1 impériale per lot
Details
Château Latour--Vintage 1970
Pauillac, 1er cru classé
Capsule cut to reveal cork branding and repaired with clear tape in Christie's warehouse. Slightly creased label. Level upper-shoulder. In carton
Tasting Note: An immensely impressive wine, and 30 notes which seem hardly to vary from tasting in cask as early as January 1971, and again in April 1972. Even making allowances for its understandably tannic grip, it refuses to budge. Tasted and drunk - more like chewed - in every conceivable circumstance. Like 'the Lion King' it visibly proclaims its power and importance. More recently, one can just detect a touch of maturity; its nose is almost impossible to describe because, unlike the Lion King, it hardly shows its head above the parapet. It needs days of decanting time and hours in the glass. Mouth filling, concentrated, still very tannic. Perhaps one of the most bizarre combinations was its accompanying 'Sorgham molasses - roasted elk with sweet potatoes and huckleberry sauce', at Hal Lewis's Installation dinner, a Bacchus Society annual binge, in Memphis, Tennessee (September 1999). In 2003 though still fairly deep, mature; good nose; drinking well. Most recently: classic, 'old cedar' bouquet; touch of sweetness, rich, full-bodied, harmonious, masked tannin, dry finish. Many more years in hand. Last tasted March 2005 ***** Now - 2040. M.B.
1 impériale per lot
Pauillac, 1er cru classé
Capsule cut to reveal cork branding and repaired with clear tape in Christie's warehouse. Slightly creased label. Level upper-shoulder. In carton
Tasting Note: An immensely impressive wine, and 30 notes which seem hardly to vary from tasting in cask as early as January 1971, and again in April 1972. Even making allowances for its understandably tannic grip, it refuses to budge. Tasted and drunk - more like chewed - in every conceivable circumstance. Like 'the Lion King' it visibly proclaims its power and importance. More recently, one can just detect a touch of maturity; its nose is almost impossible to describe because, unlike the Lion King, it hardly shows its head above the parapet. It needs days of decanting time and hours in the glass. Mouth filling, concentrated, still very tannic. Perhaps one of the most bizarre combinations was its accompanying 'Sorgham molasses - roasted elk with sweet potatoes and huckleberry sauce', at Hal Lewis's Installation dinner, a Bacchus Society annual binge, in Memphis, Tennessee (September 1999). In 2003 though still fairly deep, mature; good nose; drinking well. Most recently: classic, 'old cedar' bouquet; touch of sweetness, rich, full-bodied, harmonious, masked tannin, dry finish. Many more years in hand. Last tasted March 2005 ***** Now - 2040. M.B.
1 impériale per lot
Brought to you by
Simon Tam