Title 1985 Bordeaux Cru Classé Tasting
Author: Linden Wilkie
Venue:
Date article was added:
Date of event October 21, 2003
Inaugural Event
Why 1985 Bordeaux for our inaugural event? To be honest, because it was a good safe bet – claret is popular, and 1985 was a good vintage. But that sounds cynical. Bordeaux wine I like – red, white and sweet, when it is both generous and in balance. 1985 has a reputation for ripe fruit, and classical balance, and my own recent tasting of some examples from both sides of the Gironde had left me smiling, and with a want to look more closely at the vintage.
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1985's Reputation
After a severely cold winter, flowering was early and successful. After a long hot summer, there was a healthy and substantial harvest on both banks. The wines which resulted have had a reputation for supple fruit and great charm combined with classic structure – pleasing critics on both sides of the Atlantic. Michael Broadbent, in reviewing the vintage last year for Vintage Wine wrote ‘I am more than ever convinced that this is one of the most perfect vintages, both for drinking now and for keeping.’ Yet Robert Parker was also convinced of its quality, writing in Bordeaux 3rd edition, 1998 ‘…an immensely seductive and attractive vintage that has produced numerous well-balanced, rich, and very perfumed yet tender wines.’
Our Verdict
Overall this proved an interesting line up of wines, and convinced me of the quality of the vintage – one which appears to me to offer relatively good value in the context of top 1980s claret. While there was a question of corkiness in the Ch. Pape Clément, and the Ch. Larics Ducasse was less than memorable, the rest of the wines really proved the worth of the vintage.
Ch. Margaux (from magnum) was wine of the night, but even the humble Haut Médoc - Ch. Malescasse, was highly regarded. On this small representative tasting, 1985 comes highly recommended.
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