The claret vintage series: part eleven 1995

Overall vintage rating ****(*)

I have very high hopes for the 1995 vintage, and I have put my money where my mouth is: I own 14 cases worth, or 168 bottles, of 1995 claret.  The growing conditions were mostly favourable, but as with the previous four generally unsuccessful vintages, there was a fair bit of bit rain around harvest time; but it did not have any like the same devastating effect. Moreover, by the mid-90s the top producers had adopted more severe crop thinning and selection strategies, which substantially restricted the amount of wine being bottled under the ‘Grand Vin’ label.

The benefits of this more fastidious approach are tangible, with the top producers fashioning wines of exceptional quality, in most cases on a par with 1989 and 1990. Most of the top 1995s, aged 18, are still not fully ready to drink yet. In this sense 1995 is a classic vin de garde vintage, with some observers complaining that the wines are a little too backward and tannic, and a little too ‘classic’.  I am confident that these misgivings will be assuaged with the passage of time. It is unlikely that the tannins will outlive the fruits as was often the case in the 1975 vintage.

The first growths, and first growth equivalents on the right bank, made the best wines in this very strong vintage. It is therefore no coincidence that they occupy the first seven places in my top ten.  By the mid-90s, all of them were very much ‘on message’ about how to make the best possible wines; the combination of this and the best terroir is a sure fire recipe for astoundingly good wines 

Chateau Lafite occupies the top spot on the strength of a 2011 showing, when it blew away a field that included 1982 Leoville Lascases and Gruaud-Larose and 1996 Pichon Lalande and Montrose, all great wines and all four of which showed well on the night. But the Lafite was in a different class.  Likewise Lafleur was mightily impressive at a Pomerol dinner earlier this year, sharing top honours with Lafleur Petrus 1971 (see previous thread). Meanwhile, Mouton 1995 was the top dog at a dinner hosted by my good friend Joe Roseman in 2010, which was designed to replicate the Judgement of Paris 1976, and included Harlan Estate 1994, Bryant Estate 1996, Lafite 1998 and Le Pin 1999.

Outside the firsts, the ‘best of the rest’ is surely Grand Puy Lacoste, a lowly fifth growth, but an astonishingly good Pauillac and value for money in this vintage. It is just entering its drinking window. A wine I hold dear to my heart, and which has been drinking beautifully for at least 7-8 years is Pape Clement, one of the last traditionally-styled Papes before this historic estate was hijacked and subverted by the Magrez-Rolland axis of evil. To be fair there have been some good Papes produced in the new regime (e.g., 2004, 2010), but at a tasting in 2005 the contrast between the delightfully deft 1995 and the transatlantic trash that was the 2001 was distressing as it was depressing.

Ducru Beaucaillou is a classic vin de garde, and is one of the most backward wines in this vintage, but it has a long and bright future. Other St-Julien second growths Leoville-Lascases and Leoville Barton are similarly backward, but have outstanding potential; likewise Palmer and Rausan Segla from Margaux are also some years away from being ready. More accessible wines include a super Sociando Mallet (I am one of the minority who prefers the 1995 to the 1996), a meaty, beaty, big and bouncy Pichon Lalande (ready to roll and unlucky not to secure a top ten berth), Gruaud Larose, Talbot and Beychevelle. On the right bank Angelus, Clinet  and La Conseillante are also surprisingly backward wines.     

Five runners up

15. Leoville-Barton
14. Leoville-Lascases
13. Clinet
12. Sociando Mallet
11. Pichon Lalande

Top ten wines of 1995

10. Ducru Beaucaillou

9. Pape Clement

8. Grand Puy Lacoste

7. Cheval Blanc

6. Haut-Brion

5. Latour

4. Margaux

3. Mouton Rothschild

2. Lafleur

1. Lafite

Wines not tried (* wines that I own)

Calon Segur*, Cos D’Estournel, Montrose, Branaire Ducru, La Mission Haut Brion, Ausone, Figeac, L’Eglise Clinet, L’Evangile*, Petrus, Le Pin, Trotanoy, Vieux Chateau Certan