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Auction archive: Lot number 4

Château Pichon-Longueville, Lalande--Vintage 2000

Estimate
US$1,800 - US$2,600
Price realised:
US$2,880
Auction archive: Lot number 4

Château Pichon-Longueville, Lalande--Vintage 2000

Estimate
US$1,800 - US$2,600
Price realised:
US$2,880
Beschreibung:

Château Pichon-Longueville, Lalande--Vintage 2000
1 dozen bottles per lot
THE CHANGING FACE OF BORDEAUX: THE WINES OF OUR GENERATION Extracts from Vintage Wine by Michael Broadbent, M.W. 1980-1989 Unquestionably this was a great decade, matching the 1920s for the number of high quality vintages. Unlike the early 1930s and the mid-1970s, when poor weather and a severe recession coincided, the 1980s reversed the process: there was, allowing for the natural variations described below, overall a vast improvement in weather conditions, and, even more happily, a renewed demand to match. The wine trade, if not exactly licking its wounds, did not re-enter the market and stock up. The big brewers in Britain had burnt their fingers once and, since then, have been more or less out of the market, private customers being the main buyers of en primeur wines. In the United States and further afield, châteaux proprietors had the means to renovate, to install new vats, to increase the use of new barrels, even to rebuild vineyard walls. But the most important result for the consumer was the increasing care in the vineyards: pruning and green pruning to reduce yields and increase quality, and the selection of only the best vats for the grand vin . The other noticeable thing about the 1980s is the increasing number of 'second wines' made from the less fine vats and wines made from young vines. This was a contrast to the depression in the mid-1970s, when this sort of care and selection could not be afforded. In the 1950s, consultant oenologists hardly existed. The precursor was Professor Riberau-Gayon, but the best known became Emile Peynaud. His influence was considerable. He always averred that his job was to prevent or rectify mistakes, and that the accusation that Médoc châteaux were being 'Peynaudised' was more than unfair. However, by the 1980s, there appeared a new breed of consultants employed to advise on and, hopefully, to improve the quality of wine. Happily, though, 'designer' wines had not yet arrived. 1990-1999 There are two ways of looking at the 1990 vintage: the end of an era or the bright start to a decade of dashed hopes, near misses, good but less glamorous years. Even the best vintages of this decade, and some are very good, tend to be compared with the 1990, just as a younger child looks up to the 'Captain of School'. What is certain is that the euphoria and general satisfaction with the 1980s, ending up with the magnificent twins of '89 and '90, made the 'rain-stopped-play' years of '91 to '93 less attractive. Anyway, by then everyone was sated with stock. The 1995 vintage was fairly well-timed. It gave the trade in Bordeaux and in London the impetus it needed. Who were 'the trade'? Almost gone were the négociants-éléveurs , the big companies, the stockholders. All - well, almost all - were now brokers, selling on, not sitting on stock. In England, only the old-fashioned but surprisingly go-ahead Berry Bros and a handful of other London and provincial wine merchants supplied from stock. Though the auctioneers, Christie's and Sotheby's, continued to thrive, the brokers had captured a good deal of the trade, Bordeaux continuing to be a major part of their portfolio, their clients worldwide. Only in the United States was the wine trade still structured: importers, wholesalers and retailers keeping more or less to their own patch. The only trouble with Americans is that so many of them, both trade and private buyers, are too influenced by wine critics, by the otherwise admirable Robert Parker in particular. How important is America and its taste preferences? To put this in perspective, in 1999 the United Kingdom and Germany each imported more Bordeaux by value and by volume than the United States. We would not mind so long as the producers took less notice of American-led global taste and stuck to what they do best: produce good, well-established, food-wine claret. Horses for courses, I say. Just one more thought: wouldn't it be boring if every vintage was of equal quality and style? Bordeaux

Auction archive: Lot number 4
Auction:
Datum:
26 Apr 2008
Auction house:
Christie's
26 April 2008, New York, Rockefeller Center
Beschreibung:

Château Pichon-Longueville, Lalande--Vintage 2000
1 dozen bottles per lot
THE CHANGING FACE OF BORDEAUX: THE WINES OF OUR GENERATION Extracts from Vintage Wine by Michael Broadbent, M.W. 1980-1989 Unquestionably this was a great decade, matching the 1920s for the number of high quality vintages. Unlike the early 1930s and the mid-1970s, when poor weather and a severe recession coincided, the 1980s reversed the process: there was, allowing for the natural variations described below, overall a vast improvement in weather conditions, and, even more happily, a renewed demand to match. The wine trade, if not exactly licking its wounds, did not re-enter the market and stock up. The big brewers in Britain had burnt their fingers once and, since then, have been more or less out of the market, private customers being the main buyers of en primeur wines. In the United States and further afield, châteaux proprietors had the means to renovate, to install new vats, to increase the use of new barrels, even to rebuild vineyard walls. But the most important result for the consumer was the increasing care in the vineyards: pruning and green pruning to reduce yields and increase quality, and the selection of only the best vats for the grand vin . The other noticeable thing about the 1980s is the increasing number of 'second wines' made from the less fine vats and wines made from young vines. This was a contrast to the depression in the mid-1970s, when this sort of care and selection could not be afforded. In the 1950s, consultant oenologists hardly existed. The precursor was Professor Riberau-Gayon, but the best known became Emile Peynaud. His influence was considerable. He always averred that his job was to prevent or rectify mistakes, and that the accusation that Médoc châteaux were being 'Peynaudised' was more than unfair. However, by the 1980s, there appeared a new breed of consultants employed to advise on and, hopefully, to improve the quality of wine. Happily, though, 'designer' wines had not yet arrived. 1990-1999 There are two ways of looking at the 1990 vintage: the end of an era or the bright start to a decade of dashed hopes, near misses, good but less glamorous years. Even the best vintages of this decade, and some are very good, tend to be compared with the 1990, just as a younger child looks up to the 'Captain of School'. What is certain is that the euphoria and general satisfaction with the 1980s, ending up with the magnificent twins of '89 and '90, made the 'rain-stopped-play' years of '91 to '93 less attractive. Anyway, by then everyone was sated with stock. The 1995 vintage was fairly well-timed. It gave the trade in Bordeaux and in London the impetus it needed. Who were 'the trade'? Almost gone were the négociants-éléveurs , the big companies, the stockholders. All - well, almost all - were now brokers, selling on, not sitting on stock. In England, only the old-fashioned but surprisingly go-ahead Berry Bros and a handful of other London and provincial wine merchants supplied from stock. Though the auctioneers, Christie's and Sotheby's, continued to thrive, the brokers had captured a good deal of the trade, Bordeaux continuing to be a major part of their portfolio, their clients worldwide. Only in the United States was the wine trade still structured: importers, wholesalers and retailers keeping more or less to their own patch. The only trouble with Americans is that so many of them, both trade and private buyers, are too influenced by wine critics, by the otherwise admirable Robert Parker in particular. How important is America and its taste preferences? To put this in perspective, in 1999 the United Kingdom and Germany each imported more Bordeaux by value and by volume than the United States. We would not mind so long as the producers took less notice of American-led global taste and stuck to what they do best: produce good, well-established, food-wine claret. Horses for courses, I say. Just one more thought: wouldn't it be boring if every vintage was of equal quality and style? Bordeaux

Auction archive: Lot number 4
Auction:
Datum:
26 Apr 2008
Auction house:
Christie's
26 April 2008, New York, Rockefeller Center
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