Inexpensive Old Bordeaux

Even though HK government has the import duty cut, the rise in Euro/Pound and the crazy surge in Bordeaux prices, there is no point to chase new wine. In the past few months, we searched the inexpensive old bordeaux (less than HKD1,000) from good years, such as 1990, 1989, 1988, 1986, 1985, 1983, 1982 and 1981. We drank them and found extremely good value. The problem is so difficult to get an entire case.

Below are the brief comments on the wines.
1988 Chateau Monbrison, Margaux, Cru Bourgeois ***
1990 Chateau Franc Mayne, Saint Emilion ***/*
1985 Chateau Batailley, Pauillac ***
1988 Chateau Clos des Jacobins ***
1986 Chateau Poujeaux, Mouis ****
1988 Chateau Larmande, Saint Emilion ***
1990 Chateau Poujeaux, Mouis ***
1982 Chateau Grand Puy Ducasse, Pauillac ****
1988 Chateau Duhart Milon, Pauillac***
1982 Chateau Corbin, Saint Emilion ***
1985 Chateau D’Issan, Margaux ***
1985 Chateau Nenin, Pomerol ***?
1982 Chateau Kirwan, Margaux ****
1989 Chateau Roc De Cambes, Cotes de Bourg ****/*
1983 Chateau Larmande, Saint Emilion *****

**** the wines I liked most

1988 Chateau Monbrison, Marguax -> Parker 90 wine. Not very impressive, bad bottle? Judgement reserved.

1990 Franc Mayne, Saint Emilion -> unmistakable 1990 nose, very sweet and expressive, need time to breath, quite good. Neighbor of Grand Mayne.

1985 Batailley, Pauillac -> as usual, oaky and very expressive nose of 1985 , a little bit acidic and thin. It is a good wine and ready to drink right now.

1988 Chateau Clos des Jacobins, Saint Emilion -> so young and tannic. Breathing for an hour, it started to reveal good nose and nice structure. Good wine.

1986 Chateau Poujeaux, Mouis -> the first bottle was a so-so wine, but the 2nd and 3rd bottles were great! Very expressive nose, good mouthful feel and with layered finish. Excellent !

1988 Chateau Larmande, Saint Emilion -> The highest Parker score in the 80s but the performance is not the best. Quite tight and not much nose. After an hour of breathing, it showed its structure and with some decent arosma. need time.

1990 Chateau Poujeaux, Mouis -> from the great year but not with the ripe fruit nose. Quite tight and with high tannin content. Need time and not as good as 1986 Poujeaux

1982 Chateua Grand Puy Ducasse, Pauillac -> have no expectation of this lesser Grand Cru Classe. But it performed very well. Unmistakable 1982 nose, so ripe and so fruity and with aged old Bordeaux elegant nose. Not particular complex but very enjoyable.

1988 Chateau Duhart Milon, Pauillac -> not particular outstanding but really good aged Duhart Milon. With clean nose. Nice.

1982 Chateau Corbin, Saint Emilion -> the weakest among three 1982s so far, this is simple but nice wine. Have some 1982 characters.

1985 Chateau D'Issan, Margaux -> decent aged bordeaux, not as good as 85 Batailley, at least not enough oak to balance the wine.

1985 Chateau Nenin, Pomerol -> very prominent 1985 nose, with forest floor, truffles, mushrooms characters, very controversial. Distinct nose with a lot of minerality. Like it or Hate it.

1982 Chateau Kirwan, Margaux -> another great inexpensive 1982 Bordeaux! Really nice nose and palate. Not complex but very enjoyable!

1989 Chateau Roc de Carmes, Cotes de Bourg -> Junior version of Tertre Roteboeuf, drinking beautifully right now. 90 point Parker wine, worth every dollar.

1983 Chateau Larmande, Saint Emilion -> Unbelievable nose and you smell the complexity. Full bodied and rich mouthful feel. Very satifactory and enjoyable wine! My favourite Larmande so far! The 2nd best is 2001 Larmande, 92 point Parker wine.