] ] Leo Bueno wrote: ] > The observation by Cwdjrxyz about the possibility of batch to batch ] > variability being responsible for reports of oxidized 1975 Mouton got ] > me thinking about this issue generally. ] >
] > I have in the past opened bottles side by side specifically to look ] > for inter-bottle variability, which I have readily found and other ] > experienced tasters confirmed. This is a no-brainer given that ] > sometimes one bottle will be clearly corked while others are not; all ] > it takes is one tainted cork. ] >
] > Variability can be attributed of course to several other factors. ] > Because I have purchased the test bottles from the same retailer, ] > storage and handling can be likely ruled out. ] >
] > So, that leaves me to wonder how significant batch to batch ] > variability is. ] >
] > Intuitively, a winery that makes 185,000 cases of a product (e.g., the ] > 90-point Wine Spectator rated 2000 Columbia Crest Chardonnay Columbia ] > Valley Grand Estates) cannot make the stuff in one try. ] >
] > So, intuitively again, no matter how hard the wine makers try, they ] > cannot produce batches that are identical. ] >
] > Which then leads to the question, is the wine in each batch really the ] > same stuff? ] >
] >
] > On 20 Nov 2005 16:34:20 -0800, " snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com" ] > wrote: ] >
] > >There have been tasting notes for some bottles of Mouton 75 that proved ] > >a bit oxidized. Of course, at 30 years, some bottle variation is to be ] > >expected. I do not know if the less good bottles had been stored ] > >properly, if they had a cork problem, or if Mouton 75 was bottled in ] > >several batches that may not have been quite the same. ] ] In the past, many top Bordeaux wines were bottled over a considerable ] period of time. This does not seem to be as common anymore. Several ] types of grapes may be used to make red Bordeaux. Usually each type is ] kept apart until barrel aging is completed. Then it is decided how much ] of each wine to put in the final blend. Barrels not up to par or in ] excess of needs for the blend get sold as something else, perhaps as a ] second label, or are sold as bulk wine if really foul. On the other ] hand, many German wines are made in many batches. There can be several ] batches of auslese, for example. However every different batch must be ] submitted for evaluation and must display an AP number on the label ] that is given to that batch of wine. And a top batch of wine, such as a ] J.J. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Long Gold Capsule auslese, can cost very ] much more than the "normal" batches of this wine. ]
I can think of one Chateauneuf du Pape off-hand that bottles in different batches: Dom. du Grand Tinel. They keep a stock of older vintage unbottled, in large old oak vats, stored in a very cold room. These vats are then bottled up as the market will bear. The advantage is of course the availability of older wine kept in impeccable conditions; however this will not have the same characteristics as a well stored example of the initial bottling. I have tasted the '75 from the original run in mag, to my palate it was fresher than the same wine bottled in '90. If I understood correctly the blend was exactly the same, though.
-E
] Unless you have an accurate, complete history of the storage of a wine ] and who bottled it, all you can do is speculate about what may cause ] bottle variation. Bottle variation often becomes more apparent as wine ] ages. One only has to look at M. Broadbent's tasting notes for older ] top wines. He has tasted many top Bordeaux reds multiple times, and ] even the top wines can be rather variable. In the past it was quite ] common to ship red Bordeaux in barrel to the UK and other countries, ] where wine merchants bottled the wine when they thought it was ready. ] This introduces another very important variable for very old Bordeaux. ]