WTN: And now I can die content!

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My dear friend and former undergraduate adviser inherited part of his father's wine collection, and had long been saving this for his retirement. For some years now, it was also being saved for me! How fitting then that we should drink it to celebrate his retirement and at the same time my taking over from him. Had I known about the fill level (I hadn't seen this bottle in years) I might have pushed to open sooner, but on the other hand, it still showed well, I can cross it off the bucket list, and most importantly, we got to have a long-awaited once in a lifetime experience.

Chateau Latour, Pauillac 1961
Mid-shoulder fill; bulging cork. Good color still, opaque garnet, going orange then clear at the rim. Nose dominate by balsamic vinegar notes at first, but the palate has considerable tannic structure still and is even a tiny bit tight. Very, very slow in coming around; only started to hit its stride two hours after opening, an hour after being decanted. Outstanding, deep, dense, aromatic nose, with dried red cherry, mineral/pencil lead, cured tobacco, suede, a bit of fleshly red currant, grilled meat, rich deep, chocolately earth, some barnyard; certainly showing some Pauillac typicite (though perhaps leaning toward the St. Julien side); lovely aromatics and depth in there; as it opens fully, sweet, dense, and rich, with aromatic, earthy depth; pleasant mature hints of fruitcake/raisin later. On the palate, sweet dried red cherry upfront, dried blackberry, and currants, with overtones of charred earth, chocolate, tobacco leaf, sweet suede, and mineral/pencil lead. Lovely finish. On the light side of full bodied, with a really lovely, sweet, succulent, spicy texture; high-toned and very elegant, but with a touch of potent tannin still present. Two and half hours in, the fruit becomes increasingly lush. Clearly a compromised bottle, with all of the elements of profound greatness present but out of sync, only giving you hints of the glory that it should be. Nonetheless, even in this compromised state, one of the five best Bordeaux I’ve had, and the opportunity to drink a legend like this is a tremendous experience. That it is in such good shape even given the lowish fill is a testament to its greatness. Based on the glimpses of youthfullness peeking through, I suspect a pristine bottle might have 20 years or more ahead of it. A memorable and special experience for sure! 4.5 Stars [8/9/15]

[David M. Bueker]

Ryan,

Thank you for sharing your experience. 1961 is a magical vintage. I've only had the opportunity to try a few (Palmer, Giscours, Beychevelle), and in each case the class of the vintage came through, even though none of the bottles were in particularly great shape.

Would love to have tasted that Latour.

Ryan,
The fill looks about right for a '61 Bdx. Not sure I'd call it "compromised". I've had btls of reds (and whites)
that have has as much as a third of the wine ullaged away...and they have been just fine. And some not so fine.
But none oxidized. Doesn't sound like there was any signs of oxidation in the wine.
So...given that you're in Atchison (I'm from KC, via Manhattan for school), your friend's father must have
purchased it at a Berbiglia's in KC (MO). If he bought it in the mid-late '60's, he probably paid about $8-$12
for it. Being as he bought it in MO and brought it into KS, across the State Line, that made him a scofflaw.
You don't feel at all bad about drinking an illegal wine??
Tom

Ryan,

Thank you for sharing your experience. 1961 is a magical vintage. I've only had the opportunity to try a few (Palmer, Giscours, Beychevelle), and in each case the class of the vintage came through, even though none of the bottles were in particularly great shape.

Would love to have tasted that Latour.

Hey David. I have only one other experience with 1961, and it showed the greatness of the vintage even more dramatically:
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=26641

Ryan,
The fill looks about right for a '61 Bdx. Not sure I'd call it "compromised". I've had btls of reds (and whites)
that have has as much as a third of the wine ullaged away...and they have been just fine. And some not so fine.
But none oxidized. Doesn't sound like there was any signs of oxidation in the wine.

Hello Tom. Fair point, ullage by itself isn't necessarily a problem. The problem was the cork. I've opened a number of old red, and this cork was one of the worst. It had literally formed a muffin top, and the side were soaked all the way up - in fact if not for the muffin top, the wine probably would have been leaking freely. So in the case the ullage doesn't appear to have been due simply to slow evap through the cork. I've also had a '52 Chambolle-Musigny from this friends cellar with even worse ullage that was in exquisite shape.

So...given that you're in Atchison (I'm from KC, via Manhattan for school), your friend's father must have
purchased it at a Berbiglia's in KC (MO). If he bought it in the mid-late '60's, he probably paid about $8-$12
for it. Being as he bought it in MO and brought it into KS, across the State Line, that made him a scofflaw.
You don't feel at all bad about drinking an illegal wine??
Tom

Well, while I'm a native Atchisonian whose academic career just happened to bring me back home, my friend is more a more typical transplanted academic. He grew up in the Chicago metro.

As for drinking illegal wine, let's not even get into the extent I've gone to to receive shipments in nominally no-ship states.

Wow, thanks for sharing this. I was lucky enough to experience the 1961 Latour back in 1985--as part of a vertical of Latour and Mouton featuring the 1929, 1961, and then just-released 1982. The 1961 Latour was astoundingly great in 1985.

-Paul W.

Really great note, Ryan. Next best thing to trying it myself.