The Chateau Margaux 1959 has been properly stored by me since the mid
70s. It was imported into the US about then from a London wine dealer
and appeared to have been properly stored with a sound cork and labels
indicating it was stored where there was considerable moisture, likely
an underground cellar in the UK. I was expecting to have to build a
fire in the grill outdoors to heat up the port tongs to get rid of the
cork without cork particles in the wine. To my surprise, I was able to
extract the whole cork with only a Screwpull. The cork was still
fairly elastic and sealed the bottle well. The fill might be called
very low neck by a seller and very high shoulder by a buyer :-).

The wine is still rather deep red with some age now showing around the
rim. The bouquet is at once very intense as soon as the cork is
pulled. Bottle stench, if present, is completely masked by the
intensity of the good bouquet. I stored the wine in the wine machine
under ultra pure Argon and flushed out the air in the neck very well
with the Argon. I thus will be able to drink the wine over several
days. This wine was a nearly perfect Chateau Margaux. There are still
medium tannins that are now well resolved. The acid balance is right.
There are floral hints in the complex bouquet and taste dominated by
cassis with hints of other dark fruits. The finish is very long. You
do not have to try much to smell the very intense bouquet. I poured
some in an antique Italian wine glass that had a cone shape. It had a
light pink color with tiny gold flake in the glass and a very ornate
stem. Other than for examination of the color, this worked well enough
with plenty of bouquet. The wine likely would smell and taste equally
good out of a tea cup or a jelly jar.

In a 1982 book, Michael Broadbent says he had tasted 1959 Margaux many
times over the yearsand had 29 tasting notes.His last note in the book
was in Dec 2001. He says the wine is 5-star out of 5-star at the best.
He does mention that he tasted several bottles that were not this
good, and they mainly had poor levels or poor corks. I thus would buy
the wine today only if several bottles are being sold at an auction
and one is offered a taste from one bottle before opening, since this
wine now often sells for a very high price.

The 1961 Margaux was also a great wine and still is drinking well.
After that, the quality of Margaux was usually far below what Margaux
can be, although some of the wines were quite drinkable although often
overpriced for what you got. Perhaps the first of the more recent
Margauxs to have the potential of the older ones is the 1982, but it
will still be about 20 years before we know for sure. A top Margaux
from a top year should easily last 50 years if properly made for the
long term rather than to impress some critic when it is much too
young.