Wine Focus - September: A love once new has now grown old

I will throw in a winery rather than a grape or wine. I was a huge fan and massive supporter of Idlewild. Then around the 2021 vintage........

That is an interesting variation on the same theme. Of course, among the many wine estates in Europe, standards can change, particularly with a change of generation in a family or outright sale to a third party. Mostly the generation changes have been beneficial with sons and/or daughters employing more up to date practices in the vineyards and cellars as a result of a better professional education at agricultural colleges. However, offhand I can think of the following estates where I have ceased regsular purchases.

Château Poujeaux - Moulis-en-Médoc - I was a big fan of the 80s and 90s vintages produced here by the Theil family which IMO punched well above its cru bourgeois weight. I already thought that the 2000 and 2001 were not quite up to previous level and have only purchased sporadically in later vintages. The Theil family was apparently suffering from inheritance disagreements and sold to the Cuvelier family c. 2008. Reports are that the wines have recovered most of their quality. I should look again as prices remain reasonable c.€30.

Domaine René-Noël Legrand - Saumur-Champigny I was a regular visitor at the estate through the 90s and early 00s. My last visit was in 2008 and I recall a subsequent mail order. I loved his wines for their gutsy, earthy character and robust fruit and some acquired great finesse and elegance with age, e.g. 1982 and 1989. Very friendly prices did not hurt. His daughter, Clotilde, took over more than 10 years ago and for a few years I bought her entry level cuvées at Carrefour's annual Foire aux Vins; they were still up to Papa's standard but are no longer listed there. If I were to visit the region, I would call at the estate to check it out.

Domaine Oratoire Saint-Martin - Cairanne, S. Rhône The owners, the Alary brothers, were regular visitors in Belgium when I was living there and I was a big fan of their whole range. I continued to find their wines at quality cavistes after moving to France. After one of the brothers had a bad cellar accident, they sold out to the CndP estate Mont-Redon and I no longer see their wines on many shelves. The RVF guide has demoted them reporting some slippage in standards. I would still stretch for a bottle if I saw one so as to form my own opinion.

I was never a Beaujolais fan--the bananarama Duboeuf wines put me off. But last year the NH State Liquor Store had some Beaujolais crus at attractive prices. The ones I tried were excellent. I'm always on the lookout for them when I visit the NH State Store.

-Paul W.

[David M. Bueker]

Tim - I gave up on Poujeaux as well, but Potensac is still quite good and reasonable value.

When I think of wineries I've given up upon, the poster child is Caymus Vineyards. I first fell in love with their wines in the early '80s, and visited them on a couple of occasions when the guy pouring the wines was Charlie Wagner, the owner and an old, crusty farmer who was hella intimidating to a an early-20s guy who'd fallen in love with the wines. By '87, there was a tasting room and professional staff and, as John Gilman has explained, in the '87 vintage they for the first time added grapes that had previously gone into their Estate Cabernet into their Special Selection bottling, with predictable results. It was also at that time, I believe, that the son Chuck Wagner took over the winemaking and direction of the operation. Prices also escalated and, by '91 or '92 I'd given up on them. Needless to say, subsequent events have done nothing to change my feelings.

Tim - I gave up on Poujeaux as well, but Potensac is still quite good and reasonable value.

I like Potensac.

Here in France, the Bordeaux region, contrary to Burgundy, is now becoming a good source of QPR reds at around €10-12/bottle. With some care in selection, lots of very drinkable wines are available from, say, Fronsac and outlying Côtes like Blaye, Bourg and Castillon as well as lesser Médoc and St.Émilion. These are now incomparably better than their equivalents 30 years ago. Paradoxically the region is in crisis with lots of bankruptcies and subsidized vine uprooting going on.

[David M. Bueker]

Vineyards are being ripped out in California. There’s just too much wine right now.

[Robin Garr]

I've been biding my time and trying to think of wines that have lost my affection, and seeing Dale's comments about Caymus clicked the switch that I've been waiting for: Not grapes or regions, but producers.

I used to love Louis M. Martini Cabernet and watch for it every year. Then Gallo took over and turned it commercial. I also watched for Penfolds' Bin 389 and a couple of its other affordable Bin Numbers every year. Ditto D'Arenberg. I think my tastes just evolved away from Australian reds, although to be fair, I think they've been changing, too, in the post-Parker era. And then there's price inflation knocking me out of the market. I used to enjoy lots of decent Left Bank Bordeaux, but most of the labels I liked - Ch. Gloria comes to mind - just weren't in my budget any more. <whine>

[David M. Bueker]

The price jumps on the Penfolds wines have been very depressing. They are still really good wines, but…

[David M. Bueker]

Having a bottle of Beaujolais last night made me realize that I barely pay attention to it anymore. I have a few bottles of 2021, but nothing after that, and haven't even thought about buying it.

Having a bottle of Beaujolais last night made me realize that I barely pay attention to it anymore. I have a few bottles of 2021, but nothing after that, and haven't even thought about buying it.

There's so much wine in the world, and you drink quite widely!

[David M. Bueker]

But I used to pay attention to it. Some of it was immensely joyful. Now I look at my bottles of Thivin (my favorite), and move on.

Sorry for the late addition, I just spent a week in Paris and two weeks tasting through Burgundy.

For me the grape is Cabernet Sauvignon. It was my first love, but since I lost my sense of smell all I get in younger Cabs is tannin, Fairly old Bordeaux is still good — I just celebrated my 77th birthday with a 1990 Château Latour that was nicely aged if still a little young. My 1990 Clerc-Milon is drinking well, too. I'm down to my last 8 bottles of Bordeaux, though, and I won't replace them. Oddly enough, I still like Cabernet Franc.

I just spent...two weeks tasting through Burgundy... since I lost my sense of smell..

That sounds like a tough combination!

But congratulations on celebrating your 77th birthday in style!

My mother just turned 79 a few months ago, but no wine on the table...

Wow, Ted, I'm sorry your senses are not letting you enjoy all there is to enjoy in the wines. And David, I share your feelings a bit. Part of it is that Beaujolais is not as big on the west coast, so I have fewer opportunities to taste.

He who is tired of Bordeaux/Beaujolais is tired of life? I hope not.

I just spent...two weeks tasting through Burgundy... since I lost my sense of smell..

That sounds like a tough combination!

But congratulations on celebrating your 77th birthday in style!

Thanks.

Lest anyone think I'm loaded, I spent $115 CDN (around $90 USD) for the 1990 Latour around 1992. The last time it was for sale in Ontario, it was $2445 CDN, thanks to our government liquor monopoly's markup. I figure that at usual restaurant markups, it would have cost $5000 to $10000 CDN at the restaurant! One of the few benefits of growing old is that I can drink wines from my cellar that I can't afford to buy.

but since I lost my sense of smell all I get in younger Cabs is tannin

It's a tragic loss. I had a severe bout of influenza where I was almost bedridden for a month and took 3 months to fully recover. I lost my sense of smell for three weeks. This was in late December. When New Year's Eve came around I decided to celebrate anyway with Chinese take-out and a bottle of Champagne. The take-out food (from the best Chinese restaurant in the area) tasted salty, nothing more. The Champagne tasted sour. It was incredibly disappointing. The only upside to lack of sense of smell is that I'd been too ill to clean the cat box for three weeks and when I finally did get around to it (being worried the cat would start thinking outside the box) I was glad I couldn't smell anything.

-Paul W.