I bought a case of 1961 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild in the mid 1960s
shortly after it was released. It was an expensive wine - about US$ 11
per bottle - back then. My use of "expensive" is no joke, as difficult
as that may be for those who did not buy wines in the 1960s may
believe. You did not have to be a multi-millionaire to afford a few
bottles of first growth Bordeaux, or even Romanee-Conti, if you could
find it. The Lafite has been properly stored by me since it was
bought. It was moved only once in 1972, and then only a few blocks
away with no chance for much temperature change. Several years ago a
few bottles showed some signs that cork failure might happen in the
not too distant future. Since I did not intend to sell the wine, I
removed the foil capsules, well cleaned the necks of the bottles and
tops of the corks, and when they were dry I sealed the bottle tops
with several dips of USP beeswax. More recently for other wines I have
been using a sealing wax that I found for wine bottles.

The fill was still very good for a wine of this age - barely below the
bottom of the neck. The color still is quite deep with only a little
brick around the rim. The bouquet and taste are now huge. One no
longer needs to wait for the wine to air a long time before it is at
the best. The considerable tannins are now resolved. The wine is very
Cabernet Sauvignon in character - hardly a surprise since the 1961
Lafite is pure or nearly pure Cabernet Sauvignon from what I have read
from Coates. There is a very complex mixture of cassis, mixed dark
fruit, and a spice character as well as cedar. The wine is now
perfectly balanced. The bouquet jumps out of the glass. You likely
could drink the wine from a cup with little loss. This wine requires
no detailed examination to show that it is something special and of
first growth quality. It likely will last many more years, but I doubt
if it will improve.

There have been mixed reports of 61 Lafite, especially when it was
young. I believe Parker bad mouthed it early on. Many wines were not
all bottled at the same time in the 60s, and sometimes there was some
bottle variation from batch to batch - I do not know about the 1961
Lafite. Also of course there are always some bottles that have not
been stored properly at some time, a bottle can be corked, a cork can
be failing etc. However Broadbent still rated this wine as his top 5-
star in the late 90s. Coates rated it as 19 1/2 out of 20 in the
early 2000s in his book Wines of Bordeaux. My tasting impressions
agree fairly well with those of Broadbent and Coates, considering my
wine was a few years older than the ones they tasted. Also the prices
of Lafite 1961 have now gone up to second only to Petrus 1961 and
Latour 1961. The latest Decanter price watch shows Lafite 1961 selling
for 8800 Pounds per case while Margaux, Mouton-Rothschild, Haut-Brion,
and Cheval-Blanc are all lower. I do not recall seeing a recent review
that would suggest any wine other than Latour is the top wine of the
vintage. It is beginning to peak but should last at least 50 more
years according to some. Even Broadbent rated it at the top and gave
it his very rare 6 star ( out of 5 star -- off the chart) rating. It
now is selling for 15400 Pounds a case. Petrus is selling for 32000
Pounds per case, but here the small production comes into play.

On Mar 10, 2:48�pm, cwdjrxyz > wrote:
> I bought a case of 1961 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild in the mid 1960s
> shortly after it was released. It was an expensive wine - about US$ 11
> per bottle - back then. My use of "expensive" is no joke, as difficult
> as that may be for those who did not buy wines in the 1960s may
> believe. You did not have to be a multi-millionaire to afford a few
> bottles of first growth Bordeaux, or even Romanee-Conti, if you could
> find it. The Lafite has been properly stored by me since it was
> bought. It was moved only once in 1972, and then only a few blocks
> away with no chance for much temperature change. Several years ago a
> few bottles showed some signs that cork failure might happen in the
> not too distant future. Since I did not intend to sell the wine, I
> removed the foil capsules, well cleaned the necks of the bottles and
> tops of the corks, and when they were dry I sealed the bottle tops
> with several dips of USP beeswax. More recently for other wines I have
> been using a sealing wax that I found for wine bottles.
>
> The fill was still very good for a wine of this age - barely below the
> bottom of the neck. The color still is quite deep with only a little
> brick around the rim. The bouquet and taste are now huge. One no
> longer needs to wait for the wine to air a long time before it is at
> the best. The considerable tannins are now resolved. The wine is very
> Cabernet Sauvignon in character - hardly a surprise since the 1961
> Lafite is pure or nearly pure Cabernet Sauvignon from what I have read
> from Coates. There is a very complex mixture of cassis, mixed dark
> fruit, and a spice character as well as cedar. The wine is now
> perfectly balanced. The bouquet jumps out of the glass. You likely
> could drink the wine from a cup with little loss. This wine requires
> no detailed examination to show that it is something special and of
> first growth quality. It likely will last many more years, but I doubt
> if it will improve.
>
> There have been mixed reports of 61 Lafite, especially when it was
> young. I believe Parker bad mouthed it early on. Many wines were not
> all bottled at the same time in the 60s, and sometimes there was some
> bottle variation from batch to batch - I do not know about the 1961
> Lafite. Also of course there are always some bottles that have not
> been stored properly at some time, a bottle can be corked, a cork can
> be failing etc. However Broadbent still rated this wine as his top 5-
> star in the late 90s. Coates rated it as 19 1/2 �out of 20 in the
> early 2000s in his book Wines of Bordeaux. My tasting impressions
> agree fairly well with those of Broadbent and Coates, considering my
> wine was a few years older than the ones they tasted. Also the prices
> of Lafite 1961 have now gone up to second only to Petrus 1961 and
> Latour 1961. The latest Decanter price watch shows Lafite 1961 selling
> for 8800 Pounds per case while Margaux, Mouton-Rothschild, Haut-Brion,
> and Cheval-Blanc are all lower. I do not recall seeing a recent review
> that would suggest any wine other than Latour is the top wine of the
> vintage. It is beginning to peak but should last at least 50 more
> years according to some. Even Broadbent rated it at the top and gave
> it his very rare 6 star ( out of 5 star -- off the chart) rating. It
> now is selling for 15400 Pounds a case. Petrus is selling for 32000
> Pounds per case, but here the small production comes into play.

