1 bottle per lot
Details
Chteau Lafite-Rothschild--Vintage 1870
Pauillac, 1er cru class. Chteau-bottled
New chteau capsule. Bin-soiled label with worn edges. Level base of neck
One of the greatest pre-phylloxera vintages and still magnificent if well kept. Crop reduced by spring frosts, a bakingly hot summer and early harvest - September 10 - in good conditions. The result: opaque, massive, concentrated and long-lasting wines.
Anyone thinking Lafite produces only comparitively pale, light, delicate and feminine wines has never heard of, let alone tasted, the Lafite blockbuster of all time. I have 13 notes. The most spectactularly good was one of the (40) magnums from Glamis Castle. Bottled by Coningham, it had been bought by the 13th Earl of Strathmore, who found it tannic and tough, like red ink. Indeed it took 50 years to come round, according to Andr Simon who drank it in 1920. One was opened at a dinner at Christie's attended by a dozen or so of Britain's best-known claret experts. It proved to be faultless. Another, bottled by Cruse and tasted in 1980 had just survived a poor low-shoulder level. More recently, a single bottle, re-corked was similarly perfect at Flatt's Lafite tasting: its appearance still deep, fine and rich; nose rather cheesy and sweaty when first poured, but the bouquet rapidly unfurled and improved for well over an hour in the glass. Still a touch of sweetness, still full-bodied, rich, chewy and still tannic. Top marks. ***** M.B.
1 bottle per lot
Pauillac, 1er cru class. Chteau-bottled
New chteau capsule. Bin-soiled label with worn edges. Level base of neck
One of the greatest pre-phylloxera vintages and still magnificent if well kept. Crop reduced by spring frosts, a bakingly hot summer and early harvest - September 10 - in good conditions. The result: opaque, massive, concentrated and long-lasting wines.
Anyone thinking Lafite produces only comparitively pale, light, delicate and feminine wines has never heard of, let alone tasted, the Lafite blockbuster of all time. I have 13 notes. The most spectactularly good was one of the (40) magnums from Glamis Castle. Bottled by Coningham, it had been bought by the 13th Earl of Strathmore, who found it tannic and tough, like red ink. Indeed it took 50 years to come round, according to Andr Simon who drank it in 1920. One was opened at a dinner at Christie's attended by a dozen or so of Britain's best-known claret experts. It proved to be faultless. Another, bottled by Cruse and tasted in 1980 had just survived a poor low-shoulder level. More recently, a single bottle, re-corked was similarly perfect at Flatt's Lafite tasting: its appearance still deep, fine and rich; nose rather cheesy and sweaty when first poured, but the bouquet rapidly unfurled and improved for well over an hour in the glass. Still a touch of sweetness, still full-bodied, rich, chewy and still tannic. Top marks. ***** M.B.
1 bottle per lot