Most of my bad bottles have come from mid to late 80's vintages but the
highest percentage in the 90's. Just had 2 corked bottles at a Burgundy
tasting laswt night out of 20 bottles opened. Both were very expensive
including a La Tache from 1988 and a 1985 Le Roi Cambolle Musigny.

In article >,
(Cwdjrx _) wrote:

> Lawrence Leichtman states in part:
>

> I too have cellared wines since the 60s. The last wines I bought for
> long keeping were Haut Brion 89, Margaux 90, and a mixed case of DRC 90.
> Thus I have no experience with more recent French wines other than a few
> whites and simple wines for everyday drinking. From your reports, those
> of Michael Pronay, etc., I must conclude that the percentage of corked
> French wines has increased since perhaps the late 80s to mid 90s. I have
> not had many corked wines from my older wines, which are stored under
> ideal conditions. However I well remember a badly corked 70 DRC
> Echezeaux.
>
>
> When I was buying many of my wines in the early 70s, the spread in price
> between better Bordeaux second and lower growths and first growths was
> not nearly as great as now, with a first growth costing 2 to 3 times as
> much as a very good second growth. The same applied for Burgundy. I just
> received a price list of 2003 Bordeaux en premier. You may have a single
> bottle of Petrus for US$ 1999.99. Lafite is a relative bargin at
> $374.99. Lynch Bages is $66.99. In the early 70's( just after the crash
> in the wine market) a very good recent Lynch Bages would have been well
> under $10, a Lafite about $22, and a Petrus about $35. I would be very
> upset if I paid the fortune that new first growths now cost, only to
> find the bottle corked or the wine not built to age when opened perhaps
> 20 to 30 years from now.
>
> Besides a very few corked bottles, I have had a few bottles showing
> random oxidation because of cork physical flaws, and a very few wines
> that just were not well made. I do not plan to buy any more recent top
> wines because of the cost, the reported cork problems, and because, if
> the wines are very good anymore, top ones would need 20 to 30 years to
> fully mature and I likely would be dead by then or too old to enjoy
> them.
>
> I do find some wines very difficult to evaluate when young, with Mouton
> perhaps being the most dfficult - or at least it was when the old Baron
> was still alive. It was sort of like a high wire act. If it makes it to
> the end correctly, it can be outstanding. However if something becomes
> just a bit out of balance, it can come crashing to the ground. Still the
> Mouton 45 may be the greatest Bordeaux made since WW II. However in many
> other years that are good in general, Mouton has not been as good as it
> should have been for the year.
>
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