Obituary: 1970 Bordeaux

Tasted Tuesday, November 5, 2019 by sdr with 312 views

Introduction

A local collector and head of our wine group decided that 1970 Bordeaux would be an interesting theme for this group, which usually tastes much younger wines of the world. I was excited to try them all in a group comparison setting since it has been years or decades since I had tried many of them and only have a couple of them in the cellar. He had purchased almost all of them on release.

Flight 1 (1 Note)

  • 1970 Château Les Ormes de Pez 84 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Drinkable but weak and clearly OTH, not surprising for a Cru Bourgeois St. Estèphe at almost half a century. On the positive side, the color is good and it’s mildly pleasant if you want to be generous. Still, just too tertiary and the acidity is too high.

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Flight 2 (1 Note)

  • 1970 Château Gazin Pomerol 85 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    One of the palest wines in the 1970 lineup, the Gazin has also failed to stay the course. Old leather and stale tobacco let you know that it’s too late for CPR and you cannot revive it.

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Flight 3 (1 Note)

  • 1970 Domaine de Chevalier 86 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    There’s a bit of pleasure to be had since there are signs of life in this one, some stuffing and a hint of gravelly fruit. Perhaps this was even good ten or twenty years ago.

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Flight 4 (1 Note)

  • 1970 Château Pape Clément 87 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    From magnum. Interesting due to the aged complexity and Graves character. Perhaps the large format helped preserve it. Although clearly faded, there’s enough stuffing here to almost enjoy half a glass although you won’t ask for a refill.

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Flight 5 (1 Note)

  • 1970 Château Gruaud Larose 86 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Magnum bottle. I was hoping for something better from this fine second growth St. Julien. Unfortunately this tasting confirmed my previous mediocre experience with it. The average color was actually the best part. Nothing on the nose. Just generic old wine and too acidic, too. No amount of CPR could revive this one.

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Flight 6 (1 Note)

Flight 7 (1 Note)

  • 1970 Château Léoville Las Cases 88 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Apparently Léoville Las Cases in this era was not making the stellar wines they did a decade or so later. Nevertheless, this bottle was pretty good. Excellent color with some garnet and ruby. Unlike some of its 1970 brethren it’s definitely alive. No aroma though. On the palate, there’s decent structure and a vestige of earthy red fruit and a lot of tobacco.

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Flight 8 (1 Note)

  • 1970 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    I’ve had this wine many times since it was the first “old” Bordeaux I drank when it was ten or twelve. It has survived the decades since quite well and is fairly consistent too. It has that cedary mahogany polished leather aroma that old Bordeaux fanatics seek. This particular bottle was slightly below average for ‘70 Ducru since the grip and intensity was fading. Pleasant enough though.

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Flight 9 (1 Note)

Flight 10 (1 Note)

  • 1970 Château Lafite Rothschild 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Lafite was also in a down period at this time and the ‘70 has a poor reputation. I can see why since it is weak and very light in color and body. I was ready to consign it to the trash heap of history at first. But Lafite has a way of sneaking up on you and after several more minutes the delicate ephemeral and elegant rose and violet fragrance of the Château started to emerge. Subtle and intriguing.

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Flight 11 (1 Note)

  • 1970 Château Mouton Rothschild 78 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Nineteen-seventy Mouton is reliably terrible and this bottle is more evidence coming in last place in this ‘70 Bordeaux horizontal. Mean, astringent and very unbalanced. Not spoiled but even dedicated necrophiliacs will not find much to like.

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Flight 12 (1 Note)

  • 1970 Château Latour Grand Vin 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Very nice, even if not up to the best examples. Great color, more like something from the eighties. Weighty tannins that are burly but not obtrusive. Medium concentration. More about the dirt that the berry. Old fashioned Pauillac that’s obviously mature but doesn’t need to be consumed ASAP.

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Flight 13 (1 Note)

  • 1970 Château Suduiraut 89 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Sauternes without botrytis is like a Ferrari without wheels, it looks pretty but doesn’t go anywhere. The Suduiraut is sweet and orange-y but it’s awfully simple despite plenty of time for any complexity to emerge if it were in there. Okay with dessert, not by itself.

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Closing

It’s clear that 1970 has not lasted well. At this age, I would expect the minor examples to have died but there were numerous prestigious bottles, many mediocre and none exciting. I have had significantly better bottles of Latour, Montrose and Ducru in the last few years, though. Au revoir, mes amis, RIP.

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