Thank you so much for the tasting notes. I have two bottles left and
I was concerned that they might be over the hill. I've had the wines
for many years and they were part of a case of 1961 first growths that
I recieved as a gift from a friend back in the early 70's. I'll open
them this year as the neck fills are low neck/high shoulder.

On Mar 10, 2:48�pm, cwdjrxyz > wrote:
> I bought a case of 1961 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild in the mid 1960s
> shortly after it was released. It was an expensive wine - about US$ 11
> per bottle - back then. My use of "expensive" is no joke, as difficult
> as that may be for those who did not buy wines in the 1960s may
> believe. You did not have to be a multi-millionaire to afford a few
> bottles of first growth Bordeaux, or even Romanee-Conti, if you could
> find it. The Lafite has been properly stored by me since it was
> bought. It was moved only once in 1972, and then only a few blocks
> away with no chance for much temperature change. Several years ago a
> few bottles showed some signs that cork failure might happen in the
> not too distant future. Since I did not intend to sell the wine, I
> removed the foil capsules, well cleaned the necks of the bottles and
> tops of the corks, and when they were dry I sealed the bottle tops
> with several dips of USP beeswax. More recently for other wines I have
> been using a sealing wax that I found for wine bottles.
>
> The fill was still very good for a wine of this age - barely below the
> bottom of the neck. The color still is quite deep with only a little
> brick around the rim. The bouquet and taste are now huge. One no
> longer needs to wait for the wine to air a long time before it is at
> the best. The considerable tannins are now resolved. The wine is very
> Cabernet Sauvignon in character - hardly a surprise since the 1961
> Lafite is pure or nearly pure Cabernet Sauvignon from what I have read
> from Coates. There is a very complex mixture of cassis, mixed dark
> fruit, and a spice character as well as cedar. The wine is now
> perfectly balanced. The bouquet jumps out of the glass. You likely
> could drink the wine from a cup with little loss. This wine requires
> no detailed examination to show that it is something special and of
> first growth quality. It likely will last many more years, but I doubt
> if it will improve.
>
> There have been mixed reports of 61 Lafite, especially when it was
> young. I believe Parker bad mouthed it early on. Many wines were not
> all bottled at the same time in the 60s, and sometimes there was some
> bottle variation from batch to batch - I do not know about the 1961
> Lafite. Also of course there are always some bottles that have not
> been stored properly at some time, a bottle can be corked, a cork can
> be failing etc. However Broadbent still rated this wine as his top 5-
> star in the late 90s. Coates rated it as 19 1/2 �out of 20 in the
> early 2000s in his book Wines of Bordeaux. My tasting impressions
> agree fairly well with those of Broadbent and Coates, considering my
> wine was a few years older than the ones they tasted. Also the prices
> of Lafite 1961 have now gone up to second only to Petrus 1961 and
> Latour 1961. The latest Decanter price watch shows Lafite 1961 selling
> for 8800 Pounds per case while Margaux, Mouton-Rothschild, Haut-Brion,
> and Cheval-Blanc are all lower. I do not recall seeing a recent review
> that would suggest any wine other than Latour is the top wine of the
> vintage. It is beginning to peak but should last at least 50 more
> years according to some. Even Broadbent rated it at the top and gave
> it his very rare 6 star ( out of 5 star -- off the chart) rating. It
> now is selling for 15400 Pounds a case. Petrus is selling for 32000
> Pounds per case, but here the small production comes into play.

thanks, a fun read, even for a wine I'll never taste. I noticed from
FAQ entrance you have the '59, too! I was born too late (and didn't
get into wine till I was over 30 anyway)!

Thanks for that note. I've had a few '61ers, as that's my wife's birth
year. To date, the Lynch-Bages was the most impressive, though the Cos
was quite fine, too.

Mark Lipton (a '59er)

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