WTN: Good in Great (1998 Grand Pontet)

[David M. Bueker]

Last night I had the opportunity to drink a wine from a good producer-Grand Pontet-in a great vintage for St. Emilion, 1998. A local retailer was able to bring in a substantial quantity of this wine last fall, direct from Bordeaux, and it's available for a reasonable price considering its age and provenance.

While by no means at peak (there's still a lot of tannin & the fruit to back it up) the wine is drinking very well, and would be a fantastic partner to a beef roast for a late winter meal. It has some blossoming secondary aromas and flavors (cedar and shoe polish were two things that just jumped out at me despite my somewhat stuffed up condition), and good length on the palate. It's warm (but not alcoholic) and inviting, and looks to be good for many years to come. It's a great option for someone who does not want to or cannot cellar some wine, but I think will reward those who do.

$49.99 retail, which I think is fair given the age and very fine provenance.

I'm always intrigued when an older vintage shows up in quantity. Forced sale? Warehouse screwup? Not that it matters, particularly...

[David M. Bueker]

This came from Bordeaux (it arrived in the same shipment as their 2005s).

This came from Bordeaux (it arrived in the same shipment as their 2005s).

I think I'm not making myself clear. I'm not really expecting an answer to the question. I'm just wondering why the producer or the negociant or whoever actually owned all those case of '98 decided to release them for sale in the US in 2009. I mean, did somebody at the Chateau look under the staircase one day and say "Wow, look, we have all these '98s, maybe we should sell them somewhere"? Had they been consigned to some wholesaler who went bankrupt and never picked them up?

I'm only asking because it happens to us once in a while: A distributor comes in, says, "We've latched onto a shipment of '02 Gigondas, they've been stored professionally, we can give you a really good price, do you want them?" Sometimes we buy them, sometimes not, but I've always wondered how it came to be that the wines were available in the first place.

Some chateaux do hold back a bit of wine in better vintages. a few retailers seem to have 10-15 case lots ex-chateau fairly often. Mostly 1st and 2nd growths, but there are some others one sees often, I've seen offers of Grand Pontet in other good vintages (1995 in particular). Soutard and Figeac are two other RBs that I've often seen multicase lots that are billed as ex-chateau in past.

Then of course there's the (mostly) dreaded Simard.

I'm always intrigued when an older vintage shows up in quantity. Forced sale? Warehouse screwup? Not that it matters, particularly...

Dave, I see that you are in Asheville, and I sometimes go through there on my way to Columbia South Carolina. I can't help but wonder if your store has a web presence, and if so would you post a link? Thanks.

Interesting to see you write up the Grand Pontet. I recently went to a tasting of 05 Bordeaux around this price point and the Grand Pontet was one of my favourites. Unfortunately for us this price point down under is just under $100. I thought the stuff was how do we say "moorish" and was very tempted to grab a case.

Nice note on the Grand Pontet, David.

I also just pulled a St. Emilion from 1998, Faugeres. I hope to get as much enjoyment from it with dinner tonight as you did with the GP. I bought it shortly after release for less than $20, and I see it is now priced similarly to the Grand Pontet. Wine shopping used to be fun.