When Classified Growth Bordeaux Sucks...

Sorry to hear it. I don't recall any notable from those years, so it may have been just an average harvest for those wines. If it was corked, the wine would likely tasted musty and sour. Other than that, the provenance of those bottles may be in question.

 

Where was my phone # when you were planning this lil' soire'?? '82 may be the best Bd year of the last 40, and '79 probably top 7 for Petrus. Unbelieveable that both were corked. Same purveyor? Gotta' be a storage problem on thier end. Burgundies are a tough hold past 15 years, but the HB should've gone on forever if properly kept.
Anyway, I'm mostly in awe of your choices. When Lee is doing my major next month with your kit, I'll sleep better knowing the money is being used properly. Even though I'll have to drink Ripple for 90 days to pay for it.

 

1979 was top 7 for Petrus? RP gave it an 86/100 and WS 90/100.

 

I would guess that there are 15 better vintages for Petrus than 79 since that year. About 6 years ago I had the 75 and it was started to fade. The 82 H-B should have been a great bottle, and in its prime drinking window IF properly stored. Back to Daniel's point, I have had the sad occasion to open an old soldier...anticipating the reward for having bought right and stored right...to find cooked, corked, pre-mox or just plain barnyard. I still have BDX from 82, 85 (yes 85), 86 and 89. I opened a Lynch Bages 85 over Xmas and it was perfect.
On a separate level, my wife and I had a 97 Kalin Pinot (cuvee DD) Saturday night with duck and it was drinking fabulously.

 

I gotta admit that I ran out of '79 in '86, when it was still fantastic. Sad that it hasn't held up well. If you were drinking it in the first 5 years of release, you may recall it as a wonderful bottle.
Or you may say that "I was 13 at the time, you old geezer!" which would remind me that my wines are mostly aging better than I am.

 

I've had my fair share of old wine showing up ... shall we say less than expected. however there is a thirll to be drinking something that was bottled when Scheckter won the WDC!
Petrus is not one of my faves... I get the limited production etc... but it is merlot, and just a bit strong for me.

I'm a Burgandy fan, and I've gone the route of having my old bottles recorked. I had a 78 Chambertin Clos de Bez go bad, when the cork was shriviled up and only the very top was there... same with a Richebourg... so to me its worth the $40-50 per bottle.

I do have a couple Really old things setting aside... 25 Laffite & a 67 Yquem... and holding on to a bunch of old Chambertin's. Charme & Clos de Bez.

 

Tom, I admire you for staying with the old burgundies. Given a choice, it's Burgundy for me over anything else. Sadly, I have kind of given up on them over the past few years and have not bought any to lay down in six years. I bought several cases of the 99s and 2005s at mid price points (Maltroy, LeRoy, Jadot) but haven't been a buyer since. I had a 95 Clos de Mouche a few weeks ago that was very nice. My wife and I drank a Domaine LeRoy from 93 at Le Cirque last October that was very good but not life changing...has a bit of the old barnyard that never quite blew off. There has been a lot written about premox in the white burgundies which I also love but have essentially given up due to pricing, bottle variation, and scarcity of good QPR values.

 

Maybe it is just me, but I've found anything short of a Jeroboam of most bordeaux just doesn't hold up well. Comparing a Balthazar and a standard .750 of an early '80s Margaux both stored in the same vault was eye opening! Sadly, I have neither the means, nor thankfully the obsession to regularly partake in such libations.

Sure miss the friend of a friend's annual "cellar diminishment" party!

 

My two favorites are Margaux and Chateauneuf du Pape.. I've been getting mostly second growth Margaux in the last few years. I still get my walk-in allotment of Beaucastels each year, but I prefer Clos des Papes. I was happily enjoying them before Robert Parker managed to stumble across them and jacked the prices.

 

The way the chinese are going - I may be selling up and buying that 458 I want so bad!
New Burgundy's Grand cru are getting totally crazy pricing.... but I do like village wine!