Tonight's dinner was rack of lamb and a potato-green bean salad. Jean
expressed an interest in having a glass of really good wine with dinner,
so I suggested a bottle that she'd received from me for her birthday
last year:

1961 Ch. Beychevelle (St. Julien)
nose: cassis, graphite, cedar, a slight herbaceous note, some earth
palate: fully resolved tannins, medium body, rich mouthfeel, great acidity

This was the second bottle of a cache I gave to Jean last year and it
was even better than the previous one had been. Incredibly youthful
(even down to the cork which was in superb shape), it had a classic
Cabernet nose and an incredible feel of richness in the mouth. It was
acidic enough that it needed the food to show well, but at 11.5% ABV it
showed no heaviness or heat. This led to an interesting discussion
concerning the ABV: since '61 was noted as a warm year that produced
very ripe grapes in Bordeaux, how did they keep the alcohol so low?
Canopy management? Earlier harvest?

Mark Lipton