95% of wines are consumed within a week of purchase.  It’s a fact, but is it vinous genocide? I had a conversation with a notable wine educator the other night who said he preferred young wines and can only recall tasting eight older wines that were worth the wait or more enjoyable to drink older than younger.

It was no coincidence we were having this conversation at Troquet, a Boston wino restaurant that has made a habit out of clearing end bins and one-of-a-kind leftovers in a blowout tabletop summertime sale. Drinking 70′s Bordeaux and 80′s Burgundy is as simple as walking over to the selected wines on display and picking a few bottles priced between $10 and $50 to show up at your dinner table.  The question, even at those prices, is whether these forgotten old wines are worth it?

From my perspective, the answer is almost always “yes”.  I have written lots about my bias and curiosity for laying down wines, going as far as putting simple wines like mass produced Washington State Chardonnay to the tests of age.  From an educational point of view, I think even wines gone bad have some value. And wines that ultimately showed better younger than older still delivered a variety of interesting palate experiences at both life stages.  Successful wine aging experiences are like sinking long golf puts.  It takes forever to get to the hole, some long puts have inherently higher success rates than others because of green breaks, speed,  and grass.  But the sound of a long roll finishing in the cup is always more exciting than the similar hollow clanking echoes of shorter puts. In kind, some wines have better chances of aging more successfully than others because of region, terroir, grape variety, vintage, and cellar conditions. Just like a long put, a great old wine survives challenging variables that contribute to a more exciting outcome.

So, standing around the sale table and without too much hesitation I snatched the ($20) 1972 Pierre Olivier Cotes du Rhone, ($30) 1983 Haut Marbuzet, ($20) 1985 Chateau Vaugelas Corbieres, and ($20) 1992 V Sattui Preston Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Luckily, some wine friends who were sitting at the next table generously shared their ($30) 1970 Chateau Croizet Bages.

(NR) 1972 Pierre Olivier Cotes du Rhone, France

The oldest Cotes du Rhone I ever experienced was a 1989 Coudoulet de Beaucastel at age 18 and it was beautifully vibrant, advanced, and elegant like an old Chateauneuf du Pape from a strong vintage.  There was intense risk counting on this evening’s 39 year old wine to perform anywhere close to the ’89 Coudoulet.  We struck out; the wine was brown and undrinkable tasting of vinegar, apple cider, prunes, and had a bouquet distantly related to Sherry. We poured it out and wrote the $20 off to a learning experience.  No more 1970′s Cotes du Rhones.

***1/2 1983 Haut Marbuzet, St. Estephe, Bordeaux, France

The wine showed dark brick red in the glass with brown at the edges.  The nose had turned exotic with cinnamon, spice, clove, anise, and smoke.  There was an elegant mouthfeel produced by the balance between richness and lightness.  The fruit was still composed, albeit just hanging on.  I was interested to see what Parker said about this wine at release but his earliest tasting note was from May of 1993 where he said:

Fully mature since it was released, the 1983 Haut-Marbuzet continues to offer that decadent, flashy style…huge nose of jammy black-raspberry fruit, coffee, smoky oak, and herbs….Medium to full-bodied and voluptuous, this soft, fat, viscously textured wine is still alarmingly low in acidity, yet it shows no sign of decline. The color exhibits some amber at the edge, but, wow, what an explosive, ripe, intense mouthfeel this wine provides! It should drink well until the end of this decade

I can see the relationship in this same wine I drank 18 years later.  I am amazed to learn the wine was showing such a degree of maturity in 1993 considering it is still very much alive and worth drinking now. What fun to learn that the smoke, herbs, fruit, color and mouthfeel of the 27 year old wine can be traced back to its more “youthful” profile.  This was a delight to drink and underscores the age worthiness that makes Bordeaux so compelling to lay away. I noticed WineBid has the 2001 Haut Marbuzet listed for $30 in the current auction and it just might be worth taking the head start on the aging process at that price.

**1/2 1985 Chateau Vaugelas Corbieres, Languedoc, France

I am a sucker for the 1985 vintage.  Besides the fact I was married that year, the softness and approachability of the Bordeaux and Northern Rhone wines I have tasted in their youth have aged gracefully and reliably.  I wondered how a more southern Languedoc would hold up.  It was dark brick in color, tremendously vibrant and alive.  The nose held wet cardboard and cola aromas that were palatable.  The green vegetable aromatic was not.  But the texture was rich and held a fair degree of its tannin.  Of all the wines we drank this evening, this wine was showing the most youthful character, but married it with flavors and aromas that weren’t completely pleasant.  A great experiment, and another vote for old world wine age worthiness even when the final product is not your cup of tea.  I never would have had this thrilling chance to taste a 26 year old Corbieres if somebody had not purposely or forgetfully left a bottle laying around the cellar.  So thanks, whoever you are.

