1961 Bordeaux tasting at Wine Watch

Friday, January 27, 2017 - 07:00 PM

This Event has been read: 2806 times.

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“I love everything that is old; old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines. “

- Oliver Goldsmith, The Vicar of Wakefield

 

 

The month of January is one of the best in terms of tastings as we are very thirsty here at the Wine Watch after having the entire month of December off in terms of Wine tastings- so we hit it hard in January.  And the Subject that we are hitting the hardest this month is Bordeaux! 

We had two tastings last week featuring Bordeaux and we have two more this week with five producers from the Chateau here at the store on Wednesday night featuring 20 different wines. 

Then, Thursday night we have our 1982 vintage Bordeaux tasting here at the store featuring 10 wines from this epic vintage, including Mouton Rothschild, Leoville Las Cases and La Mission Haut Brion (three 100 Point Wines) along with seven other top level classified growths.

To finish the month on Friday January 27th we have one of the greatest Bordeaux tastings we have ever hosted here at Wine Watch with 8 wines from the legendary 1961 vintage including two of the wines of the vintage; Latour a Pomerol and La Mission Haut Brion!  We have also just added Chateau Haut Brion to the list for this evening’s “Once in a Lifetime” 1961 Vintage Bordeaux tasting.   This tasting is $1250 + tax, there are only 12 spaces available for this event.  For reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.

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1961 Bordeaux tasting at Wine Watch
Friday, January 27, 2017
7:00 PM

 

Image result for 1961 Château Belair Saint Emilion

1961 Château Belair Saint Emilion
List $295.00        Your Price: $259.60
Quantity in Stock: 3

In the heart of the Lussac Saint-Emilion appellation, Château Bel-Air comprises 30 unbroken hectares, including 21 hectares of vines.  In 1978, Jean-Noël Roi took over the estate which had been in his family for over a century.  The vineyard stands on a wide plateau of clay with areas of silica gravel, with a subsoil of clay and iron pan.

It is composed of : 70% de Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon.  The vines are, on average, 35 years old, a good age for producing well balanced wines.

The grapes are harvested only when they are fully ripe, as the quality of the aromas and the later development of the tannins depend on it.  Vatting time is long : it takes several weeks to produce a wine that will be good for laying down.

Image result for 1961 Château Beychevelle St Julien

1961 Château Beychevelle St Julien
List $476.00             Your Price: $418.88
Quantity in Stock: 2

Ever since it was first produced, and down through the various vintages, Château Beychevelle has reflected the elegance and finesse of Saint Julien's finest terroirs.Graceful and complex, with a tremendous aromatic richness, Château Beychevelle is made from the best plots in the vineyard and undergoes a rigorous selection process.It reveals its character after about ten years, and can be kept for several decades, depending on the vintage.  The 1961 vintage has an average score of 91.6 points on Cellar Tracker.

Image result for 1961 Chateau Cos D'Estournel St Estephe

1961 Chateau Cos D'Estournel St Estephe  
$995.00        Your Price: $875.60
Quantity in Stock: 6

The call of faraway lands. As mysterious and intriguing as a lone adventurer returning from a solitary sail, Cos d’Estournel is slow to reveal itself. Little by little, it evokes stories of distant places, market stalls brimming with unfamiliar fruits, spices and wares, village festivities warmed by the joy of revelers and the setting sun, and sumptuous visions of ladies and their voluptuous curves. A myriad of scents, colors and tastes appeals to the senses. The Grand Vin of Cos d’Estournel is both demure and deliberately sensuous, a fascinating and elegant nectar.  The 1961 vintage of this wine has an average score of 90.6 on Cellar Tracker.

