TN: 1994 Bordeaux at 15

I'm surprised that they showed as well as they did. I have a couple of bottles of 1994 Ch. Cordellian Bages and 1994 Petrus....kind of the alpha-omega thing and the only 1994 Bordeaux in my cellar. I've been drinking a lot of Haut Brion lately....just a coincidence but I'm finding them to all have a fairly agressive tobacco note. Is it me (a reformed smoker who still gets the urge occasionally) or is strong tobacco a part of Haut Brion's terror?

I think of it in the same terms. I've just noticed a pronounced tobacco aroma and flavor in Haut Brion regardless of vintage.

I have no axe to grind, since I bought no red Bordeaux after 1990. However I did look up 1994 red Bordeaux in a book by Michael Broadvbent. He tasted most of the 1994s, but many just several years after the vintage. On his 5 star scale, he rated the vintage as a whole as 3 star(good). He rated no wines, including all of the first growth as 5 star(outstanding). Petrus was rated 3 star. The only 7 wines rated as 4 star(very good) or that had the potential to develop to 4 star were: Cheval Blanc, Leoville-Barton, Leoville-Las-Cases, Montrose, Pichon-Lalande, Rauzan-Segla, and L'Evangile, and all of the first growths were tasted and did not make the 4 star cut. There were many 3-star(good) wines and several below this level. He thought many of the wines would mature well until about 2012. Thus for one bargian hunting, if you find some 1994s that have been well stored and can taste them, the mentioned 4 star wines might be worth considering if the price is right.

------------------------------------------------- I have one Rauzan Segla so I ought to bring it to the front. Trouble is, so much wine and only one liver. Graham