WTN: 1971 Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou

Tonight's dinner wine had with lamb chops and a porcini risotto.

1971 Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou Lovely mature light brick red colour, gradually fading towards an almost yellow edge. Really beautiful.
Soft and very charming nose. Mature, with loads of stable aromas. Also some dried and candied fruit, figs, plus a smokey tobacco note.
Very soft and rounded on the palate. Again very charming and with a nice acidity to carry the taste. Tannins very rounded, with just a little bite of dryness towards the end. Long, fresh and smokey aftertaste with loads of stable notes coming back in a most pleasant way. A classic and perfectly mature Bordeaux, that surprised me by its charm. I have often found that this kind of mature Bordeaux wines can have a fine nose but then a taste that is a bit disappointing. It seems that the taste looses its grip before the nose does, but in this wine all pieces were still fitting very well together. A fine tuned, utterly classic Bordeaux that has become a seductive wine, almost in the way a fine Bourgogne can be almost irresistible.

Cheers,
Anders

Thanks for the note, Anders. It reminds me to crack open one of the two or three bottles of 70 which I have left. At the time 70 was the better regarded year but I doubt whether they will be now showing any better than this 71 of yours.

Thanks for the vicarious thrill. Ducru can indeed be seductive when very mature. Magical, even.

Anders,

I love it when people love wines no one has ever heard of, or famous wines from politically incorrect vintages such as your '71 Ducru.

I have often had experiences such as yours - proof that the reality of 6,000 châteaux cannot be reduced to a number out of 20, or that the pundits get it right.

Best regards,
Alex

Anders,
I love it when people love wines no one has ever heard of, or famous wines from politically incorrect vintages such as your '71 Ducru.
I have often had experiences such as yours - proof that the reality of 6,000 châteaux cannot be reduced to a number out of 20, or that the pundits get it right.

But Alex, Ducru IS one of the 20 wines that people talk about most, and '71 has always been regarded as a good vintage as far as I know! Pretty strong prices at auction on '71s recently.

Thanks Anders for the wonderful note.

[David M. Bueker]

'71 is regarded as a good vintage by those that know Bordeaux. Those that think they know Bordeaux still consider '70 mediocre (and '71 downright lousy) compared to the '61, '82, '90 and '05 bottles that they guard in their trophy cellars.

Gentlement,

No one disputes that Ducru Beaucaillou is one of the most famous wines of Bordeaux...

71 got pretty poor press and I also see that Parker gives it the lowest rating in the 70s on his vintage chart (although he seems to have left out a couple of years with terrible reputations).

I don't think anyone would expect a Bordeaux from that vintage to put on such a good showing 36 years down the road.

I'm glad that Ducru did.

Best regards,
Alex R.

Sorry, that’s not correct, Alex.
Parker rated 1971 as good as 1975, and nearly as good as 1970...

Rudi,

The horse's mouth says different :

70 = 87
71 = 82
75 = 89
76 = 84
78 = 87
79 = 75

Check it out at: http://www.erobertparker.com/newsearch/ ... hart3.aspx

All the best,
Alex

[David M. Bueker]

Alex - per the vintage chart on eRP (a tool I find mostly useless by the way) Parker rated 1979 an 85. Probably a typo on your part.

Note though that he shows '71 as an 82R (ready to drink) and '70 an 87I (irregular). I'm really not sure how he finds '71 to be a more consistent vintage than '70. Just another puzzler from a vintage chart.

I don't think anyone would expect a Bordeaux from that vintage to put on such a good showing 36 years down the road.
.

Well, I served my "serious" wine group the '71 Canon last fall, I wouldn't have done it if I didn't expect it to show well. It held its own with the '70 LMHB and Canon.
Plus I've had the '71 Haut Brion twice in last 2 years, once sublime and once very good. It's been a while since I tried Gruaud and Trotanoy, but I'd expect them to be quite nice.

The only Parker book I have is the fairly recent 6th edition Buyers Guide, where he says "a good to very good stylish vintage" "fully mature", "most '71st compared with other good vintages of last 30 years are slightly undervalued", "this could be a vintage at which to take a serious look provided one can find reasonably priced well stored bottles."

I agree that I find it surprising to think of '70 as more irregular than '71, I like '71s, but wouldn't try a 3rd tier wine, while I've had good Cru Bourg. from '70 in last decade

Alex, in his BORDEAUX – A Consumer’s Guide…, 4th edition, 2003, Parker rated:

1971
St.-Estèphe **
Pauillac ***
St.-Julien***
Margaux***

1970
St.-Estèphe ***
Pauillac ***
St.-Julien***
Margaux***

Not really an impressive difference…

Rudi,

I'm thinking that 71 wasn't expected to go the long haul 5 years later, which would explain the difference.

Certainly, I would never expect a 71 to be as good as a 70, which is "received wisdom" here in Bordeaux.

However, I am glad when such suppositions are proved wrong, and we take wines for what they are, rather than what we've been told to expect, or influenced to expect!

Best regards,
Alex R.

In any case, Alex... I think that we should consider all vintage generalisations with considerable caution...BTW, the most impressive Pichon Lalande I ever had was the 1991. This wine was spectacular in the late nineties...The right wine at the right time...

Funny, or maybe not, how this thread turned into a detailed discussion of what the almighty Arpy thinks of the vintages '70 and '71, as if that really is of any importance...
Anyway, while 1970 is regarded as a better vintage, I think they rarely show this kind of charming elegance as this wine did. Those that I've had, a few years ago by now, have been in a heavier and more powerful, but also a bit coarser style.

Here's the label, if you are interested. Couldn't find any info about the alcohol level on it, but wouldn't expect it to be above 13 % ABV, more probably less.

BTW, anyone with an opinion about the '88 Ducru? Those that I've had lately has been most disappointing, totally lacking charm and being very coarse and unyielding. I have problems believing they will ever turn out to become anything nice to drink.

1971 Ducru, rs40.jpg

Cheers, Anders

Interesting how your 71 D-B showed. I have found over the years drinking wine is an ongoing adventure. I opened one of the two 75 Leoville Las Cases that I have left in my cellar the other evening. Finally after all those years it's finally shed it's tannins and hard edge and is drinking beautifully. I was really surprised, I thought that wine would still be coming around in the 22nd century, when I was long gone.

I was really surprised, I thought that wine would still be coming around in the 22nd century, when I was long gone.

Lou, you are a funny man, And because of that, I finally understand why BettyLu allows you to sup at her table!

I thought that wine would still be coming around in the 22nd century, when I was long gone.

Funny, I have exactly the same feeling regarding the bottles of 1970 LLC I have in my cellar. And in this case, I fear it is true...
/A