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Lawrence Leichtman[_2_] Lawrence Leichtman[_2_] is offline
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Default TN Chateau Margaux 1959

In article
>,
cwdjrxyz > wrote:

> The Chateau Margaux 1959 has been properly stored by me since the mid
> 70s. It was imported into the US about then from a London wine dealer
> and appeared to have been properly stored with a sound cork and labels
> indicating it was stored where there was considerable moisture, likely
> an underground cellar in the UK. I was expecting to have to build a
> fire in the grill outdoors to heat up the port tongs to get rid of the
> cork without cork particles in the wine. To my surprise, I was able to
> extract the whole cork with only a Screwpull. The cork was still
> fairly elastic and sealed the bottle well. The fill might be called
> very low neck by a seller and very high shoulder by a buyer :-).
>
> The wine is still rather deep red with some age now showing around the
> rim. The bouquet is at once very intense as soon as the cork is
> pulled. Bottle stench, if present, is completely masked by the
> intensity of the good bouquet. I stored the wine in the wine machine
> under ultra pure Argon and flushed out the air in the neck very well
> with the Argon. I thus will be able to drink the wine over several
> days. This wine was a nearly perfect Chateau Margaux. There are still
> medium tannins that are now well resolved. The acid balance is right.
> There are floral hints in the complex bouquet and taste dominated by
> cassis with hints of other dark fruits. The finish is very long. You
> do not have to try much to smell the very intense bouquet. I poured
> some in an antique Italian wine glass that had a cone shape. It had a
> light pink color with tiny gold flake in the glass and a very ornate
> stem. Other than for examination of the color, this worked well enough
> with plenty of bouquet. The wine likely would smell and taste equally
> good out of a tea cup or a jelly jar.
>
> In a 1982 book, Michael Broadbent says he had tasted 1959 Margaux many
> times over the yearsand had 29 tasting notes.His last note in the book
> was in Dec 2001. He says the wine is 5-star out of 5-star at the best.
> He does mention that he tasted several bottles that were not this
> good, and they mainly had poor levels or poor corks. I thus would buy
> the wine today only if several bottles are being sold at an auction
> and one is offered a taste from one bottle before opening, since this
> wine now often sells for a very high price.
>
> The 1961 Margaux was also a great wine and still is drinking well.
> After that, the quality of Margaux was usually far below what Margaux
> can be, although some of the wines were quite drinkable although often
> overpriced for what you got. Perhaps the first of the more recent
> Margauxs to have the potential of the older ones is the 1982, but it
> will still be about 20 years before we know for sure. A top Margaux
> from a top year should easily last 50 years if properly made for the
> long term rather than to impress some critic when it is much too
> young.


I am quite jealous. I tasted this once at a public tasting and got about
a tablespoon full and even then it was luscious.