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Recoms needed for vintage 59 and 84 wines

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arnie del rosario

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Recoms needed for vintage 59 and 84 wines

by arnie del rosario » Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:41 pm

In two years time (2009) I will be celebrating both my 50th birthday and our 25th wedding anniversary. For the past year or so I have been on the lookout for wines from the 1959 and 1984 vintages to make sure I have appropriate special wines for my celebrations.

Given the general lack of vintage wines here in Manila, I have found only a few bottles of questionable provenance. For example, I found a 1959 Cos D'Estournel, but some research says that wine was fading as early as the late 1990's.

I thought that since we will be going to California and New York in December and January, I may have better chances of finding my special wines there.

So I welcome any recommendations from the WLDG on:

1) specific wines from 1959 and/or 1984 you may have tried recently that is still drinking well; and

2) reputable sources of vintage wines (hopefully carrying bottles from 1959 and 1984)in the Los Angeles, San Francisco and NYC areas.

Thanks in advance.
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Re: Recoms needed for vintage 59 and 84 wines

by David M. Bueker » Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:50 pm

Well 1984 is going to be tough no matter what. It was a good but not great vintage in California, but pretty much a disaster in all of Europe.

As for sources in NYC, Chambers St. Wines in NYC currently has a 1959 Huet as well as a few 1959 Bordeaux.
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Re: Recoms needed for vintage 59 and 84 wines

by David Lole » Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:54 pm

Lucky you!

1959 was just a fantastic year for left bank Bordeaux. Hope your budget can accommodate them!

Any of the big names should be holding if provenance has been perfect. Perhaps larger formats might be preferable.

Sauternes also is worth a try - Climens or Suduiraut, d'Yquem will be stratospheric in price, one would think.

Finding them is the next problem - I'd keep a look out for well-kept bottles through the reliable international secondary players.
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Re: Recoms needed for vintage 59 and 84 wines

by arnie del rosario » Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:57 pm

Actually I was thinking of French wine for 1959 and either California or Australia for 1984. I already have two bottles of 1984 Leasingham Hutt Creek Shiraz-Cab Sauv-Malbec from Clare Valley, and was strongly considering getting the 1984 Dominus.

Thanks for the referral of Chambers St wines - I will look them up.
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Re: Recoms needed for vintage 59 and 84 wines

by David Lole » Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:13 pm

Forgot to mention that 1984 wasn't half bad in Coonawarra ..... I recently tried a bottle of Hollicks Cabernet Sauvignon from a very good passive cellar and didn't hesitate to give it 95 points (I don't hand scores like that very often). There are a number of Coonawarra producer's who produced some terrific juice from this vintage. I'd keep a look out on Langtons, Oddbins or Sterlings Wine Auctions. Worth a punt, I reckon, the prices will be most reasonable, compared to what you'd pay for a 1959 1st growth left bank Bordeaux.

I've tried many a good bottle of Grange from this year but the wine seems to be getting some indifferent tasting notes of late. Not the greatest year for Grange but most of the bottles I've tried over the years have delivered an incredibly good bang for the meagre (relative to the "sprooked" vintages) bucks I've had to fork out most recently.

There were some fantastic Rieslings produced by Leo Buring, Seppelt et al from both the Eden and Clare Valley's, too.

I agree with David M. Bueker in recommending some great Chenin's in 1959. Huet's individual late-picked offerings can be quite spectacular. I'd contact the winery direct to ascertain if they would source a reconditioned bottle from their incredible museum stock. The last bottle of '59 Huet I tried (about 10 years ago) still had amazing acidity and didn't look very sweet at all. I paid $187 for it, sourced from Huet direct.

If my memory serves me correctly, 1959 was a top year for German Riesling, too, but I'd be surprised if many have survived today. David might be able to add/correct on this point.
Cheers,

David
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Re: Recoms needed for vintage 59 and 84 wines

by arnie del rosario » Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:27 pm

Thanks David. I will keep a look out for Coonawarra Cab Sauvs as well.

So you guys think a 1959 late harvest Vouvray from Huet would still be okay, huh? Might be a good alternative to Sauternes.
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Re: Recoms needed for vintage 59 and 84 wines

by David M. Bueker » Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:49 pm

A '59 Huet late harvest wine will be just coming into its own.
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