The Chianti Riserva Ducale 1959, Ruffino has been properly stored by me
since the early 1960s. I still have a few bottles. The fill was just
slightly below the neck. The cork was sound, but very difficult to
extract cleanly. I, at least, do not expect any Chianti to be very good
at 47 years old. I have tasted other older examples that were not
oxidized, but they usually had lost most fruit and were very asture and
tannic. This wine is the rare exception. The year 1959 was very warm
and produced very ripe and concentrated wines throughout most of
Europe. In the case of white Burgundy, some wines were extremely
concentrated, but lacked acid and balance, so they oxidized too early.

The color was still a fairly deep scarlet with only moderate age
showing around the rim. The bouquet was intense with plenty of dark
fruit and hints of straw that sometimes appear in older Chianti. I
could detect no oxidation. The wine held up well after opening and did
not rapidly fall apart. It was smooth, tannins were resolved, and the
acid balance was right. I was not surprised because I have had this
wine before. It was better younger, but not much.

This wine comes from an era when most Italian wine in the US was of a
very cheap sort. A few of the larger Italian wine companies did
distribute a few of their better wines across the country. Then there
was California "Chianti" which was even cheaper. One could find a few
top Italian wines in large cities that had a large Italian population.
An Italian-American student from New York that I knew in college
mentioned old Brunello as being availabe in a few top Italian
restaurants there, and he called Brunello "godfather wine" because only
godfathers could afford it at restaurant prices!.

Impressive, never had a Chianti more than 25 years.
'59 was a great year many places, besides the obvious Bordeaux it was
excellent in places like Rioja, Germany, Piedmont. Unfortunately prices
reflect that.

cwdjrxyz wrote:
> The Chianti Riserva Ducale 1959, Ruffino has been properly stored by me
> since the early 1960s. I still have a few bottles. The fill was just
> slightly below the neck. The cork was sound, but very difficult to
> extract cleanly. I, at least, do not expect any Chianti to be very good
> at 47 years old. I have tasted other older examples that were not
> oxidized, but they usually had lost most fruit and were very asture and
> tannic. This wine is the rare exception. The year 1959 was very warm
> and produced very ripe and concentrated wines throughout most of
> Europe. In the case of white Burgundy, some wines were extremely
> concentrated, but lacked acid and balance, so they oxidized too early.
>
> The color was still a fairly deep scarlet with only moderate age
> showing around the rim. The bouquet was intense with plenty of dark
> fruit and hints of straw that sometimes appear in older Chianti. I
> could detect no oxidation. The wine held up well after opening and did
> not rapidly fall apart. It was smooth, tannins were resolved, and the
> acid balance was right. I was not surprised because I have had this
> wine before. It was better younger, but not much.
>
> This wine comes from an era when most Italian wine in the US was of a
> very cheap sort. A few of the larger Italian wine companies did
> distribute a few of their better wines across the country. Then there
> was California "Chianti" which was even cheaper. One could find a few
> top Italian wines in large cities that had a large Italian population.
> An Italian-American student from New York that I knew in college
> mentioned old Brunello as being availabe in a few top Italian
> restaurants there, and he called Brunello "godfather wine" because only
> godfathers could afford it at restaurant prices!.

DaleW wrote:
> Impressive, never had a Chianti more than 25 years.
> '59 was a great year many places, besides the obvious Bordeaux it was
> excellent in places like Rioja, Germany, Piedmont. Unfortunately prices
> reflect that.

It was also a very good year in the Rhone Valley. How nice, since
that's my birth year: it gives you all so many choices for the big
celebration in '09 ;-)

Mark Lipton

> It was also a very good year in the Rhone Valley. How nice, since
> that's my birth year: it gives you all so many choices for the big
> celebration in '09 ;-)
>
Betsy's too, but prices are so high. All I have for her is a bottle of
Sauternes and a late-harvest Puglian Primitivo (seriously).

DaleW wrote:
> > It was also a very good year in the Rhone Valley. How nice, since
> > that's my birth year: it gives you all so many choices for the big
> > celebration in '09 ;-)
> >
> Betsy's too, but prices are so high. All I have for her is a bottle of
> Sauternes and a late-harvest Puglian Primitivo (seriously).

Yes, many top 59s now are quite expensive. I was fortunate enough to
buy a few many years ago before you needed to have the income of a
Hollywood plastic surgeon to the stars to consider buying them. There
are several 59s that I have had within the last few years that likely
still are very good if properly stored, Yquem 59 is extremely rich and
holding well. However it now costs up to about 80 times what I paid
(about $11 per bottle). Ch Margaux is more advanced than some 59s but
still very good and holding. Ch. Lafite is one of the best since WW2
until the 80s. It is hard to go wrong for auslese and above for the top
German estates, with BA and TBA being exceptionally rich and holding
very well for the most part. La Tache still is very nice. Moulin
Touchas is quite rich and still holding well. Tokaji Aszu 6P. from the
state is very rich and holding well.

Of the mentioned German 59s, the Steinberger BA still is very good. F.
K. Schmidt's Feinste Auslese is worthy of the now banned Feinste. J.J.
Prum's Wehlener Sonnenuhr TBA must be among the best 59s. Bischofliches
Priesterseminar's Dhronhofberger TBA is one of the richest German wines
I have ever tasted, and Michael Broadbent raved about it in an earlier
book.

The only one of those that might be in my range is the Anjou (I lost
out on a bottle at auction last year). I love Moulin Touchais!

cwdjrxyz wrote:
> DaleW wrote:
> > > It was also a very good year in the Rhone Valley. How nice, since
> > > that's my birth year: it gives you all so many choices for the big
> > > celebration in '09 ;-)
> > >
> > Betsy's too, but prices are so high. All I have for her is a bottle of
> > Sauternes and a late-harvest Puglian Primitivo (seriously).
>
> Yes, many top 59s now are quite expensive. I was fortunate enough to
> buy a few many years ago before you needed to have the income of a
> Hollywood plastic surgeon to the stars to consider buying them. There
> are several 59s that I have had within the last few years that likely
> still are very good if properly stored, Yquem 59 is extremely rich and
> holding well. However it now costs up to about 80 times what I paid
> (about $11 per bottle). Ch Margaux is more advanced than some 59s but
> still very good and holding. Ch. Lafite is one of the best since WW2
> until the 80s. It is hard to go wrong for auslese and above for the top
> German estates, with BA and TBA being exceptionally rich and holding
> very well for the most part. La Tache still is very nice. Moulin
> Touchas is quite rich and still holding well. Tokaji Aszu 6P. from the
> state is very rich and holding well.
>
> Of the mentioned German 59s, the Steinberger BA still is very good. F.
> K. Schmidt's Feinste Auslese is worthy of the now banned Feinste. J.J.
> Prum's Wehlener Sonnenuhr TBA must be among the best 59s. Bischofliches
> Priesterseminar's Dhronhofberger TBA is one of the richest German wines
> I have ever tasted, and Michael Broadbent raved about it in an earlier
> book.