2 Good "Off Vintage" 1997s

"Off vintages" (i.e., years generally considered by professional wine reviewers as weak) from good producers most always make me smile. They are very affordable and, most times, are actually quite good - nothing great, but well worth buying. Even the most disappointing ones are marginally so, given their price. One off vintage I have recently been experimenting with is 1997.

A couple of recent, good ones were:

1997 Grand Puy Lacoste - I picked up the last bottle of this in K&L for under US$30 (around $27-$28, as I recall) late last month and had it with dinner tonight - incongruously paired with a Provençal dinner - and I was very happy with it. Textbook, unmistakably Pauillac cedar-led, cassis-dominated bouquet with discreet violets. Confidently medium-bodied, definitely mature at this point (I think drinking now and within the next year but the Doc opined it could probably drink well for 4), adequately layered and well-balanced (specially for a '97) and definitely pleasing. The finish was a bit short, bordering on abrupt, yet very forgivable.

I wish I had a lot of this - something good and inexpensive to pull out at the drop of a hat.

1997 La Mondotte - I got a couple of these just to try out from Beltramo's in Menlo Park. Popped one open around a month ago during a casual lunch with the Doc and Stockbroker. As one would expect from a La Mondotte, it was full, dense, hefty on the palate, open, generous and eager to please with its black fruit/berries/vanilla/oak/violets with a touch of black coffee to the back. As one wouldn't expect from a '97 Bordeaux, it was quite ripe (but not jammy), with good concentration, healthy extraction and a nicely rounded mouth-feel.

Ok, so it was US$146, but that is relatively a bargain basement price for La Mondotte.

I have a couple of 1997s from Pessac-Leognan coming in soon, Haut-Bailly and Domaine de Chevalier. Let's see how they are.