Review: Moderate success from a First Growth in a terrible vintage 🍷

I took a shot and purchased this at auction for a significant discount to retail. For those who don’t know, 1974 was an atrocious year in Bordeaux. According to Claude: “1974 was a disaster in Bordeaux – cold, wet summer prevented proper ripening, then rain hit during harvest. The wines were thin, lacking concentration, with unripe tannins and harsh acidity. Even top châteaux in Pauillac and Saint-Julien couldn’t salvage decent wine from those conditions. Made the mid-70s particularly brutal for Bordeaux producers.” Alas, I sometimes find it fun to take shots like this.

Fill was bottom shoulder, but not horrible, leading me to believe storage conditions were moderately good. Cork came out in tact, and was three quarters soaked.

Color was good, cherry red with some browning. The nose was classic old Bordeaux, but almost wholly tertiary at this point, but with a solid core of red fruit. The nose was overwhelmingly mushroom, blue cheese, and balsamic vinegar, along with stewed figs, baked cherry and raspberry, floral notes of rose. On the palate, the mushroom, wet earth, and blue cheese carried over, with some blue and red fruit on the medium finish. This is not an enjoyable pour, but it is very intellectually stimulating. It’s always fascinating to drink old reds that haven’t gone. Great staying power for a terrible vintage. Gave it a 92 in CT for pure intellectual pleasure.