1975 Château Batailley
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Tasting notes
The 1975 Batailley is a vintage poured at a vertical at the Pauillac estate with Frédéric Castèja a few months earlier, but perversely, this bottle shows better. There’s a strong marine influence on the nose, and kelp and crustacea intertwine with slightly rustic but attractive black fruit, austere, compared to recent vintages, albeit typical of that period for Batailley. The palate is gentle, perhaps a little angular, though this bottle exhibited a touch more black fruit on the finish to counterbalance its obdurate tannins, a trope of the 1975 Left Banks. The aforementioned vertical will appear this year.
Critic scores
Robert Parker
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
An attractive, cedary, spicy, curranty nose is followed by a tough-textured, extremely tannic, hard, severe-tasting wine. Although this medium garnet-colored wine will keep for another 10-15 years, I suspect the 1975 Batailley will always be too tannic, and its moderate quantities of fruit will dry out even more, making the wine's balance more questionable.
An attractive, cedary, spicy, curranty nose is followed by a tough-textured, extremely tannic, hard, severe-tasting wine. Although this medium garnet-colored wine will keep for another 10-15 years, I suspect the 1975 Batailley will always be too tannic, and its moderate quantities of fruit will dry out even more, making the wine's balance more questionable. Feb 1996, www.robertparker.com
The 1975 Batailley does not have the complexity of the ‘70 on the nose. Instead it is smudged and a little rustic, with a faint banana-skin aroma under light and quite tertiary red fruit. The medium-bodied palate is better than the nose would suggest, thanks to finer tannins and commendable tension. This is old-school for sure with perhaps just a touch of VA marring the finish, though you warm to its charms upon further acquaintance. Freshness and a nice kick develop with time. Tasted at the Batailley vertical at the château in June 2021.
About the producer
It was on the site of Batailley in 1453 that one of the final battles (or “batailles”) of the Hundred Years’ War took place. Today owned by the Castéja family, the Fifth Growth is renowned for producing wine that is the epitome of classic Claret.