Overall vintage rating **
As in 1991/92/93 it was a difficult
year as heavy rain in September spoilt what was shaping up to be a great vintage.
However, unlike 1991/92, and to a lesser extent 1993, 1994 was not a write off and
some good wines were made. The merlot was less affected than the cabernet
sauvignon, so those producers that upped the merlot content and employed strict
selection fared better.
However, an abiding
characteristic of the vintage is a high tannin-to-fruit quotient; another is a
pervasive hollowness around the mid-palate. The lean and green Cos D’Estournel typifies these traits. In many cases the fruit is already fading
as the wines approach 20 years of age, and there is nothing left to fill the
void. Some chateau, on the other hand, like Ducru-Beaucaillou on the left bank,
and Angelus, on the right bank, just tried too hard to make good wine and it shows.
Their wines taste artificially manipulated and unbalanced.
However, it is not all gloom and
doom. I bought a case of Chateau Latour 1994, and broached it aged ten or 12, and
the first two bottles were really hard work. I let six go because someone
offered me a silly price for them. Then I tried one at a dinner around
Christmas 2011 (courtesy Nigel Platts-Martin) and it was a revelation. The ugly
duckling had turned into a swan. It is not full-bodied or opulent, but a classically
proportioned Latour.
A couple of weeks earlier at the
same venue (28-50) I hosted a 1994 horizontal, which revealed a mixed bag of
wines. I have already mentioned Cos, Ducru and Angelus, which did not really hit
the spot. Also missing the mark was Leoville-Barton, which had a sour
aftertaste, and L’Eglise Clinet, which was disappointingly disjointed,
especially given that Pomerol is regarded as one of the more successful appellations in 1994.
However, there were some
conspicuous successes. Perhaps the most noteworthy was Gazin, with its
interesting tobacco, mineral notes and endearing rusticity. It really is delicious
and a pleasure to drink. Swinging back into Pauillac, Pontet Canet just about
lived up to its reputation as a serial overachiever in this vintage, but the
cracks are starting to show now as the fruit begins to fade. It was outclassed
on the night by Grand-Puy-Lacoste, which like
Latour is another classic expression of Pauillac. The 1994 GPL was the
precursor to spectacular wines produced at this estate in the following two
vintages, so it is probably one to look out for.
Mouton is one of the best wines produced
in 1994...and the most widely misunderstood. The Prince of Darkness remains backward
and brooding. More than any other wine in this vintage it is a vin de garde, and unlike Latour still
needs a few more years to come round. In this regard it is similar to the 1988
Mouton, which has only just woken from a prolonged slumber. Leoville-Lascases
is a wine cut from similar cloth but easier to understand and appreciate. It is
also one of the top wines in 1994. Likewise Montrose, which is more Latour-like
and streets ahead of Cos D’Esournel.
The wine of the vintage, however,
was tasted blind and brought along by Neal Martin. It is Chateau Margaux, which
is a wonderful effort in a difficult year, and reminds me very much of the
sublime 1979. It is simply a cut above everything else in this vintage that I
have tried...but there are quite a few wines I haven’t tried especially on the
right bank , so my knowledge of this vintage is less complete
than others (see list below).
In Pessac-Leognan, the star is
Pape Clement, which is a beautifully nuanced, and somewhat understated and elegant,
medium-bodied wine, which betrays none of the difficulties encountered by other
producers. Its more illustrious neighbours, Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut
Brion made good wines, but they are much more laboured and suffer from a certain
hollowness around the mid-palate. The 1994 Haut-Brion and La Mission, while
great fun to drink, are light years behind the wines they made in other more
renowned vintages. Still they both scrape into the top ten but I very much
doubt this would be the case if I had tried all the other wines in the second list
below.
Top ten clarets in 1994
10. La
Mission Haut-Brion
9.
Haut-Brion
8. Gazin
7. Grand Puy
Lacoste
6.
Leoville-Lascases
5. Mouton
4. Montrose
3. Pape Clement
2. Latour
1. Chateau Margaux
Notable wines I have not tried
Calon Segur, Lafite, Lynch Bages, Pichon Lalande, Gruaud-Larose, Palmer, Ausone, Cheval
Blanc, Figeac, La Conseillante, L’Evangile, Lafleur, Petrus, Le Pin, Trotanoy,
Vieux Chateau Certan
No comments:
Post a Comment