Image result for 1961 Chateau Lynch Bages Pauillac

1961 Chateau Lynch Bages Pauillac
Average Wine Searcher Price $614

(95 points) Still a spectacular wine, the 1961 defies mortality. It has been at its peak for nearly 15 years, yet it shows no signs of losing its fruit and drying out. The color is a dark garnet with orange/amber at the edge. The profound bouquet has the magnetic allure that leaves great Bordeaux unmatched for complexity. Sweet notes of dried fruits, herbs, tobacco, smoke, and roasted meats are followed by an opulently-textured, thick, nearly viscous wine with high glycerin, ripe, jammy fruit, and an intoxicating combination of glycerin, extract, and suppleness. The wine holds in the glass without cracking up, and has a good 40-45 second finish. There is no telling how much longer this 1961 will retain its magic, but it is still a classic. (6/2000) Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

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1961 Chateau Latour Pauillac
Price: $4500.00    Sale Price: $3500.00

(100 Poinits) Port-like, with an unctuous texture, and a dark garnet color with considerable amber at the edge, the 1961 Latour possesses a viscosity and thickness. One of the three bottles served at the Chateau's tasting revealed a surprisingly aggressive, minty, herbaceous nose, but the other two bottles were liquid perfection, exhibiting fragrant, cedary, truffle, leather, mineral, and sweet, jammy aromatics, full-bodied, voluptuous textures, exquisite purity and concentration, and a layered, highly-nuanced finish that represents the essence of compellingly great wine.

The 1961 has been fully mature for over 15 years, but it seems to get richer, holding onto its succulence and fat, and developing more aromatic nuances without losing any sweetness or concentration. An extraordinary wine, it is unquestionably one of the Bordeaux legends of the century! Anticipated maturity: now-2025 Wine Advocate #129, Jun 2000

Image result for 1961 Chateau Haut Brion Pessac Leognan

1961 Chateau Haut Brion Pessac Leognan 
Average Price $2746

(100 Points) The dark garnet-colored 1961 Haut-Brion is pure perfection, with gloriously intense aromas of tobacco, cedar, chocolate, minerals, and sweet red and black fruits complemented by smoky wood. This has always been a prodigious effort (it was the debut vintage for Jean Delmas). It is extremely full-bodied, with layers of viscous, sweet fruit. This wine is akin to eating candy. Consistently an astonishing wine!  Robert Parker

Image result for 1961 Chateau La Mission Haut Brion

 

1961 Chateau La Mission Haut Brion 
Average Price $3,904

One of the greatest 1961s, La Mission-Haut-Brion has been fabulous to drink for the last 5-10 years. Where well-stored, this wine will continue to drink well for 10-20 years. It is more developed and drinkable than the 1959, and it remains a thick, rich, super-aromatic wine with a textbook Graves bouquet of tobacco, barbecued meats, minerals, spices, and sweet red and black fruits. It is dense, full-bodied, alcoholic, and super-rich. This soft, opulently-textured wine makes for a fabulous drink. Absolutely stunning!

Image result for 1961 Chateau Latour a Pomerol Pomerol

1961 Chateau Latour a Pomerol Pomerol  

Average Price on WineSearcher $7303/btl.    (We sold the other bottle that came in this cellar! So this is the last bottle!!)  a case just sold for 167,000!!

(100 Points) Although the 1947 Cheval Blanc is widely considered to be the wine of the century among collectors the 1961 Latour a Pomerol also merits a share of the title. Giving points to a wine such as this makes one think of Shakespeare's reflection that comparisons are odious. To put it mildly this wine is off the charts. If I had only one Bordeaux to drink the 1961 Latour a Pomerol would have to be at the top of my list. Given its phenomenal richness and amazing precision and balance it can bring tears to one's eyes. Still a saturated dark purple color with no signs of amber orange or rust the nose offers extraordinarily rich intense aromas of jammy plums black currants licorice and truffles. Port-like with remarkable viscosity and thickness as well as a finish that lasts for more than a minute this wine is in a class by itself. Even greater than the 1961 Petrus and 1961 Latour two perfect wines it is phenomenal. Given its youthfulness it is the least evolved wine of the vintage it has the potential to last for another 20-30 years. RP

 

Menu

Selection of Cheese

Duck Confit with sundried Cherry reduction and sweet potato flan

Ginger scented creme brulee

 

This tasting is $1250.00 + tax, there are only 12 spaces available for this event.  For reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.

 

 

A brief Review of the 1961 vintage taken from: www.thewinecellarinsider.com:

“1961 Bordeaux wine is one the legendary Bordeaux vintages of all time and for several good reasons. Of course, that all starts with the perfect growing season and harvest. The spring frost conditions naturally reduced crops, lowered yields and concentrated the already intense flavors. Generally speaking, the spring was mild in Bordeaux, which led to an early and even flowering. A frost struck much of Bordeaux at the end of May, which damaged many of the vines. Because the frost occurred late in the season, after the flowering, there was no additional birth of new berries. The crop was already low, due to the frost of 1956, this only reduced the yields further, with several the top estates reporting yields of 11 hectoliters per hectare. From that point forward, everything improved.

