On Oct 11, 6:31 pm, Ronin > wrote:
> On 2007-10-10 10:52:34 -0700, cwdjrxyz > said:
>
> > I always remember the 1959 and 1961 Bordeauxs. Early on, many rated
> > the 1959s as superior to the 1961s, many of which were quite tannic
> > and harsh when young.
>
> As you seem to have some experience with those vintages, I wonder if
> you might have an opinion about the '59 Ch. La Mission Haut Brion. I
> was unfortunate enough, (sad, I know,) to have inherited 4 bottles (in
> the original case, no less) a couple of years ago. They look to be in
> good shape and I am looking forward to opening them. As I have no
> experience with this vintage or this chateau, Maybe you have some
> memories that will enrich my/our experience when we do open them. I
> will, of course, offer tasting notes when they do go the way of all
> bottles...

I bought very few 1959 and 1961 wines when they were first released. I
was just out of college then and did not have a lot of money to spend
for wines to age. I did buy a case of 59 Yquem and a case of 61 Lafite
at the then high price of about $US 11 per bottle. I picked up a few
more bottles of 59 and 61 wines a few years after release, but by then
the prices had greatly increased, but still were very low compared
with what first growths cost today, even considering inflation.

Michael Broadbent likely has tasted more of these old wines over the
years than most. You must consider that he has a "classic" English
taste for Bordeaux, and not a "California" taste. Parker was not
important on the wine scene back then.

Back in 1959 La Mission Haut-Brion was still owned by the Woltners who
were making it at their best. It often was a more powerful wine than
Haut-Brion itself, and many, especially those in the US, often
considered it better than Haut-Brion - a matter of taste. Broadbent
says it took 20 years for the 59 La Mission Haut-Brion to lose enough
tannin for the wine to be decent. It was at first restrained, but had
perfectly evolved by the early 90s. He last reported tasting it in
2000, where he found plenty of everything in good balance. He then
rated it 5-star out of 5-star and said that it would keep. If your
wine has been properly stored over the years, it likely now is a very
great wine, and you might want to plan some special event to serve it.
If storage has been less than ideal, all bets are off and it could
range from undrinkable to still outstanding.

Both La Mission Haut-Brion and Haut-Brion were outstanding in 1959 and
1961 and all should still be drinking well and should hold longer if
properly stored. Any combination of these wines would make a most
interesting tasting.

The star of both 1959 and 1961 is Ch. Latour. Broadbent gave his very
rare rating of 6-star out of 5-star (over the top) for both of these.
In the late 90s he thought both of these had not even peaked yet, and
that the 59 might have another quarter century and the 1961 another
half century of life. Wines such as this are very difficult to
evaluate either young or at a decade or two old. Here blind tasting is
of little help, other than to detect flaws such as a corked wine or
poor storage condition. If one knows the wine is Latour and has
followed the development of Latour from youth to maturity over many
vintages, then one may be in a position to predict how a new young
Latour will develop (and one is by then usually quite old). Wines such
as this can in youth have very aggressive tannins and acids, and
mainly "label" drinkers will say they like them at this stage. For
many, if not most, such aggressive young wines, the wine often just
dries out with age or oxidizes before it becomes liked by many.