12 bottles per lot
Details
A SUPERB PRIVATE COLLECTION OF FINEST CLARET OF THE GREAT 1961 VINTAGE
Lying in Kemble, Gloucestershire (Octavian)
The following wines, lots 39 to 43, have remained in single ownership and professional, temperature-controlled storage for over 30 years. Levels are mostly firmly in the range that should be expected for wines approaching their 44th year in bottle and still under original corks. Indeed, the world's foremost expert on old Bordeaux and founder of Christie's Wine Department, Michael Broadbent states, "that mid shoulder levels are not abnormal for wines of 30-40 years of age; upper shoulder, a slight natural reduction through the easing of the cork and evaporation through cork and capsule."
Château Latour--Vintage 1961
Pauillac, 1er cru classé
In original tissues. Slightly corroded capsules. Bin-soiled labels. Levels: one upper and eleven mid/upper-shoulder
Repacked from damp-damaged original wooden cases
Tasting Note: Immensely impressive, beautifully balanced but, not surprisingly, 'still severe' when first tasted in the autumn of 1968. Its great depth of colour, concentrated magnificence, richness and length noted throughout the 1970s - but slow to evolve. On two occasions in the 1980s, I gave it 6 stars, 4 for its impressiveness, 2 for future splendour. Of the eight recent notes, its depth of colour is the first thing one notices, and its nose, rather like a Lafite's, is a bit slow to open up. Surprisingly sweet too yet a very tannic finish (at Aschau in 1994). In 1997, a corky, woody bottle at a Saintsbury Club dinner. It was helped along by the cheese soufflié. At the La Réserve tasting, despite its extraordinary sweet, nose-filling bouquet, a mammoth wine, all the component parts excessively presented. Most recently, a superb bottle at Josh Latner's dinner. Last tasted Jan 2000 ****(**). Another half century of life. M.B.
See also lot 1
12 bottles per lot
Lying in Kemble, Gloucestershire (Octavian)
The following wines, lots 39 to 43, have remained in single ownership and professional, temperature-controlled storage for over 30 years. Levels are mostly firmly in the range that should be expected for wines approaching their 44th year in bottle and still under original corks. Indeed, the world's foremost expert on old Bordeaux and founder of Christie's Wine Department, Michael Broadbent states, "that mid shoulder levels are not abnormal for wines of 30-40 years of age; upper shoulder, a slight natural reduction through the easing of the cork and evaporation through cork and capsule."
Château Latour--Vintage 1961
Pauillac, 1er cru classé
In original tissues. Slightly corroded capsules. Bin-soiled labels. Levels: one upper and eleven mid/upper-shoulder
Repacked from damp-damaged original wooden cases
Tasting Note: Immensely impressive, beautifully balanced but, not surprisingly, 'still severe' when first tasted in the autumn of 1968. Its great depth of colour, concentrated magnificence, richness and length noted throughout the 1970s - but slow to evolve. On two occasions in the 1980s, I gave it 6 stars, 4 for its impressiveness, 2 for future splendour. Of the eight recent notes, its depth of colour is the first thing one notices, and its nose, rather like a Lafite's, is a bit slow to open up. Surprisingly sweet too yet a very tannic finish (at Aschau in 1994). In 1997, a corky, woody bottle at a Saintsbury Club dinner. It was helped along by the cheese soufflié. At the La Réserve tasting, despite its extraordinary sweet, nose-filling bouquet, a mammoth wine, all the component parts excessively presented. Most recently, a superb bottle at Josh Latner's dinner. Last tasted Jan 2000 ****(**). Another half century of life. M.B.
See also lot 1
12 bottles per lot
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.