*** 1992 V Sattui Preston Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California

I have a bunch of mid eighties and early nineties California Cabernet occupying cellar space.  When I open a bottle I am generally pleased, but when I open one next to a same vintage Bordeaux, I am consistently underwhelmed.  These wines manage to hold up enough, advance to a certain degree, but ultimately rely on lingering California fruitiness as opposed to balance and complexity.  The V Sattui held true.  On this evening, it was the freshest of all the wines, but it was also the youngest.  It had a deep garnet color, brightness to the nose that combined with significant black licorice notes, and soft classic California fruit.  But, the wine was not showing enough complexity to make me believe that it is better or more exotic older than it was younger.  As a result, it felt a little tired even though it was the youngest and brightest of all the wines we tried.  I was more excited by the funky flavors and aromas of the Corbieres, but this Sattui was seemingly more correct; just not for my palate.

**** 1970 Croizet Bages, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France

My friends at the next table passed me a glass of their 1970 Croizet Bages and it turned out to be the wine of the night.  The nose had a roasted, smoky, lead pencil aroma profile that married up to fresh herbs and pepper.  It was followed by wonderfully bright and round black cherry fruit that still produces significant volume on your palate. The wine finished long and satisfyingly.  This 41 year old wine was a steal at $30.  It is a steal at $150.  This is a fifth growth Pauillac, close in name and proximity to its more venerable neighbor, Lynches Bages.  An also ran wine in the 1855 classification and it can hold on for 40 years to create a drinking experience that makes you lust after another bottle!  It just so happens you can go make a bid of $40 at WineBid  now and possibly have yourself the same memorable experience as I did.

Zind Humbrecht Clos Windsbuhl @ Radius

I am trying to develop palate education around oxidative wine styles. There is plenty of available information about it, but distinguishing between one wine subjected to an oxidative wine making process and another wine that primarily oxidizes through bottle age, without any specific knowledge about the wine maker’s approach, is not always straight forward for me.  Various oxidative approaches during elevage reflect less concern for, or purposely measured, oxygen contact to work on elements of the wine outside, rather than inside, the bottle. Conversely, reductive wine making protects against oxygen contact before bottling, upholding natural fruit flavors and preventing the wine from adopting “premature” age or advanced nuances and characteristics associated with oxygen contact. Recently I drank two fascinating natural, bio-dynamically made white wines that helped my learning about oxidative styles; (****1/2 $60 on release but $250 now) 2001 Zind Humbrecht Pinot Gris from the producer’s heralded Clos Windsbuhl site in Alsace and the dry (*** $23)  2007 Rene & Agnes Mosse Anjou Blanc made of Chenin Blanc from the central Anjou region of the Loire Valley.

2007 Rene & Agnes Mosse Anjou In Glass

The 2007 Rene & Agnes Mosse is so unique it will turn some tasters off due to its totally obvious oxidative style.  A wine this young did not advance this far in the bottle without some measure of oxidation in the wine making process.  The amazing thing about this wine is while the oxidative advanced yellow/orange color and aromatics of candied orange peel, nuts, over-ripe apple, and pear fruit will leave some thinking the wine is past its prime, there is still good acidity and enough brightness behind the rich and extreme characteristics from the natural winemaking and secondary barrel fermentation to create balance.  I am not sure I would ever guess this was Chenin Blanc if I tasted it blind, but its juxtaposition of freshness and oxidation appeals to me, offering an uncommon flavor and drinking experience with a rich mouthfeel, funky aromas, and good structure.  If you are a fan of Sherry, you will find similar oxidative flavors here.

A long time foodie friend living in NY’s Greenwich Village gave me a bottle to try, recommended to him by his friend that I have come to understand to be an in-the-know, highly connected, Parisian food and wine authority and personality.  The whisper from Paris was that Mosse was currently making some of France’s most interesting wines.  I concur and recommend the wine for anyone searching for the unusual or is just interested to see how the ultra-natural and biodynamic Mosse approach puts oxidative results on full display.

2001 Zind Humbrecht Pinot Gris Clos Windsbuhl

The 2001 Zind Humbrecht Pinot Gris Clos Windsbuhl is a mind blowing wine that will appeal to all palates for one reason or another (Insider Tip: It is available at Radius in Boston for $85 or less than 2X its release price, which is 3X cheaper than what you will pay for it now in a wine shop or at auction). I drank it at Radius over lunch with the good people from the Boston Design Center and it was a show stopper.  The wine hints at vendage tardive character, but I assume it did not approach high enough sugar levels to merit the classification. It has turned a serious orange color from age and oxidation as you can see in the photo at the beginning and top of this post. It’s interesting to find wet slate (minerality) so prominent in a wine with such unctuous and viscous mouth coating qualities. But while the wine is indeed advanced in color and flavor, it shows vibrant bright fruit of primarily apricot and accompanying lime. It is a really fresh but advanced and fruit driven wine that appears to indicate less oxidation before bottling and eight or nine years of bottle age that helped to create the advanced color and secondary nuances.  My sense is the fruit was naturally showcased and protected during the wine making stages, either by its ripe natural sugars or through a more reductive process than the one that produced the Mosse.

