Saturday March 14th, 2009
11am-8pm
We like to taste crazy wines sometimes, as Winestore customers know, and some tastings are crazier than others. This time we're going to open a pristine bottle of 1971 Chateau D’Yquem – it's been a long time since I tasted this wine. Somebody at the Spectator tasted one a few years ago and predicted that it needs to age till 2010. I'm not sure that makes much sense; the last one I had seemed like it was as good as an Yquem needs to be and that was about eight years ago.
Yquem is unquestionably the greatest winery in Sauternes and for many that means it's the greatest dessert in the world. Maybe those people need to taste more dessert wines, but I'm going to say that Yquem is at least one of a handful of greatest dessert wines in the world.
Indeed, a brief anecdote might suffice to explain Yquem's incredible reputation: in 1974, the season was tough. Yquem's pickers went out and picked the grapes only a portion at a time in a vain attempt to produce the best wine possible. Indeed, they picked grapes thirteen times, which is pretty much a ridiculous number of times for anybody to employ if profit is your purpose. You've got to pay (if not house and feed) the pickers for weeks, instead of days and, well, you get the idea.
Here's the best part: after picking thirteen times in 1974, they tasted the wine they made and then they threw it away. Like down the drain. Cuz it wasn't good enough for Yquem. That's craaaazy.
A postscript should note that the 1975 Yquem was delicious and fantastic but roundly criticized for being too expensive. Well, duh. Somebody had to pay for the wine they made in 1974 and forgot to sell. Moreover, they had also refused to sell the 1972 for the same reasons.
The 1971 was, to the contrary, "very concentrated -exceptional - even better than the 1975. The best Yquem of the 1970's." So says the estimable Clive Coates MW in his wonderful book Grands Vins. He also says the 1971 will last till 2023. Au contraire. Our bottle will only last till we open it at the big tasting next week.
Oh, yeah, we always open way too many great wines. So just to get your imagination going, consider the following as included in our tasting: 2004 Shafer Hillside Select, 2006 Caymus Special Select, 2005 Clos L'Oratoire Les Chorgies Chateauneuf-du-Pape, 2005 Domaine Giraud Chateauneuf-du-Pape Gallimardes, 2006 Clos Saint Jean Chateauneuf-du-Pape Vieille Vignes (that's old vines to you), 2002 Mt Veeder Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Tony Soter's 2006 Beacon Hill Pinot Noir, 2005 Ramey Cabernet Napa Valley, and four amazing Spanish wines: 2006 Dominio de Atauta , 2004 Artazu Santa Cruz, 2004 Merum Ardilles Priorat , and 2006 Flor de Pingus. All of them are pretty special but let's linger for one moment on Flor de Pingus, the second wine of Pingus, arguably one of the greatest wines in the world.
Pingus is a remarkable wine and with enough time in the cellar, it is likely to be able to best famed First Growth Bordeaux, brilliant Brunello and the best that California and Australia can create. I find the wines virtually mind-blowing but I choose the conditional language above ("likely to") because nobody knows how these wines will age. The oldest Pingus is from the 1995 vintage. It's too early to tell.
And I'll be honest: I can't really tell much of a difference between Pingus and Flor de Pingus, at least in most vintages. I can believe that Pingus is going to age more successfully than Flor de Pingus (though I might be imagining that difference as the product of knowing which is which when I have tasted the two next to each other). But again, longevity is not the point of this particular bottle; 2006 Flor de Pingus is going to get opened at our big tasting. You should be there to taste it.
Happy Tasting and we will see you on Saturday!
Doug Frost, MS MW
Master Sommelier & Master of Wine
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