Seeking Thoughts on 1975 Bordeaux

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Yule Kim

Yule Kim
In the past two weeks I had a 1975 Mouton and 1975 Leoville Poyferre. I thought both were fantastic, high-toned, with great acidity, yet impeccably elegant and rather silky. The 1975 Poyferre was generally thought of as the wine of the day by many during our St. Julien lunch yesterday (which included a line-up of LLC, Barton, and Gruaud Larose).

Looking back at my notes, I also had a 1975 Magdelaine 2 years ago that I was also a big fan of.

Looking back at some vintage reports, I see a lot of comments about 1975 being "hard," "charmless," and "austere." The 1975s I had definitely were not that, though arguably they are a bit tart and acidic.

I'm just wondering: are the 1975s coming into their own and peaking right now? Anyone else had any recent encounters?
 
Yule, I can't recall any recent encounters with the 1975 Claret vintage; however, I can say that judging by the general consensus, I must have been very lucky with the ones I had. My experiences have been unwaveringly favorable. I greatly enjoyed working my way through a fortuitously large stash of Lascombes '75.

The same is true of the 1986 vintage which some people compare the '75 with. The '86s I've had have been stellar. The Ducru Beaucaillou '86 and the Margaux '86 stick out in my mind as being especially fine.

I would love to have access to some favorably priced 1975 Clarets.

. . . . Pete
 
originally posted by Peter Creasey:
Yule, I can't recall any recent encounters with the 1975 Claret vintage; however, I can say that judging by the general consensus, I must have been very lucky with the ones I had. My experiences have been unwaveringly favorable. I greatly enjoyed working my way through a fortuitously large stash of Lascombes '75.

The same is true of the 1986 vintage which some people compare the '75 with. The '86s I've had have been stellar. The Ducru Beaucaillou '86 and the Margaux '86 stick out in my mind as being especially fine.

I would love to have access to some favorably priced 1975 Clarets.

. . . . Pete
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We also had a flight of 1986s: Poyferre, Gruaud Larose, Talbot, and a (corked) Ducru.

It was interesting to compare the '75 LP to the '86. The '86 was definitely heavier bodied, riper, denser, darker fruit, and much, much more tannic. Still needs time to settle down, but you can see the potential. (But '86 Talbot was at peak; just wonderfully resolved, silky, and open).
 
hey Yule, are you subscribed to View from the Cellar? John Gilman organized a nice tasting that's covered in May/June 2025 issue, that I particularly enjoyed with several left bank wines (finally!!) coming around nicely. Of course right bank and Graves are legend.
 
originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
hey Yule, are you subscribed to View from the Cellar? John Gilman organized a nice tasting that's covered in May/June 2025 issue, that I particularly enjoyed with several left bank wines (finally!!) coming around nicely. Of course right bank and Graves are legend.
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I do not have a subscription, but I will look into signing up. That tasting report sounds very interesting to read.



Yeah, I was surprised how well the 1975s I have had recently have showed, all Medoc. Good to hear that you have had similar recent experiences.

I got a 1975 Haut Bailly buried somewhere. I'm looking forward to trying that sometime.

(Friends of mine are advocating a Margaux AOC tasting next, so that's where we are heading next on our grand tour of Bordeaux. Graves will have to wait).
 
'75 Bordeaux is a great litmus test for people who get their information from word of mouth instead of actually drinking wine. They've been mature and good to drink since the day I got into wine, yet even now years later I hear people thinking they've uttered a profundity by saying, "But will the fruit outlive the tannins?" just because that was the question/criticism Parker was posing in the '80s which then congealed into conventional wisdom. But it hasn't been an apt description of the wines for decades. Both fruit and tannins have mostly moved on to the next plane of existence and what's left is what's always left - mature wine. That said, while many of them are pleasant and even interesting, there aren't many great ones. This isn't a time period when Bordeaux was known for quality control, to say the least. Pape Clement comes to mind as memorably good, and one day I'd like to try a good bottle of the legendary La Mission, though it's eluded me so far.
 