While it is hard to compare an ultra dry Chenin from the Loire and this Pinot Gris from Alsace, Zind Humbrecht appears to strive for the most appropriate balance between oxidative and reductive style as depicted in this video by Olivier Humbrecht:

Olivier Humbrecht on Reductive and Oxidative Style

These two white wines are evidence of the complexity available from Pinot Gris and Chenin Blanc sourced from regional sites with legacies for producing fruit that performs well under the effects of age and oxidation. Both are strong buy recommendations in these and current vintages.  But for me, understanding the differences of oxidation occuring in the bottle or during elevage continues to be a tasting challenge that will take more experimentation and time to decode.

The “Top Three Wines” of November includes one remarkable New World Mourvedre from California’s Central Coast sandwiched in between two Old World Bordeaux and Rioja showcase wines.  I was unfamiliar with the claret from Saint-Estephe and the Rhone Ranger from Paso Robles until tasting them last month; both excellent new discoveries.  Unfortunately, the oddball auction lot remains the only viable option to find this 1990 Bordeaux, but the bottle is worthy of reemphasis simply for its bottle age performance vis a vis its Cru Bourgeois status.  The Rioja Gran Reserva is an undeniably classic production that wine lovers can rationalize parting with the $100 for in order to secure this extraordinary holiday cellar trimming.

1991 Lopez de Heredia Vina Bosconia Gran Riserva ($100 *****)

Produced by the venerable Lopez de Heredia winery where tradition reigns supreme, this 1991 Rioja has only recently been released.  It earns WineZag’s top rating of five stars as it tickles the sensual memory banks with secondary flavors and advanced aromas and mouthfeel more reminiscent of classic old Bordeaux.  And instead of paying three figures for a newly released Medoc and laying it away for twenty years, you can walk into your wine shop and buy this Rioja today and pop the cork tomorrow night. This 12% alcohol Gran Riserva of 80% Tempranillo, 15% Grenache, and the rest Carignan and Graciano offers immense complexity and richness with a silky elegant mouthfeel that is a product of its nine years in barrel and extended bottle aging prior to release.  If you are looking for that unique holiday gift for the special wine collector in your life (boy, I hope my friends and family are reading this), or even just for yourself (my fall back position), this remarkably classic wine will not be disappoint.  It is a head turner.  You can easily source this wine at Vintages.

2008 Denner Vineyards Mourvedre ($40 ****)

One of my favorite eateries in Atlanta is the Horseradish Grill on Powers Ferry Road in the Chastain Park neighborhood of Buckhead. The charming physical structure and setting produces this familiar laid back LA feel that is easy for me to slip into, a simpatico dose of traditional and rustic Southern comfort (it is the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Atlanta), and an inventive but naturally and organically grounded menu that pairs well enough with the exclusively domestic wine list.

Run by Steve Alterman and family since 1995, the Denner (not previously reviewed here at WineZag) did not appear on the list and was a smart recommendation by Steve’s son and keeper of the wine program, Josh Alterman.  The wine had more modern characteristics than Rhone Valley fans are accustomed to, but the luscious restraint exhibited by this well constructed and balanced wine is nothing short of remarkable.  It was not what I expected, absent of absolutely any hard edges without hiding behind a wad of big California fruit. It is soft but packed with black cherry fruit richness that comes across with balance and elegance.   I was taken by its “velvet kiss” attack.  The wine finishes with impressive length.  While it is not a comfortable stand-in for one of its varietal cousins hailing from France’s Southern parts it is one of, if not the most, impressive Mourvedres I have ever tasted from California.  The wine refused to overstate its new world roots with excessive alcohol or extraction.  It is a top buying recommendation.  If you can not find the wine, here it is on wine-searcher.

1990 Chateau Le Terme ($30 on release ****)

It is somewhat futile recommending this wine since it is nowhere to be found.  Still, the wine’s performance as a Cru Bourgeois after 17 years of bottle age is a strong lesson in cellar management.  This Saint-Estephe was not Montrose or Cos d’Estournel, it was Le Terme, which you will be hard pressed to even find on the web.  Buying wines like this in an outstanding vintage like 1990 is a proven sound strategy for laying away Bordeaux that won’t bust your wallet.  Its value appreciation won’t put your kids through school or prove your social standing in Hong Kong or Shanghai, but hey, it’s all about the drinking experience….isn’t it? In 2005 or 2009 where great wine is to be found throughout the Medoc, this Le Terme cellaring experiment should inform value buying of unclassified growths to lay away for the longer term. The Le Terme boasted elegance, secondary aromatic and flavor magic, a silky yet well preserved construct, and lovely earthy and mushroom aromas to blend with the perfumed cherry fruit.  It wasn’t even a touch dried out or tired, and was pure joy for less than the cost of a bottle of California Zinfandel.  Who can argue with that?

I hope you can enjoy one or all of these wines, and let me know how you like them if you do.