Bordeaux 2006s develop in the bottle; Jancis R underwhelmed.

Coming in the same week as a couple of interesting reports here on 2007, people may be interested to see Jancis Robinson's article in yesterday's Financial Times on 2006 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/8782e8b2-0c63 ... s01=1.html .

I respect Jancis Robinson's taste and integrity enormously but in this particular case I will somewhat disagree with her. My own tastings of the 2006 vintage show two major things – that although not a "great" year (thank heavens, for one does grow weary of "great years" in Bordeaux), many of the better producers came through with fine colors., It also shows that most of these wines will be approachable quite early – as noted in my own tasting notes, approachable by 2013-2014. I cannot help but think that a recent tasting might have shown these wines in a somewhat premature condition, not in a true dumb period but in a clumsy situation waiting for their elements to come together better.

Some of my own 2006 Bordeaux tasting notes can be found at viewtopic.php?f=29&t=29302

Now comes the interesting part – waiting three, four and more years to see how the wines develop.

Best
Rogov

[David M. Bueker]

Of course how much does it really matter when one's old favorites (e.g. Leoville Barton, Pontet Canet, Sociando Mallet) are now triple what they used to cost & out of range. I will get to taste a number of '06s soon, so I'll see if they are worth it.

I've tasted some '06 Right Bank stuff recently (Château Teyssier Bordeaux Supérieur "Pezat", Chateau Latour A Pomerol, Chateau Plince Pomerol, Ch Beaulieu "Comtes de Tastes") and on the basis of this very limited sample am inclined to agree that these wines will mature relatively rapidly. Which is fine by me--I need something to drink while I wait for those dang '00s I still have to mature.

I need something to drink while I wait for those dang '00s I still have to mature

Dave,
I find most of my 2000's drinking nicely with a 2-3 hour decant (actually a "double decant", back into the bottle to completely eliminate all sediment). I have Grand Puy Lacoste, Sociando Mallet, Duhart Milon, d'Armaillhac and last week really enjoyed the Larrivet-Haut-Brion with lamb chops.
I see that you are just up the road from me. I live in Columbia, SC and really like your part of the country.