2004 Bordeaux - A Steal at Twice the Price

I recently had the great pleasure of attending the blowout Bordeaux wine event of the year here in Chicago, put on by The Union Des Grands Crus de Bordeaux. This association of Bordeaux wine growers (founded in 1973) has 132 member estates from throughout the region. Approximately 90 chateaux were here to present their most recent bottling, the 2004 vintage, to the local wine trade here in Chicago as well as other major cities around the world in recent weeks.

First off, I’d like to thank Jazzfood for toting me along to this marvelous event; a real treat to say the least.

A few months ago, I attended a tasting of 2003 Bordeaux, an expensive vintage which I was less than enamored with. I was quite surprised that my impressions of this vintage overall were as bad as they were especially since it has been fairly highly touted by a number of prominent wine critics. Needless to say, going into this ’04 tasting, my expectations were muted since the early assessments I read about them were, for the most part, notably less enthusiastic than the ’03 reviews.

That immediately changed when I smelled my first glass with its absolutely classic and gorgeous Bordeaux bouquet. On the palate, many of the wines had firm structure from the tannins and wonderful suppleness, being harmonious and balanced. Many of these wines are traditional in style for Bordeaux.

As I made my way around the tables, I felt that most of the wines I was trying were unquestionably more than pleasant but that certain chateaux were substantially more complex and beautiful than the rest. I enjoyed the wines from the right bank most (Pomerol & St.-Emilion), suspecting that the weather conditions in ‘04 was more forgiving to the Merlot grape than the Cabernets coming from the Medoc (Pauillac, St-Julien, Margaux,etc.).
I have been a longtime fan of Chateau Figeac, the great grand cru estate from St. Emilion, but have, unfortunately, found the wines in relative decline and a poor value over the last several years. But after trying the ‘04 Figeac, it was like revisiting an old friend. This was exceptionally good wine--fruity yet multi-dimensional with an elegance that was limitless. This wine made my day.

Other wines which I thoroughly enjoyed were the Ch. Smith Haut-Lafitte (Graves), Ch. Fieuzel (Graves), Ch. Clinet (Pomerol), and the great sweet wine from Sauternes, Chateau Suduiraut, which had a beautiful pineapple character. I liked these wines so much that I bought cases of each the very next day.

Since the ’04 vintage is tucked between two highly touted vintages, and with early assessment of it being overshadowed by them, I believe the ‘04s are a sensational value. Bottle prices of the wines mentioned above range from $40-$60.

It’s been a long time since I’ve felt that there was a vintage coming out of Bordeaux which warranted the prices relative to its quality, whether a classic vintage or just a good one. The ’04 vintage, is a good year in the classic sense and is a major bargain today if you’re willing to take the time and select particular chateaux carefully.

I would strongly recommend buying wines from this vintage.

Pigmon,

Thanks a lot for posting this review.

I checked around online for prices on Figeac, and most places seem to be charging $69 or so. Probably would make sense to wait for bottles to start showing up in local wine stores.

Hammond

I purchased a case of 2004 Chateau Figeac from K & L Wines out of California for $694.88 which works out to $57.99/bottle (shipping included).

Really great post, I learned a lot. Thanks, Couchon-homme.*

* Pronounced couchon-hheuuuhmm.

Mike G wrote:Thanks, Couchon-homme.*

Je suspect que vous mean cochon, not couchon, which bears a suspicious (?) resemblance to coucher. Then again, maybe not.

Yeah, that one.

Great, now guess what 70s Europop song I have stuck in my head.

Mike G wrote:Great, now guess what 70s Europop song I have stuck in my head.

I can. But I don't wanna.

Good report, thanks. I am always torn with new Bordeaux vintages, though. Since you need to age them so long, I tend to look to auctions, particularly the Chicago Wine Company, to procure older vintages that will be at their peak to drink during my lifetime.

Which makes me think. I have never actually attended one of the auctions in person. Any interest in an LTH wine auction outing? I am sure we can find an appropriate place to dine before or after as well.

For more info on TCWC: http://tcwc.com/

I received this email from the fine people at The Chcago Wine Company today:

"Robert Parker recently released his final "in-bottle" reviews for 2004 Bordeaux. In his write-up preceding the reviews Parker poses the question, "the final value-priced good vintage of Bordeaux?" Judging from the pricing and demand for Bordeaux that we have seen since the 2004's were released, we would have to say the answer is probably yes.



We had the pleasure of tasting most of these wines in barrel and again in bottle and the vintage is consistently very good. There is no doubt that in 2003 and 2005 Bordeaux produced some outstanding wines that achieved qualitative heights beyond their 2004 counterparts but the price difference for those vintages is much greater than the difference in quality. For those of you looking to stock your cellars with superbly balanced Bordeaux from well known properties at reasonable prices, we urge you to consider the wines below....while the opportunity still exists."

Just FYI - I saw a bunch of the higher end, premier cru wines from this vintage at Costco on Damen. Not sure why they were there, if they were stored well, etc, but you might find it worth checking out. They were all priced in the $100-$200 range.

leek wrote:Just FYI - I saw a bunch of the higher end, premier cru wines from this vintage at Costco on Damen. Not sure why they were there, if they were stored well, etc, but you might find it worth checking out. They were all priced in the $100-$200 range.

One of the main reasons I wrote the initial post (back in February) about this at-the-time highly underrated vintage was the hope of possibly turning a few interested people onto some good to very good wine for a reasonable price. You can see that after only 6 months, as the '04's start to hit the retail shelves, prices are climbing significantly. This is a totally normal situation, especially for a vintage which was flanked by two highly touted vintages ('03 & '05) and where positive critiques have since been written by various influential wine newsletters.

Hopefully, a few oenophiles bought the wine back then when the wine was at a much more attractive price.