TN: Ch Leoville Poyferre '99

Be warned. I am not knowledgeable about Bordeaux. I have 1172 bottles in my spreadsheet that denote reds I have consumed. Six of them are Bordeaux.
I bought this bottle in August 2002 on an expedition to Beltramo's and paid $32.99 less 15% mixed-case discount. I imagine it was in the tantalus boxes at the front of the store, but I don't really remember.
I made beef Stroganoff for dinner Monday night to celebrate a week after Mom got out of the hospital, and decided to Open That Bottle.
Vibrant, lean, long. An aroma that even my nose could appreciate. I'm very happy I have another bottle for another occasion. Helps me understand why Bordeaux is famous.
I almost never have another glass after dinner, but I made and exception for this bottle.
And I finished it this evening with leftover macaroni and cheese, wiener and broccoli. It was fine - plenty of backbone and it was nearly as good as before.
13% alcohol
Bordeaux (what I see in the store anyway) is usually way out of my usual price range; I remember thinking that this was expensive, but cheaper than I expected, and I took a flyer on it. I'm glad I did.

John

[Jenise]

Good purchase, and thank goodness you had the foresight to give it a good long rest. Most 99's are drinking very well right now and it sounds like this is one of them.

Nice wine, I only have one left. Probably the first vintage of Poyferre moving solidly into modern camp (though it's not the least overdone)

I agree that this is drinking very well right now. I had a bottle a couple of months ago, and I moved my last bottle to my "drink now" rack.

As a matter of fact, for my birthday dinner next month, I suggested we drink some '99 Bords.

Based on the look, feel and development in the glass of this bottle, I wouldn't be surprised if my other one would hold for several years, but I have no idea whether it might improve.
The color was very dark and youthful - uniform dark velvet right to the edge of the glass. It looked like a high quality Zin (more like Zin than California cab in fact), but the texture was a lot lighter.

John

Based on the look, feel and development in the glass of this bottle, I wouldn't be surprised if my other one would hold for several years, but I have no idea whether it might improve.
The color was very dark and youthful - uniform dark velvet right to the edge of the glass. It looked like a high quality Zin (more like Zin than California cab in fact), but the texture was a lot lighter. John

Welcome to my second favorite pastime, John. I got hooked on Bordeaux so much that I can't deign any other kind of wine (except California Chardonnay, which I sip between Bordeaux swallows, as a source of contrast, which makes the Bordeaux experience better to me).

My '99s have somewhat suddenly picked up wonderful tertiary flavors, which many of them did not have a short time ago. They are probably in their prime, but I won't know for several years. They are certainly very good. '99 is a delicate year, and St.-Juliens take well to delicacy, in my opinion. I can never decide which Bordeaux appellation is my favorite. But St.-Juliens are something like chameleons, or mocking birds. When you sip a Bordeaux blind and can't decide where it comes from, because it sometimes has leather and cedar like a Pauillac, and then tobacco and minerals like Graves, and a touch of perfume and earth like a Margaux, it hits you and you say, Ah yes, it must be a St.-Julien.

There are tons of cru Bourgeois that cost less than $20, and even they are better to me than any other kind of wine.

Ok, Covert!

I'm John. I'm a Zinaholic.

There's so much good wine in California that I have a hard time going "abroad" for alternatives. I try (HONEST!!??) and then I open another bottle of Zin. Tonight I went out for dinner and had a very good Tempranillo from Monterey County. In fact, it was so good I only remember that it was good. It did taste like tempranillo, though (apologies to Otto) a bit Californicated compared to what I tasted in Spain and Portugal.

Under $20 is my normal range - used to be under $10 but inflation hits us all - and here in the land where they grow tons and tons of the stuff, the purveyors find it more profitable to push the local plonk than the imported plonk. I expect it's as hard for me to find a good cru Bourgeois as it is for you to find a good $15 Zin.

And yes, they aren't the same wine, other than being red.

How much does the taste vary by what you're eating when you drink it? I think I mentioned that I usually drink wine with food.

John

There's so much good wine in California that I have a hard time going "abroad" for alternatives...How much does the taste vary by what you're eating when you drink it? I think I mentioned that I usually drink wine with food.

John, I misinterpreted what you said originally. I had the sense that you liked the Bordeaux better than what you had been drinking. If you like Zin better, then what I said has little meaning.

I really can't say how much a type of wine varies from time to time of drinking, because my memory isn't good enough. But my sense is that it varies a lot with mood and certainly with the type of food I am enjoying. However, I drink 3/4 of a bottle of Bordeaux with my wife prior to beginning dinner. Food often shuts down the taste of the wine somewhat, depending on the type of food. We use a lot of spices with the food we cook. Lamb, which we enjoy every couple of weeks, enhances the wine experience.

I use the term experience rather than taste, because Bordeaux to us is an experience, whereas a type of wine such as Zin offers to us only taste, not an experience.

I use the term experience rather than taste, because Bordeaux to us is an experience, whereas a type of wine such as Zin offers to us only taste, not an experience.

Ah yes, there is a difference and not every bottle of wine is an experience. The Leoville Poyferre was an experience.

John