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:
'75 Bordeaux is a great litmus test for people who get their information from word of mouth instead of actually drinking wine. They've been mature and good to drink since the day I got into wine, yet even now years later I hear people thinking they've uttered a profundity by saying, "But will the fruit outlive the tannins?" just because that was the question/criticism Parker was posing in the '80s which then congealed into conventional wisdom. But it hasn't been an apt description of the wines for decades. Both fruit and tannins have mostly moved on to the next plane of existence and what's left is what's always left - mature wine. That said, while many of them are pleasant and even interesting, there aren't many great ones. This isn't a time period when Bordeaux was known for quality control, to say the least. Pape Clement comes to mind as memorably good, and one day I'd like to try a good bottle of the legendary La Mission, though it's eluded me so far.
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Keith, 1975 is a litmus test for a great many things. Initial critical acclaim (pre-RMP) was quite enthusiastic, bordering on hyperbolic. The '70s were some lean years, figuratively and literally, for Bordeaux, and '75 was embraced more enthusiastically than it might otherwise have been. Then, ca. 1980, critical opinion began to shift as people began to realize that the tannins were not only hard but in many cases coarse and somewhat green. As a committed contrarian, I've enjoyed quite a few (along with some memorable '66s) when people started dumping their stashes onto the secondary markets. My experience has been that '75 produced a number of quite good wines, but I haven't had any "wow" experiences from that year (maybe I just hang out with the wrong people -- who knows?)

Mark Lipton
 
It's been a while since I've done any kind of side-by-side tasting of 1975 Bordeaux. In the late 80s, I put together a La Mission Haut-Brion vertical. 1955-1975. Even though it was the youngest, 1975 ranked highly with the group. I had it second behind 1966. Even though it wasn't showing any secondary characteristics yet, it was still a "wow" wine. You just knew it was gonna be legendary.
 
This wine can be truly spectacular. First time I had it was with SFJoe and have looked for bottles ever since.
1975 Chateau Trotanoy - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol (12/24/2025)
My last bottle from a six pack won at auction a few years back and this was the best bottle of the lot. My last bottle was exactly two years ago. Really suave nose of cocoa powder covered red and black fruits. Classic hints of tobacco and earth on the palate with more finishing fruit and cocoa. Incredibly silky and composed with measured acidity keeping it fresh. Luscious without being heavy. Honestly, this was just sublime and as good a bottle of wine as I've had this year. (97 points)
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originally posted by VLM:
This wine can be truly spectacular. First time I had it was with SFJoe and have looked for bottles ever since.
1975 Chateau Trotanoy - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol (12/24/2025)
My last bottle from a six pack won at auction a few years back and this was the best bottle of the lot. My last bottle was exactly two years ago. Really suave nose of cocoa powder covered red and black fruits. Classic hints of tobacco and earth on the palate with more finishing fruit and cocoa. Incredibly silky and composed with measured acidity keeping it fresh. Luscious without being heavy. Honestly, this was just sublime and as good a bottle of wine as I've had this year. (97 points)
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Sounds delicious. I've actually never had Trotanoy. Need to remedy that one day (and pursue some '75 Right Banks as well)
 
originally posted by Yule Kim:
originally posted by VLM:
This wine can be truly spectacular. First time I had it was with SFJoe and have looked for bottles ever since.
1975 Chateau Trotanoy - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol (12/24/2025)
My last bottle from a six pack won at auction a few years back and this was the best bottle of the lot. My last bottle was exactly two years ago. Really suave nose of cocoa powder covered red and black fruits. Classic hints of tobacco and earth on the palate with more finishing fruit and cocoa. Incredibly silky and composed with measured acidity keeping it fresh. Luscious without being heavy. Honestly, this was just sublime and as good a bottle of wine as I've had this year. (97 points)
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Sounds delicious. I've actually never had Trotanoy. Need to remedy that one day (and pursue some '75 Right Banks as well)
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The Trotanoys are hot to trot.
 
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:
Trotanoy is worth chasing (permit me to recommend the dynamite 1998) but VCC is the Pomerol nearest and dearest to my heart.
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VCC is fantastic. 1998 and 2000 VCC are both phenomenal wines.

(I also really liked '98 La Conseillante; I've enjoyed the 1998 Pomerols I have come across. For some reason, though, the bottle of 1998 Figeac didn't really do it for me. Might have been an awkward bottle).
 
I also encourage you to find Gilman's write up of our horizontal last year.

I have had very good experience with 1975s the last 7-8 years. As Pavel suggested, especially RB and Graves. But no worries on the LB either.
 
A friend managed to break through my wife's resistance to dry reds a few years ago when he served us beef tenderloin with a '75 Lafite at a dinner at his place ("Ooh, I LIKE this one! Can you get some of these?" "Uhh, probably not, but...). Tough act to follow.

Been trying to reach that bar ever since, but once he identified the profile, the puzzle was much easier to crack. She still loves Left Bank stuff with some age on it, but these days she also loves the Right Bank, Beaujolais, lots of Côte de Nuits, aged Rhone Syrah and almost everything from northern Italy. Adores Nebbiolo. Now, she demands a bottle every time one of us cooks a decent dinner, and she has stopped complaining about the cases headed for the cellar. It's more: "What's that?"

Hallelujah. Thank you, '75 Bordeaux.
 
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