Do famous labels deserve their status ?mercredi, 7 mars 2007

The subject of famous labels is permanently raised on forums, and some people are excited by the idea of comparing them to cheaperwines, to declare : Romanée Conti or Petrus do not deserve their positions and prices.
Here is what I answered in such a discussion.
Several times we have had a discussion about the position of some famous wines.
Pesonnally, I am against blind tasting, as I like to know which wine I am drinking, and I dislike to make comparisons as I am not the teacher of the wines, I drink them.

It is not me who makes the fame of such wines, it is a general market.
When the prices of Yquem have reached the level of 2001, I stopped buying them young.
For the moment, I buy every Lala appearing under my eyes as I love these wines.

I am fully relaxed about label drinking or not label drinking as the different wines that I have drunk can be counted in thousands, which is impossible to reach when you stick only to the most famous. But among all what I drink, there are these famous ones.

And my attitude is always to try to understand what makes these wines so great.
When I have drunk together Cheval Blanc 1947 and Latour 1947, it is the Latour which impressed me more. When I have drunk together Petrus 1934 and Margaux 1934, I voted as first a Musigny Comte de Vogüé 1951 (small year), as my emotion was greater.
But I feel completely relaxed on what I drink : if a Pétrus does not perform, OK, it does not perform. I am not obliged to decide that Pétrus is a bad wine when I have a bad try.
And if someone tells me : a wine which has a price ten times lower is two times better, I say OK. But I will not stop drinking one of this famous wines, as they belong to my trip. I can have a complete lucidity about what I drink, and I do not need to exclude famous wines, just because they are famous.

I see no necessity to crucify the best labels, just to have the pleasure to say : "you see, to drink them is pure snobism". I feel that these considerations have no interest.
As I do not make the market, if one of these wines does not please me, I will stop buying, but I do not need to make a sensational declaration.

I am a lover of Mouton. I have disliked the 2001, and I have made a subject on this board about that. But it will not diminish my love towards Mouton as I know a sufficient number of Mouton which correspond totally to my taste.

This said, I am not rich enough to use one of my RC DRC just for a fight. I want to use my RC DRC to enjoy them for what they are. That is my philosophy. And when the RC 1929 that I have opened for my children was dead, I had no sorrow, as it is the normal risk of a wine lover. The important is to keep an intact enthusiasm. I am happy to be enthusiast for any form of wine.
A Faugères drunk yesterday pleased me a lot. I love to make such tries. But I love to drink the famous wines too, with a completely open attitude, and not caring if some cheaper wines perform better. I try every wine with the same open mind.

As it is not the first time that this subject is raised, I will keep a copy of my answer .