I had only one bottle of BV Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet
Sauvignon 1969 which I bought in Chicago in the mid 70s. It has been
properly stored since, and there were no cork or other issues. The
fill was low neck.

The color is still fairly intense with just a bit of age showing
around the rim. This wine is quite remarkable and likely will hold a
few years longer. It has great complexity and very good balance. Of
course there is plenty of cassis in the bouquet and taste. The
remarkable thing is the complexity of a spice-like component - as if
it is a mixture of many spices, rather than any single one. It is now
quite smooth and easy to drink, but there is still plenty of acid and
some medium tannin. In short, I like it better than any Private
Reserve vintages from the 70s that I have tasted.

On Sep 15, 4:36*am, cwdjrxyz > wrote:
> I had only one bottle of BV Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet
> Sauvignon 1969 which I bought in Chicago in the mid 70s. It has been
> properly stored since, and there were no cork or other issues. The
> fill was low neck.
>
> The color is still fairly intense with just a bit of age showing
> around the rim. This wine is quite remarkable and likely will hold a
> few years longer. It has great complexity and very good balance. Of
> course there is plenty of cassis in the bouquet and taste. The
> remarkable thing is the complexity of a spice-like component - as if
> it is a mixture of many spices, rather than any single one. It is now
> quite smooth and easy to drink, but there is still plenty of acid and
> some medium tannin. In short, I like it better than any Private
> Reserve vintages from the 70s that I have tasted.

Thanks for notes. I've thought that the BV GdL PR I've tasted from 70s
were all tired (while other Cabs of same stature arent). But the
earlier ones are legendary. I have a lone bottle of the '60 to be
consumed next month for my birthday. Some good notes, but of course at
this point it's bottle by bottle. Thanks for sharing re the '69

On Sep 15, 1:04*pm, DaleW > wrote:
> On Sep 15, 4:36*am, cwdjrxyz > wrote:
>
> > I had only one bottle of BV Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet
> > Sauvignon 1969 which I bought in Chicago in the mid 70s. It has been
> > properly stored since, and there were no cork or other issues. The
> > fill was low neck.
>
> > The color is still fairly intense with just a bit of age showing
> > around the rim. This wine is quite remarkable and likely will hold a
> > few years longer. It has great complexity and very good balance. Of
> > course there is plenty of cassis in the bouquet and taste. The
> > remarkable thing is the complexity of a spice-like component - as if
> > it is a mixture of many spices, rather than any single one. It is now
> > quite smooth and easy to drink, but there is still plenty of acid and
> > some medium tannin. In short, I like it better than any Private
> > Reserve vintages from the 70s that I have tasted.
>
> Thanks for notes. I've thought that the BV GdL PR I've tasted from 70s
> were all tired (while other Cabs of same stature arent). But the
> earlier ones are legendary. I have a lone bottle of the '60 to be
> consumed next month for my birthday. Some good notes, but of course at
> this point it's bottle by bottle. Thanks for sharing re the '69

I still have a bottle or two left of 70's BV GdL. Much like you
everything I've had was fairly faded my last
bottle was a 1976 that was pretty well gonee.

On Sep 15, 12:39*pm, "Bi!!" > wrote:
> On Sep 15, 1:04*pm, DaleW > wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Sep 15, 4:36*am, cwdjrxyz > wrote:
>
> > > I had only one bottle of BV Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet
> > > Sauvignon 1969 which I bought in Chicago in the mid 70s. It has been
> > > properly stored since, and there were no cork or other issues. The
> > > fill was low neck.
>
> > > The color is still fairly intense with just a bit of age showing
> > > around the rim. This wine is quite remarkable and likely will hold a
> > > few years longer. It has great complexity and very good balance. Of
> > > course there is plenty of cassis in the bouquet and taste. The
> > > remarkable thing is the complexity of a spice-like component - as if
> > > it is a mixture of many spices, rather than any single one. It is now
> > > quite smooth and easy to drink, but there is still plenty of acid and
> > > some medium tannin. In short, I like it better than any Private
> > > Reserve vintages from the 70s that I have tasted.
>
> > Thanks for notes. I've thought that the BV GdL PR I've tasted from 70s
> > were all tired (while other Cabs of same stature arent). But the
> > earlier ones are legendary. I have a lone bottle of the '60 to be
> > consumed next month for my birthday. Some good notes, but of course at
> > this point it's bottle by bottle. Thanks for sharing re the '69
>
> I still have a bottle or two left of 70's BV GdL. *Much like you
> everything I've had was fairly faded my last
> bottle was a 1976 that was pretty well gonee.

The most disappointing PR from the 70's I have had is the 1974. It has
been brown and gone for a long time. The 74 had an outstanding
reputation early on in some quarters. Then after several years there
were quite a few bad reviews as well as some good ones. There was some
speculation that there was more than one batch of the 74, and some
aged well and some did not. For whatever reason, the few bottles of
the 74 I had did not age well at all despite good storage.