Once upon a time! What has remained of it? 1990 was an excellent Bordeaux year. It rounded off the good 80s (1982, 1986, 1989) and remained an exceptional year for a good 10 years. Then followed - actually until 1995 - rather problematic or "lean" years. It was not until the year 2000 - accompanied by the turn of the millennium - that the critics went into raptures again.
There was still something left: the joy of the price at that time. A bottle once cost 20 francs - in a specialist shop and not at the discounter. Then (from 1997) things really took off - in the Bordelais. The Talbot 2000 (quite comparable to the 1990) already cost three times as much. Yet Châteaux Talbot has (to this day) stuck to a reasonable pricing policy. Even when Bordeaux prices exploded in 2009, Talbot stuck to its approx. 50 francs. A proud price, admittedly, but in view of the pricing policy in the Bordelais (a Premier Cru quickly cost 1000 francs and more that year) quite justifiable (in line with the market!). Talbot is - it has to be said - not a Premier Cru (a Quatrième), rather a popular wine (Talbot is a very large winery with more than 100 ha), which can also be found in discount stores. So far and so much - once again - about the pricing policy.
But what else has remained? Much more interesting is the wine itself, its quality, its presence, 23 years later. It has remained: a great wine. Or has it only become so in its 23 years in storage? I don't know, because it can't be compared to the young Talbot (in the first five years). There's something quite different in the bottle today. Parker said at the time: "Extremely sexy, soft, supple and opulent. No, it is not (any more). It cannot deny its age, its luscious fruit has turned into dried fruit, and its suppleness into a deep, comforting warmth, even a feeling of security.
These are taste experiences that only a mature Bordeaux can give. It has shed its massive body and absorbed a bouquet of spicy notes. It gives them generously, surrounded by forest humus, the scent of cedar and a striking residue of blackcurrants, not to overlook the blueberry notes and... It is not quite easy to adequately describe a mature wine. As an "old wine lover", one likes to go into raptures. Especially when it is not about one of the usual big wines that the old wine drinker - occasionally - has in his glass, mainly in small quantities at tastings. As a kind of confirmation: how unique and beautiful is age, or: it was worth waiting twenty, thirty, even fifty and more years!
No, this Talbot is not a tasting wine. It wants to be put in the glass. It wants to be drunk. Even on an "ordinary" Sunday evening. Because it is what you can call a mature, round, characteristic Bordeaux. In view of the enjoyment I experienced, I cannot find fault with this, although one can certainly be of the opinion that this wine is "over" (René Gabriel's drastic assessment). Over for me - unfortunately - is only yesterday's Talbot experience. What a pity.