My knowledge of these two
vintages is even more limited than of 1975 and 1976.
1970
Overall vintage rating ****
An abundant vintage in which the
weather was ideal throughout and the grapes were harvested under perfect
conditions. This vintage is regarded as the best of a mostly wretched bunch between
1961 and 1982. If this is the case, the question I would ask is this: why aren’t
the wines generally better? In my experience this is a variable and
inconsistent vintage. I remember going to a 1970 horizontal of mainly first growths
or first growth equivalents, when I was starting to get the wine bug, and I
came away bitterly disappointed. The only wine to show well was Latour. Margaux
and Lafite were poor, and wines like Cheval Blanc and Haut-Brion were
disappointing.
Since that low point over 20
years ago my experiences of the 1970 vintage have been more favourable. While
wine making practices were clearly not on a par with today, storage and
provenance probably plays a dominant role, as indeed it does in any older
vintage. My experience of right bank 1970s is unfortunately very limited, but
by all accounts there are some outstanding wines, especially in Pomerol, which
helps explain why this vintage, like 1975, attains the four star vintage rating.
While there is lots of inconsistency, this is outweighed by the many high points.
On the left bank I have tried a
number of good wines, and some brilliant ones. La Lagune is consistently outstanding in 1970.
I first tried it at a dinner hosted by my dear friend Franz Schmadl in the late 1990s, which included three vintages of Lafite from the
1940s and 50s and it acquitted itself very well. I have tried it twice since
with consistent results. Calon Segur, tried in 2009 was similarly outstanding.
Likewise, Giscours and Ducru Beaucaillou tried in 2010.
The wine of the vintage, however,
is Latour...probably even taking into account all the right bank superstars I have unfortunately not had the privilege of trying. I have tried it few times, twice about 20 years ago, when it
was young, brooding and oh so impressive, and twice this year, where it has evolved
into a perfect, elegant, medium-bodied example of Latour, drinking at its apogee.
It is difficult to imagine how this will improve. Everything is so resolved and
everything is in perfect harmony. Well stored examples are worth tracking down, because
the price of the 1970 is about a quarter of the price of the 1982 and 2010
Latours.
I have tried several other wines
including disappointing bottles of Palmer and Montrose. While there are clearly
many pitfalls in buying wines from the 1970 vintage and the reality is that a
lot of them, if not ‘late’ or ‘ex’ wines, are otherwise disappearing gracefully into
the sunset, we are going to persevere with these because 1970 is Maureen’s
birth year. It is a distinctly better vintage than 1963, my birth year, which
is a strong contender for the accolade of ‘worst ever' vintage.
Top five clarets in 1970
5. Ducru Beaucaillou
4. Giscours
3. Calon Segur
2. La Lagune
1. Latour
Notable wines not tried
La Mission Haut-Brion, Lafleur,
Petrus, Trotanoy
Vintage disappointments
Margaux, Lafite
1971
Overall vintage rating ***
Most 1971s were early drinkers,
and the majority of wines are either gone or are in decline. There are quite a few satisfactory
wines on the left bank, but nothing more than that. The pick would be Latour and
Haut-Brion, which are some distance behind the best of what the right bank has
to offer.
The wine of the vintage is Chateau
Petrus. It is a wine that can often be marauding and brooding taking several
decades to come round, in vintages such as 1964, 1975 and 1990, but it can
occasionally take on a more seductive,
rarefied and captivating style as in the 1971 and 1978. I found the 1971 to be
utterly beguiling and mesmerising.
I tried La Fleur Petrus 1971
earlier this year and it rekindled memories of the Petrus. It was an entralling example of mature Pomerol out of the top drawer. I also tried Chateau
Ausone 1971 this year, and contrary to the conventional wisdom, it was stunning, probably even better than the 1976.
Top five clarets in 1971
5. Haut-Brion
4. Latour
3. Ausone
2. La Fleur Petrus
1. Petrus
Notable wines not tried
Mouton Rothschild, Palmer, La Mission Haut-Brion, Cheval Blanc, La
Dominique, Trotanoy
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