Chateau bottled and recorked in 2002. And what a pleasure to pull a cork on a 60 year old bottle of wine without any sign of breaking. Sweet blackcurrant fruit immediately evident on removing the cork. Excellent colour. Mature, but no bricking whatsoever and still quite a deep colour. Remarkable nose: blackcurrant fruit to the fore, maybe some cherry and a gentle sent verging on a high tone. But what a big, full nose for a 60 year old. Feeling rather older in the mouth than it looks and smells. Nicely balanced. Some soft tannins remain, particularly noticeable on the finish. Elegant and in a very good place.
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A Berry Bros bottled label with level at upper shoulder. Huge nose when decanted. Loads of sludgy sediment. Cigar box, leather and liquorice. Colour on the lip is light brick and in the glass suprisingly dark. Plenty of body still and a long penetrating finish. Tannins are fully resolved yet there is no lack of structure. Good quality bottles still have decades of life ahead. Much more youthful than expected. Broadbent called this chunky and sweet in the 1980s and you can clearly see how the wine has progressed from there.
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Château Beychevelle Vertical: Somewhat oxidized. Showing nice cigar box, red cedar, and intriguing dark teas on the nose. A little too tired and decrepit for the age, have had far older Bordeaux in far better shape. Unfortunately underwhelming.
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1964 Château Beychevelle In 1969, a friend gave me a bottle of 1964 Chateau Beychevelle on the occasion of the birth of my first child. In the past 45 years, the bottle has survived 8 household moves, stored in various stages of “cellaring” including temperature and non-compliant venues.
This being the 45th anniversary of that event, I shared the bottle with some friends at a Boy’s Night Out dinner. The friends I dined with are knowledgeable about food and wine and it was a fun thing to do.
It's always nice to be surprised when a wine shows much better than expected. Beychevelle was on top of their game in the 60's and this bottle shows why. The waiter opened the bottle with due care and the cork almost came out in one piece. It did break at the 2/3 point but it was moist and upon smelling the cork, it indicated that the wine was still good. The rest of the cork was removed without a problem and the first pour was greeted with anxious anticipation. We all tasted the small initial pour and agreed that it was remarkably good, but it should be decanted to see how it developed. The decentering showed very little sediment and we allowed the wine to sit for about 10 minutes. We were concerned that sometimes the wine will “peak” early and then fall off so we each were poured a few ounces to have a try. The nose was pleasing but not overwhelming. On first taste it was good, but not spectacular. It had a lot of tannins and was pleasant to the pallet. There were strong berries, truffle, smoke, tobacco, earth, plums and leather scent to a soft textured, medium/full bodied wine that is fully mature. The wine ended with a spice and cassis finish. It was a wonderful experience and I am happy that the bottle was in such perfect condition. You never know after 45 years. Happy Birthday Cynthia!
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Overraskende mørk kjerne med brun kant. Medium til god fylde. Fremdeles litt tannin, bra syre og god lengde. Hadde lave forventninger til denne vinen, i og med at den var tappet på flaske i Danmark, men fikk en hyggelig opplevelse av vinen.
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From 375 ML: I pretty much regard anything over 20-25 years from a half as a total crapshoot. But sometimes you roll 7s. Cigarbox and lead pencil over surprisingly fresh fruit, typical Beychevelle elegance, this is pretty not powerful. B+
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It's always nice to be surprised when a wine shows much better than expected. Beychevelle was on top of their game in the 60's and this bottle shows why. Truffle, smoke, tobacco, earth, plums and leather scent to a soft textured, medium/full bodied wine that is fully mature. The wine ends with a spice and cassis finish. This bottle was in such perfect condition, it is probably better than most examples out there to taste.
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Pre-Holiday Birth Year Wine party (Errol and Patty Kovitch): This had the unfortunate distinction to follow the '64 Vieux Chateau Cloquet which, despite essentially being a "no name", really hit the ball out of the park. This seemed to me to be a fairly classical claret from the "pre-Parker" era... Relatively light-bodied, graphite and some cigarbox, somewhat boring. Others also noted some spice (nutmeg).
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3/19/2024 - andrewstevenson.com wrote: 94 Points
Chateau bottled and recorked in 2002. And what a pleasure to pull a cork on a 60 year old bottle of wine without any sign of breaking.
Sweet blackcurrant fruit immediately evident on removing the cork.
Excellent colour. Mature, but no bricking whatsoever and still quite a deep colour.
Remarkable nose: blackcurrant fruit to the fore, maybe some cherry and a gentle sent verging on a high tone. But what a big, full nose for a 60 year old.
Feeling rather older in the mouth than it looks and smells. Nicely balanced. Some soft tannins remain, particularly noticeable on the finish. Elegant and in a very good place.
