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1971 Bordeaux, thirty years on: 'first growth' tasting Tutored by Liz Berry MW If you are a serious student of wine, every now and then you need to try iconic wines—those considered by established authorities to be the best of their type—if only to provide some contextual markers for the rest of your drinking. Often, the best way to do this is in the company of like-minded enthusiasts at a comparative tasting, particularly when it is tutored by someone with the level of expertise of Liz Berry. At £125 a ticket, this is not a cheap night out, but then if you work out the cost and effort involved in sourcing these sorts of wines, you could argue that it represents a bit of a bargain. What about 1971 as a vintage? Not the most obvious choice for a tasting of this sort. It lacks the glamour of 1970, which was a stunning year, and also an abundant one. 1971 came at a tricky time financially for the Bordelaise. Because it was a smaller vintage (about half the size) than 1970, prices were hiked up, even though it wasn't quite as good. Then, with the difficult economic climate of the mid-1970s, the prices crashed through the floor. As a result, the 1971s have consistently been undervalued. Thirty years' on, only the best of the vintage will still be at anything like their peak. But it's worth remembering that back in '71Bordeaux wines were still made for long ageing. Yields have become considerably higher in recent years, and it's arguable that even the best properties no longer make such long-lived wines. All the usual suspects were here, with the exception of Latour. Wines were not tasted blind, and had been decanted just before the tasting (within 30 minutes). For interest's sake, I've included Robert Parker's scores for these wines in brackets after my tasting note (taken from a recent edition of his Bordeaux book). I didn't know these scores at the time (I deliberately didn't read up about these wines before I tasted them), and I'd stand by my ratings as accurate where they diverge from his, pointing out that (1) there's going to be considerable bottle variation in wines this old, especially if he tasted examples that have been shipped to the USA and hawked around the auction houses there, and (2) that with older wines, individual preferences and palate variations are going to be accentuated. To a palate used to lush Aussie Shiraz and opulent Californian Cabernet, old claret can seem a trifle austere. I was impressed by these wines. Of course, it's hard to be completely objective when faced with a line-up of names like this, but if you like the taste of mature claret (and not everyone does), then bottles such as these are thrilling. Just one wine was a little disappointing: the Margaux. This was the only wine that was in serious decline; although some of the others may be a little past their peak, they are still drinking very well. My favourite? Well I won't plump for the rather obvious choice—the still-lush Pétrus—but rather the sensational Haut Brion and Cheval Blanc. These are both more typically claret-like, and have evolved into wonderfully complex, fully mature wines. 1971 Château Léoville Lascases, St Julien 1971 Château Palmer, Margaux 1971 Château Margaux, Margaux 1971 Château Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac 1971 Château Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac 1971 Château Haut Brion, Graves 1971 Château Cheval Blanc, St Emilion 1971 Château Pétrus, Pomerol 1971 Château d’Yquem, Sauternes |