WTN: A successful Audouze experiment with 1973 Bdx

Earlier this year, the owner of a local liquor store picked up quite a few cases of 1973 Bordeaux at auction, for a minimal cost, with the idea that he might be able to to sell them. Well, after tasting one he questioned if they were even worth drinking, so he sent some my way for a second opinion. I reported on that first experience previously:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=56187


Since then, I have had one bottle of each sitting in the cellar, and I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them. Until I realized that they were the perfect test case for the Audouze method. Simply put, I am now an Audouze method believer!

Chateau Ramage La Batisse, Chateau du Terrey, Haut-Medoc 1973
High shoulder fill. Pale garnet, amber at the rim. Pleasant nose, dark cherry and berries with cured tobacco, leather, cedar, a hint of roses, and pencil lead, all with a note of barnyard; subtle but not weak, with some respectable aromatics. Palate: tart, chewy black cherry with juicy blueberry/blackberry, with some green tobacco leaf, a hint of roses, a touch of cedar; still has significant spicy tannin, with mineral, on the finish. Medium-light bodied but not weak, with a nice, succulent, slightly savory texture, though a bit watery toward the finish, and juicy fruit; not particularly vinegary or oxidized. A previous bottle was mostly dead, but this one, with 4 hours of slow oxygenation, is a huge surprise. Pleasant, I find it rather enjoyable, and certainly more than worthwhile as an academic experience. 1.5 Stars [12/28/16]

Chateau Belcier, Cotes de Castillon 1973
Mid-to-high shoulder fill. Pale garnet/amber, definitely some browning. Nose: vinegary, with some offensive canned fish notes, but there is some respectably rich dark berry fruit (maybe some cassis?) and a whiff of chocolate and some mint under all of that; definitely oxidized, but only somewhat; the nose does improve a bit with air. Somewhat better on the palate, some not unattractive juicy red plum, a hint of blueberry, a faint touch of chocolate, and just a tiny bit of tannin left on the finish; perhaps a touch of cedar as well. Light bodied, thin but the fruit is not completely without substance. Freshens and gains body with air. A previous bottle was dead and more-or-less unpalatable. This one, after 4.5 hours of slow oxygenation, is certainly not particularly good, but not horrible either (depending on your tolerances). 0.5 Stars, for academic purposes. Update: bottle was left for additional slow breathing, forgotten about until 22.5 hours after opening. More oxidized, but still more or less alive. [12/28/16]

[David M. Bueker]

Interesting experiments. '73 is a pretty abysmal year, so any interest is a bonus.

I wonder now how many other bottles I've had might have been revived by this method. The most frustrating case being the '61 Latour I had last year that while good, wasn't quite as good as it should have been, and given the issues that were holding it back, I suspect this might have brought it to full glory.

[David M. Bueker]

Perhaps, though many things can happen to a 50 year old bottle, some of which are not repairable.

1 - the 1973 vintage were by and large crap and were toast a very few years after the vintage and no amount of fiddling will ever put back the fruit that was either never there in the first place or has since fled the wine, although as you say, extended airing can result in some accelerated oxidation that can give you some interesting mature notes in the nose.

2 - there are, of course, exceptions. I drank a case of 1973 Talbot with enthusiasm in the late 1970s and the first growths of the vintage remain for the most part still a decent drink today.

3 - if you happen to still have some 1973 claret (for heaven's sake, never buy it even at give away prices), there is nothing to lose by 'Audouzing' it.

4 - the owner of that wine store needs to study up a bit before risking more money on dud/dead vintages. Although I actually made money on a 1965 once (even worse vintage than 1973) - it was a Mouton and had a very rare label because most of the bottles hit the trash bin by about 1970. I donated it to a charity wine auction and got a tax receipt (I hadn't bought it intentionally, it came to me as part of a cellar buy out).

4 - the owner of that wine store needs to study up a bit before risking more money on dud/dead vintages.

It's not even a wine shop, just a small liquor store, but the owner has made a nice little business of buying closeouts and offering them at discounted prices (I have some great stuff in the cellar now that I paid peanuts for). He doesn't really know that much about wine, but wants to offer good wines for his customers. I believe he literally only paid $1 per case for this stuff, so he was only out like $50. Perhaps next time he will solicit my advise in advance. Oh well, made for an interesting academic experience.

Perhaps next time he will solicit my advise in advance. Oh well, made for an interesting academic experience.

I think that is the answer - encourage him to consult you and if you are unsure yourself about a given wine, post something here - the crew is pretty fast to get back to you, and if they are too slow, PM someone (I know some of these deals are time sensitive).

I think that is the answer - encourage him to consult you and if you are unsure yourself about a given wine, post something here - the crew is pretty fast to get back to you, and if they are too slow, PM someone (I know some of these deals are time sensitive).

If he had asked, the conversation would probably have ended at "1973 Bordeaux."

I'd probably error on the side of: if I personally have to research it to get him a good answer, then it's probably too much of a risk for what I imagine his typical customer base is.