The summer was for the most part, warm, sunny and dry. The only break from the excellent summer weather occurred in July, when the summer rain fell, which proved to exactly what the grapes needed. The remainder of July was warm, sunny and dry. August was extremely hot and dry, which was followed by a close to perfect September, which was warm and dry. These conditions produced small, ripe, sweet, ripe, thick skinned berries with almost unseen levels of concentration of intensity and flavor. The 1961 Bordeaux harvest officially began September 22. This is similar to what happened in 1945. Although, in 1945, the harvest started even earlier. Due to the naturally low yields in both years, the vintages are often compared with each other.

While 1945 Bordeaux favored the Medoc , that is not the case with 1961 Bordeaux wine.  Stunning 1961 Bordeaux wine was produced in Pessac Leognan , Pomerol , Pauillac , St. Julien and while Margaux was not consistent, Chateau Palmer made what people feel remains the best wine in their history! Chateau Latour is prodigious. It was not a good vintage for St. Emilion , or the sweet, white, Bordeaux wine from Sauternes . Pomerol was particularly successful. 1961 Haut Brion is one a contender for the best wines they produced in the 20th century and La Mission Haut Brion is not far behind!

1961  1961 Bordeaux Wine Vintage Report and Buying Guide

The small harvest produced great 1961 Bordeaux wine from in appellation from top to bottom. The wines were rich and tannic, which demanded extended cellaring. 1961 Bordeaux was not fun to drink in its youth. In part, that explains why so many 1961 Bordeaux wines remain for sale today. The best wines are concentrated, deep, complex and hauntingly perfumed.  One of the most important traits all great vintages share, is that the wines from top to bottom, and in all appellations produce great wine. One of the best aspects of 1961 Bordeaux wine is that numerous chateaux produced very good wines. This means consumers do not need to look only at the top wines to be get a good chance at enjoying, great older wine. Today, 1961 Bordeaux wine is considered one of the true reference point vintages for mature, Bordeaux wine.”

Read more about the 1961 vintage at Wine Cellar Insider

 

Born in the 1960's!

Here is everything we have in the store from the decade of the 1960's just in case you were born in the 1960s as well- my vintage is 1969.

 

1962 Château Beychevelle St Julien 750ml
Price: $295.00
Quantity in Stock: 3

 

1962 Chateau Climens Barsac
Price: $375.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

(89 Points) Beginning to deepen in color and take on an amber/golden color, the 1962 Climens must certainly be the best Climens of the sixties. A fragrant, roasted bouquet of melted caramel and brown sugar sauteed in butter is captivating. On the palate, the wine has rich, luscious, unctuous flavors that have remained crisp and lively because of good acidity. It is a worthy challenger to the d’Yquem in 1962. Anticipated maturity: Now. Last tasted, 1/85.  Bordeaux Book, 3rd Edition, Jan 1998

 

1965 Taylor Fladgate Single Harvest Port
Price: $300.00
Quantity in Stock: 2

During its five decades of aging in oak casks, this wine has taken on an attractive pale mahogany color with olive amber highlights. On the nose, the wine displays delicate oaky aromas, walnuts, figs, demerara sugar and hints of caramel intertwined with spicy, cigar box notes. The palate is silky smooth, with mocha and honeyed notes on the entry. Crisp acidity carries the wine to its long and richly textured finish. Finely constituted and beautifully balanced, this rare Single Harvest Tawny Port would be an exceptional tribute to any 50th anniversary or birthday.

 

1966 Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Pauillac (no label)(low neck)
Price: $375.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

 

1967 Bertani Amarone della Valpolicella
Price: $565.00    Sale Price: $480.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

A very good vintage for Amarone production: a fairly dry and very hot summer followed a wet spring. Harvest of perfectly healthy grapes.

Intense garnet red with a slightly orange rim. Well - defined aroma of dried plum, hazelnut, black truffle, walnut and chocolate. Intense scents that continue to change and to vary.