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12/26/2023 - DaleW wrote:
Fully mature but lovely. Sweet red and black cherry, cedar, mushrooms, smoke. Resolved tannins, balanced acids, soft mouthfeel, nice length. A-
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11/5/2023 - acyso wrote: flawed
Vinetasters: Old Cabernet (Park Ridge, IL): Served double blind. Corked. My 12th, group's 12th.
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10/31/2022 - wineforth Likes this wine: 95 Points
A Berry Bros bottled label with level at upper shoulder. Huge nose when decanted. Loads of sludgy sediment. Cigar box, leather and liquorice. Colour on the lip is light brick and in the glass suprisingly dark. Plenty of body still and a long penetrating finish. Tannins are fully resolved yet there is no lack of structure. Good quality bottles still have decades of life ahead. Much more youthful than expected. Broadbent called this chunky and sweet in the 1980s and you can clearly see how the wine has progressed from there.
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10/5/2016 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 89 Points
Château Beychevelle Vertical: Somewhat oxidized. Showing nice cigar box, red cedar, and intriguing dark teas on the nose. A little too tired and decrepit for the age, have had far older Bordeaux in far better shape. Unfortunately underwhelming.
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11/24/2015 - eporres wrote: 92 Points
1964 @Beychevelle1855. Plenty of life left! Mature berries, truffles, plums & leather. Cassis finish. 92pts. #wine
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2/11/2014 - King Richard Likes this wine: 88 Points
1964 Château Beychevelle
In 1969, a friend gave me a bottle of 1964 Chateau Beychevelle on the occasion of the birth of my first child. In the past 45 years, the bottle has survived 8 household moves, stored in various stages of “cellaring” including temperature and non-compliant venues.
This being the 45th anniversary of that event, I shared the bottle with some friends at a Boy’s Night Out dinner. The friends I dined with are knowledgeable about food and wine and it was a fun thing to do.
It's always nice to be surprised when a wine shows much better than expected. Beychevelle was on top of their game in the 60's and this bottle shows why. The waiter opened the bottle with due care and the cork almost came out in one piece. It did break at the 2/3 point but it was moist and upon smelling the cork, it indicated that the wine was still good. The rest of the cork was removed without a problem and the first pour was greeted with anxious anticipation. We all tasted the small initial pour and agreed that it was remarkably good, but it should be decanted to see how it developed. The decentering showed very little sediment and we allowed the wine to sit for about 10 minutes. We were concerned that sometimes the wine will “peak” early and then fall off so we each were poured a few ounces to have a try. The nose was pleasing but not overwhelming. On first taste it was good, but not spectacular. It had a lot of tannins and was pleasant to the pallet. There were strong berries, truffle, smoke, tobacco, earth, plums and leather scent to a soft textured, medium/full bodied wine that is fully mature. The wine ended with a spice and cassis finish. It was a wonderful experience and I am happy that the bottle was in such perfect condition. You never know after 45 years. Happy Birthday Cynthia!
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5/2/2013 - Bernt Olav wrote: 88 Points
Overraskende mørk kjerne med brun kant. Medium til god fylde. Fremdeles litt tannin, bra syre og god lengde. Hadde lave forventninger til denne vinen, i og med at den var tappet på flaske i Danmark, men fikk en hyggelig opplevelse av vinen.
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4/2/2012 - DaleW wrote:
From 375 ML: I pretty much regard anything over 20-25 years from a half as a total crapshoot. But sometimes you roll 7s. Cigarbox and lead pencil over surprisingly fresh fruit, typical Beychevelle elegance, this is pretty not powerful. B+
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11/27/2011 - Jeff Leve wrote: 89 Points
It's always nice to be surprised when a wine shows much better than expected. Beychevelle was on top of their game in the 60's and this bottle shows why. Truffle, smoke, tobacco, earth, plums and leather scent to a soft textured, medium/full bodied wine that is fully mature. The wine ends with a spice and cassis finish. This bottle was in such perfect condition, it is probably better than most examples out there to taste.
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8/13/2011 - ricknat1 wrote: 89 Points
Mose is very earthen and smoky, but is slightly cooked and charred with the taste of citrus and peanuts. Stephanie did not care for it, but I enjoyed
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11/27/2010 - RKJacobs wrote:
Like an old car.... Only those who could appreciate the drum brakes, no powersteering, and crank up windows. I enjoyed it
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11/15/2009 - Old_Winyards wrote:
Pre-Holiday Birth Year Wine party (Errol and Patty Kovitch): This had the unfortunate distinction to follow the '64 Vieux Chateau Cloquet which, despite essentially being a "no name", really hit the ball out of the park.
This seemed to me to be a fairly classical claret from the "pre-Parker" era... Relatively light-bodied, graphite and some cigarbox, somewhat boring. Others also noted some spice (nutmeg).
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