"Ed Jay" > skrev i melding
...
> Ian Hoare scribed:
>
> I can't remember drinking the '59 Moutton. What I do remember is falling
> in love with the Lafite and buying it every time I was able to. And, I
> remember paying the outrageous price of...$71/btl.
> --
71$? USD? That must have been a late price (in the late 70'ies?)
I have a copy of a Norwegian list from 1965, unfortunately without the
Lafite, but including such items as Ch. d'Yquem 1960 at 7USD and Ch.
Rieussec 1959 at 3.75USD. Alcohol was, and is, heavily taxed in Norway, so
deduct about 30% to get international prices...

Of course, price differentials between ordinary and great wine were far less
in older days. I've also a list from 1927 showing unspecified St.Emilion NV
at 0.45USD and Ch.Latour 1916 at 1.45USD... The Petrus 1916 was 0.95USD.
That says something about real value differentials - there's simply no
justification in paying 100times more for a grand wine than for an ordinary
one, other than snob value.
Anders