Lesser 2000 Bordeaux?

It seemed that on or near release it was nearly impossible to find a bad 2000 vintage Bordeaux, at least among the lesser chateaux that I could afford. I bought up a number of partial cases of stuff like Chateau Bel Air and La Chartreuse de Coutet which were a great value and drank very well through 2010. That is when I decided to put them aside for a while and revisit in a few years.

Having tasted a couple of excellent 2000 second growth wines at MoCool this year I decided to open up a Bel Air and Coutet recently. My strategy failed miserably. The wines were stunningly bad. The Bel Air tasted like hot tar with an iodine finish while the Coutet was basically un-sweetened raspberry Kool-Aid with a shot of whiskey tossed in. No amount of time in air helped and, if anything, caused the wines to decay further. They were tasted on different nights and both ended up going down the drain. Very disappointing.

Has anybody else had a similar experience with 2000 vintage lesser tier Bordeaux? Did I simply hold these wines to the point at which they disintegrated rapidly? Now I am concerned about the handful of better 2000’s (Trotanoy and Leoville Las Cases) in my cellar, though the 2000 Clos du Marquis that I took to MoCool showed very well.

[David M. Bueker]

Some of the real cheapies have gone down the tubes.

The better wines (e.g. classed growths, unclassed but good wines - e.g. Sociando) are moving along slowly, and are going to be just fine.

The most recent 2000 I recall having was a $25 dollarish Bordeaux-Haut-Benauge (basically a red Entre-Deux-Mers), and that was about two years ago according to my notes. I said at the time it still had 5 years to go, so while the cheapies might be past it, the mid-tier stuff is probably still drinking well, albeit maybe preparing to wind down.

I am going to open a 2000 Chateau Beaulieu tonight. If it crashes and burns I will abandon all hope for the low end wines from that vintage. Fingers crossed!

Sam, I am not sure what it takes to qualify as lesser, but Poujeaux and Senejac are still drinking well.

Mark Lipton

[Jenise]

Sam, I had a whole case of the Beaulieu, a Parker "sleeper of the vintage", and started drinking them--or trying to--about five years out. Swamp water, all of them.

But your plea gives me a badly needed kick in the butt--but for the Beaulieu, all the lesser 2000's I can remember tasting so far have been anywhere from decent to surprisingly good. However, there are some that need digging out and I better get at them, so last night I pulled a 2000 Mayne-Veil (Fronsac). Drinkable, but no joy where it would probably have been delightful five years ago. Serves me right.

Up a few notches, as far as my pocketbook takes me these days, a second growth Gruaud-Larose drank beautifully last night, and maybe will continue to for another twenty years. Which may be beside the point, but why spoil a lesser Bordeaux by keeping it more than a few years after release? ?

[Jenise]

Which may be beside the point, but why spoil a lesser Bordeaux by keeping it more than a few years after release? ?

In my case, didn't plan on it. They just were buried under the better 2000's and I never got around to freeing them.

But your plea gives me a badly needed kick in the butt--but for the Beaulieu, all the lesser 2000's I can remember tasting so far have been anywhere from decent to surprisingly good.

The 2000 Beaulieu that I tasted this past weekend was drinkable, but definitely in decline. The vibrant fruit from earlier tastings is fading rapidly and there are hints of oxidation. I plan to open the remainder of the Beaulieu and other lower end 2000's over the next month or so just to get rid of them. I hope you have better luck with yours, Jenise.

The lesson learned here is that good expensive stuff is built to last while good cheap stuff is built to drink early. Had I not tasted some excellent 2000 classed growths at MoCool I would be in a panic over my few "high end" 2000's right now.

[Jenise]

Sam, I got rid of the Beaulieu's, they were THAT bad.

Went to Cellartracker to get the name of the one 2000 I had recently that we loved, it's a Chateau Puygueraud Cuvee George from the Cotes de Francs. Paid $17 back in the day. Others on Cellartracker have also been uniformly impressed, though I posted the first new note on it since 2010 so everybody else must have gotten nervous. No need, though, that wine has tons of life left.

In contrast, the deplorable Mayne-Veil has a few notes on it and all of them poor. Community average score is in the 70's. That wine's best day must have been the day I tasted it at the Wine Exchange and decided to bring some home.

Always looking for a good deal, I clicked on Wine Searcher Pro to find myself a case or two of Jenise's amazing 2000 Pyugueraud Cuvee George. The good news is it's selling for only US $23.96. The bad: it's only available in Limburg, Belgium.

[Jenise]

Clint, I saw that JJ Buckley carries a newer vintage recently. Didn't pay attention to which vintage and know nothing about critics's reviews, but remember noticing that the price was still in the $20 region (typical for a Cotes de Franc or area most people don't follow). Didn't buy any myself, but having just tasted my 2000 was surely tempted.