be approachable and even thoroughly enjoyable on release. That does not mean that they will be at their peak at that time, for as enjoyable as they will be most will attain their peak only starting in 2013 or later.

Thanks, Rogov. Just to calibrate a tad, did you think that the 1997s improved with age? I found that some definitely did: I would say Montrose, for one; but most others did not, in my opinion, not even one the First Growths.

After posting my earlier message, I surfed a bit and happened upon the J. J. Buckley Blog, for the first time. It had quite a few opinions about the 2007 vintage.

Best,

Covert

Semi-off topic, Covert, but I was lusting after the rack of 2001 Smith Haut Laffite at K$L Wines in San Francisco. This wine was one of my favorites as it is the first "good" Bordeaux I ever drank. So...even young I think these wines are approachable. The 2004 Chateau Le Pape Pessac-Leognan was certainly delicious last month!

Thanks, Rogov. Just to calibrate a tad, did you think that the 1997s improved with age? I found that some definitely did: I would say Montrose, for one; but most others did not, in my opinion, not even one the First Growths.

1997 and 2007 are going to have a great deal in common...... moderate tannins, on the medium-bodied side, round and easy to drink on release and then for say 10-12 years afterwards. Improve in the bottle......nope, but held their charm nicely.

Best
Rogov

[Jenise]

1997 and 2007 are going to have a great deal in common...... moderate tannins, on the medium-bodied side, round and easy to drink on release and then for say 10-12 years afterwards. Improve in the bottle......nope, but held their charm nicely.

Covert's going to go big on this one!

I haven't tried any '07s, so have no useful opinion.

Is that going to stop me? No.

But any broad generalization about drinking windows for vintage is going to have a LOT of exceptions. St Estephes are generally less forward than Margaux or St Emilion. But Montrose would typically be more backward than Phelan Segur (and Palmer than Siran, and Soutard than Fombrauge,etc). So a broad range for the wines. There's also a broad range amongst drinkers. Some people really don't mind tannins as much as others. Some value fruit, and others are more interested in secondary/tertiary notes.

For me, '97s were a mixed bag (priced too high initially, but we've had that discussion before). I thought while the vintage wasn't especially tannic, there was a nasty greenness to some of the tannins. Low acid, and not a lot of concentration in a lot of wines. But there were quite a few that provided quite nice drinking for a while (Ive drunk everything I bought except some Lafleur and a couple Lagranges-StJs). I thought the modern Right Bankers (Barde Haut) were best right off the bat, I thought the more traditional leftbankers needed a few years. But none ever seemed to shut down and have a bad period, it was more a matter of how you liked them. That's the advantage of a vintage that isn't long aging, it seldom has closed periods. From descriptions, '07 will probably be similar.

Covert's going to go big on this one!

You don't need me to confirm it, but you are right. Can't wait!