TN: 62 Lafite, 74 Haut Brion, 88 Leoville Barton, etc

[NoahR]

Preface: our house is a disgrace, after multiple major leaks, with a small plywood temp kitchen, and the rest of the house littered with everything that should be stored in the basement while the basement is gearing up to be renovated. So I don’t really have people over, which saddens me.

Decided to bite the bullet and host a small gathering of a half dozen fellow winos for some BGE tacos al pastor and whatever I could dig out of my storage locker. There was a lot of wine. In the interests of survival we did not finish it all.

A few brief highlights:

1992 Dom Perignon - a bit oxidized but still drinkable. Amber, with minimal fizz. Reminded me of the 1971 I had last year.
NV Perseval Farge La Pucelle- fine, incisive with a bit of apricot on lemon curd. Showed well.

1978 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard - a gift from a fellow wine lover. This was rich and full bodied. Had a touch of funk to it that came on after an hour and left an hour later, and a bit of menthol was there. Blackberry fruit seemed still very vibrant and this drank younger than expected.

1988 Leoville Barton - tobacco, fruit a little dried, classic Bordeaux nose, fairly pyrazine heavy. This was by far the most lean of the Bordeaux we had. I loved it, but it was not a phenomenal wine. Still some grip.

1974 Haut Brion - maybe this was not a good vintage, but this was still a very good wine. Soft, tannins mostly gone. Still moderately colored. Nose was fine and almost floral, with a bit of cedar and earth. Drank like a classic claret.

1962 Lafite - got this out of a bargain bin for $40 - low-mid Shoulder. Double decanted. This was an Audoize wine - fine, delicate, old, haunting, certainly correct and unflawed. Was just a whiff of prettiness and a soft easy palate. Didn’t last long, but if you didn’t like this you shouldn’t drink old wine.

There were many other beauties, including a 1990 Brunello, some older Cameron and Edmund St John and Thomas, some old muscadet and much more. May update if I have time.

[stefan]

1962, coming after the great 1959 and 1961, was mostly passed over, but I loved to drink 1962 Bordeaux in the 1970s. With I still had some.

[Nicklasss]

Interesting to read Noah.

Being born in 1974, I'm always happy to read that a 1974 drink well, as it was a crappy vintage.

I think i never had the 1988 Léoville Barton. But many 1988 Left Bank wines gave a lot of pleasure in the past, including Lagrange, Gruaud Larose, Léoville Las Cases, Lynch Bages, and Haut Brion.

Nic

[Blanquito]

Nice notes, Noah. Love old vintage claret. Had a 73 Mouton once which was magically complex for about 30 mins and then cracked up completely.

74 was great in Cali and Piedmont, Nic. Hard to find those wines these days though, especially the Californian ones.

[Blanquito]

I’m gonna go out on a limb and declare that Leoville Barton underperformed between 1961 and 1990.

[AKR]

I thought the 88 Leo Barton was kind of lean too, but that was quite some time ago.

74 and 78 are great in Napa cab, but at this point, not so easy to find.

They might be slightly more prevalent in California where you can still trip over some that may not have moved much.

[DavidG]

Very nice report on a wonderful group of bottles Noah. I’ve had a lot of 88 Bordeaux, the Leoville Barton only once that I can recall, about 10(?) years ago. A classic wine consistent with the vintage, earthy, leafy (your pyrazines?) and for me more medium-bodied than lean. Excellent to my palate. One of the better wines from that year but I agree, not phenomenal.

I haven’t had any of the others on your list, but a 70s-era Heitz Martha's Tim brought to a dinner a few years back was phenomenal. I’ve been reading Judgment of Paris and enjoying the descriptions of those 70s-era winemakers, including Joe Heitz.

[AKR]

CabFan poured us a 'Toothpaste in a Bottle' 1974 'block C' Heitz CS many eons ago.

Man that was memorable, even if it might have been a touch unsound.

I've mentioned it before - and even poured one blind at a recent dinner - but sometimes the Maipo valley cabs of Cousino Macul have some of that mint/eucalyptus flavor that Martha's can show.

http://www.bordeauxwineenthusiasts.com/ ... 52&p=73574

[Winona Chief]

Not surprised by the good showing of the 1974 Haut Brion - Latour, La Mission Haut Brion and Trotanoy were all excellent in 1974, though many other Bordeaux were weak in that vintage. 1962 was a whole different story, many of the wines were wonderful but overlooked because of the 1961’s famous reputation. A bunch of top notch 1962s hit the market around 1980 in the DC area. I got my share. Gruaud Larose was great and certainly worth the $18 price tag. Latour was even better and a steal at $30. Meyney and Ducru were also favorites of mine.

Chris Bublitz