WTN: Two clarets from the 1994 vintage

I think 1994 Bordeaux comes in for some undue criticism as a vintage at times. I do think 1995 and 1996 are superior, but this is not another 1991, 1992 or 1993. It makes for a middle ground, a hunting ground where inadequate and unexciting wines provide good cover for the occasional gem, you just need to know where to look.

This was a vintage from an era when every third vintage wasn't 'vintage of the century', before Pontet-Canet cost a thousand quid/bucks per case and the wines on the whole seemed just that little bit different - less sweet and fleshy, more restrained and savoury. It is surely this characteristic of the wines - the fact that 1994s do tend to lack a little flesh - that leads many to dismiss the vintage. Yes, these wines do not always have the softness of texture to hide their tannic backbones, but so what? Must all wines be stuffed with squishy forest fruits to be enjoyable?

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy many of the modern wines coming out of Bordeaux, but supple, tannic, structured, complex efforts like this that major on character and savouriness are just as worthy of a place in the cellar as more modern efforts. I find the two wines noted below don't usually disappoint; I have a few bottles from various domaines, but these two are the only bottles I have in any quantity.

Chateau Pontet-Canet 1994: It is remarkable how well this wine, from a sometimes derided vintage, is holding up. A great colour on inspection, slightly dusty-matt, but still dominated by red pigment rather than brown. A lovely nose, not showy or exuberant, but true to the wine, the estate and the appellation. It does take an hour in the decanter to really open up, but when it does it offers notes of perfumed fruit, hints of black olives, graphite, tea leaves, green peppercorn and mint. The palate is dry and savoury, without the sweet flesh of more modern wines, from more recent vintages. This wine has a fine structure, elegant but also with some substance, and a lightly poised texture that will have fans of old-school claret shivering with delight. Fine complexity here, fairly dense in terms of character, with a finish that leaves the mouth in a lively fashion, lightly infused with tannins. Lovely. 17/20

Chateau Léoville-Barton 1994: Another old favourite from this vintage. It has a great colour in the glass, and a nose of fresh fruit, perfumed with notes of violets, blackberries and chalk; it is fresh, defined, bright, evocative and most certainly expressive. In contrast to the Pontet-Canet and as a rebuke to detractors of the vintage it shows a lovely flesh on entry, alongside broad and brilliantly decisive flavour, a great structure with lively acidity and a polished and rounded mouthfeel. There is plenty of texture, although it seems perfect composed, even if there is a slightly sweet and fleshy finish. Good length too. This is remarkable considering the vintage's reputation; plenty of wines in this vintage are good in an austere, dry, old-fashioned (and for many people desirable) style. This wine might have enough flesh to keep even the most fervent modernist happy too. Really great wine. 18/20

Thanks, Chris, for your notes. I have a small stash of 94s buried under a lot of other bottles. I had been worried by contradictory reports some of which were saying that many are drying out, although that did not correspond to my experiences with the two or three which I pulled out, Poujeaux, Phélan-Ségur and Maucamps, I think. I feel further reassured by your report; they sound just the sort of clarets which I enjoy. I think that it about time that I undo the pile, which also contains 95s and 96s, and put the 94s into a more accessible rack.

I have some Pontet-Canet but regrettably passed on L-B and also L-L-C when I had the opportunity at what now look ridiculously low prices.

thanks for the notes Chris!

You are right, even though I'm a relative newbie to wine (I missed the 2000 En Primeur). I was still able to pick up P-C a couple of years later when it hit the shelves at about $50 a bottle...it only took a few years where now futures prices on the '09's for Pc are currently around $149 or triple the on shelf price of the 2000. Wow, what a climb!

This is somewhat encouraging. I splurged for my only bottle of a first growth Bordeaux ( a 1994 Lafite) because the price was not as astronomical as first growths in other more highly praised vintages. I haven't found the occasion to open it yet and may save it for the 20-year mark.

As it happens, I have both of those in the cellar. Thanks for the update!