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Château La Croix de Gay 1970

Another episode of Random Old Bordeaux this week.

I’m not sure Random Old Bordeaux is the sexiest name for this regular foray into the darker and more cobweb-festooned racks of my wine cellar, but Up from the Cellar, Cellar Favourite and similar were already taken, and at least it abbreviates nicely to ROB. Having started by revisiting a few old favourites from the 1990s and 1980s, including the 1996 Haut-Bailly, 1996 Talbot and 1989 Chasse-Spleen, it is time to pull a few less familiar bottles blinking into the bright Scottish sunshine for the first time. I kicked off with the 1994 Léoville-Las-Cases (which had been languishing in my cellar a long time, so I am unsure as to why it has not seen the light of day before now), but this week I have something different to hand. An appellation I visit regularly, but don’t drink too often at home. And a vintage which takes us back to a decade I very rarely revisit (and not just the wine, but the music and the fashion too – give me the 1980s any day!).

Château La Croix de Gay surely has ancient origins, although details of its genesis and early history are rather sketchy. It is during the 19th century that its story begins to take a more tangible shape, when the property and vines were in the hands of the Larroucaud family, who also owned Clos René. From them the estate, which is located in the hamlet of Pignon on the outskirts of the Pomerol vineyard, passed through marriage to the Angle (possibly of English origin) and then the Barraud families. This is a rather brief canter through more than a century of history; for more detail and depth check out my La Croix de Gay profile.

The modern era for Château La Croix de Gay began when a Barraud descendent named Geneviève Ardurat married Noël Raynaud, an instrumental figure in the history of the estate as it was Noël who cleaved off a portion of the vineyard to create the super-cuvée La Fleur de Gay. After his passing in 1997 the property was divided between his daughter Chantal and son Alain, the latter a renowned oenologist and consultant. Ultimately Alain Raynaud sold his share to Eric de Rothschild, and it was absorbed into the vineyard of L’Évangile.

Château La Croix de Gay Pomerol 1970

The La Croix de Gay which lives on today is the other half, in the hands of Chantal Raynaud and her sons Jean-Pascal, Olivier and Julien, several of whom (perhaps even all three of them) are practising ophthalmologists (making the wine with Chantal as a side gig). This is surely useful knowledge; if you ever suddenly develop cataracts when whizzing from one vineyard to the next in Pomerol, now you know where to go.

Before coming to the bottle at hand I like to reflect on other older vintages I have encountered, but in the case of La Croix de Gay that makes for very brief reading. Indeed, I don’t seem to have encountered any bottles of an older or even comparable age to this one. Well, I did say I don’t drink so much Pomerol at home, to be honest I am more of a left-bank guy. The 1970 vintage seems like a decent choice to start putting this right, being one of the better years of the decade. Other candidates include 1971 and 1975, and 1976 can occasionally surprise, but so far 1970 comes out top for me, although that might reflect broader experience with this vintage than with the others. It was, as was noted in contemporaneous accounts, a vintage blessed with good weather during the flowering, a very warm and dry July, more warmth in August but also some showers to refresh the vines, and then a long and particularly dry ripening period which ran through into the harvest. There was a bumper crop of nicely matured bunches; no wonder the vintage accrued a good reputation, and the wines are still going strong 55 years later.

The 1970 Château La Croix de Gay hails from the era of Noël Raynaud, who married into the Barraud family in 1947, and who remained active on the estate not only through this decade, but through the 1980s and much of the 1990s as well. It therefore reflects the vineyard as it was during his tenure, not the diminished version which exists today. The cork came out with ease, albeit somewhat mangled by the use of a Durand corkscrew, although it was a good decision to put it to use as the lower section of the cork was clinging on for dear life. Of note the cork, like the label above, references the three families most recently involved with the property, Barraud, Ardurat and Raynaud, reversed and abbreviated to RAB on the label.

In the glass the wine displays a vibrant if clearly very aged hue, with a ruby claret core which shines in a reassuring fashion in the correct light, surrounded by a thin bricking rim. This is followed by a delightfully mature nose, with pipe tobacco complemented by overtly herbaceous notes reminiscent of green peppercorn and menthol, laid over tertiary complexities which remind me of old leather, sous bois and autumn leaves. It has a fine texture for its 55 years, lightly sinewy and polished, with just a touch of mature sweetness, draped across a backbone of modestly grained grip formed from a light echo of tannins which reverberate through the middle and warm finish, here braided with the fresh acid profile. Even at this age this wine remains fleet of foot, the finish tingling with a touch of vitality, and it drinks quite beautifully today, with a very complete composition. An undoubted success in this vintage. 92/100 (17/3/25)

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