May 16, 2016 - Wine & Chinese on a Monday Night (Sun Wah BBQ, Chicago, IL): A deep dark ruby -- great color for a near 60 year old wine. The nose is moderate with red fruit that is slightly caramelized and herb/earth tones behind the fruit. Wow, the palate here is very impressive with fruit that is still round, plush and sweet. Tannins are resolved. Acid is still present and kicking. The finish has great length and perfume. Awesome stuff.
May 16, 2016 - Rebecca's Welcome Dinner (Chicago, IL): Ex-Harris cellar. Perhaps this is a touch old, but it's definitely still drinkable. A nose that shows mostly tertiary character at this point, with some red fruits still showing. I didn't pick up any of that Margaux (appellation, not chateau) perfume though. The palate still shows a touch of fruit, although it's getting quite acidic on the back end. There's a silkiness in texture though, that's really pleasant. It's clearly in the last stage of its life, even for this bottle of excellent provenance. Drink up.
March 4, 2016 - Opened as we had a guest born in 1956. High shoulder fill however very slight leakage so certainly not the best bottle. Nice garnet color with some browning at the rim. Slow ox'ed for about 1h as the wine did not show much of a nose upon opening. Later the wine was not showing outright bad but probably not correct either with a soft and gentle palate full of medicinal and herbal notes. A very slight touch of oxidization too. Very impressive long finish though with similar flavors.
Our guest was happy nevertheless.
February 29, 2016 - An appealing greenness and white pepper on the nose provide engaging aromatics. The palate falls short of this although modest fruit still shows through. Short finish. Bottle from chateau
October 5, 2015 - Svag doft, cederträ, tändsticka. Jord, läder, vissa tanniner kvar.
March 14, 2015 - Definitely a surprise as this is drinking nicely. Ultra soft and very mature lacking a bit of intensity but very Margaux with notes of violets and minerals. Just a bit sour on the finish otherwise it would've compared well with the '62. Drink up for sure.
March 12, 2015 - A solid showing from the '57. Good spice on the nose with cigar ash, light white pepper, and light tar. Ripe red fruit, slight metallic notes, light tar on the palate. This wine is fully mature and faded noticeably after an hour in the glass. Drink now.
May 28, 2012 - Old. Cork was sunken but came out cleanly with a standard corkscrew. Decanted for sediment (there was a lot). First sip was overpowered by barnyard funkiness. Let it sit about 10 minutes and tried again. This time I could taste the faintness of the fruit that once made this wine great. It seemed that each glass was a tad bit better than the one prior, however the first sip of each subsequent glass was a bit foul. Overall, a gentle wine given the grapes were growing at the same time the '57 Chevy Bel Air was cruising the drive-ins. By far the oldest wine I've ever tried (by about 25 years), so I'm no expert on what these are supposed to taste like. Certainly a great experience to try something so old. If I were scoring at home, I'd give it 86 points, but feel that this is not a "scoreable" wine.
November 29, 2009 - Slightly over the hill, but still drinkable, with mature flavors of wild truffle, oak, and damp earth dominating, but subtle fruit woven amongst mild sherry (age) on the hind palate. It did improve in the glass, and for a 52 year old wine with a mid-shoulder fill, it was something nice.
November 7, 2000 - Christie's Pre-Sale Tasting (Amsterdam): Similar style to the 1962 but a little more chunky and sturdy, classic and structured, long-lived, very healthy, good fnish with fruit and oak, very good wine.