Whole Lotta Lafite; 1/26/2024-1/27/2024 (Wine Watch, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida): This was one of the best examples of 1961 Lafite, a vintage plagued by bottle variation and from which even the better ones are not in the top rank of 1961 Bordeaux. But this bottle was quite pleasing; decent concentration and length and nicely fragrant. I much appreciated its elegance and finesse.
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Same bottle as Dave. I found some funky bretty notes initially on the nose, that seemed to blow off as the wine opened and more fruit emerged. Initially I was worried about the wine, but it opened nicely. Some graphite and spice on the nose. Elegant and very enjoyable. This and the 96 Guyon Corton Clos du Roy were my favorite wines on this night.
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This was nice at Birchrunville tonight. I had this almost a year ago on March 11. That was a PnP. It never really opened up. This time it was a 1 hour decant. It still needed a half hour in the glass for the funk to blow off, and the wine to come around. When it did there was interesting farmyard smells, but better than your average brett but very Lafite. I was sniffing this all night. Not a big wine but an absolute joy to experience. All the necessary elements were there but all lighter in nature. This is the second 61 First Growth for me in 2 weeks and I must say they are drinking light but they are holding up. The other bottle was an Haut Brion.
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Recorked by the Lafite cellarmaster in 1989. You can usually count on these being in good shape since they wouldn't recork a bad bottle. Even so, this is starting to fade. It needs some air for the Lafite cedarwood perfume to emerge from what starts out in the territory of dusty used bookstore scents. The texture is all silk and satin - the Lafite class is still here. The flavors include some walnut and potpourri that build on the back end before the gentle fade.
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4/29/2024 - rnellans wrote: 93 Points
Cru Crew Wine dinner hosted by Brad England (Mara restaurant at the Four Seasons hotel in Minneapolis, MN.): Served alongside '61 Latour, Latour, LaMission HB and Petrus in a tasting/dinner preceeded by 19 vintages of Ramonet Montrachet. Needless to say, my palate may not be 100% up to par. This wine lacks somewhat in fruit . Medium-bodied, with light tannins. Lacks the power of the Latour and LaMission HB.
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1/27/2024 - sdr wrote: 93 Points
Whole Lotta Lafite; 1/26/2024-1/27/2024 (Wine Watch, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida): This was one of the best examples of 1961 Lafite, a vintage plagued by bottle variation and from which even the better ones are not in the top rank of 1961 Bordeaux. But this bottle was quite pleasing; decent concentration and length and nicely fragrant. I much appreciated its elegance and finesse.
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1/19/2024 - Outplaying wrote:
Same bottle as Dave. I found some funky bretty notes initially on the nose, that seemed to blow off as the wine opened and more fruit emerged. Initially I was worried about the wine, but it opened nicely. Some graphite and spice on the nose. Elegant and very enjoyable. This and the 96 Guyon Corton Clos du Roy were my favorite wines on this night.
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1/18/2024 - Dave Mosko wrote:
This was nice at Birchrunville tonight. I had this almost a year ago on March 11. That was a PnP. It never really opened up. This time it was a 1 hour decant. It still needed a half hour in the glass for the funk to blow off, and the wine to come around. When it did there was interesting farmyard smells, but better than your average brett but very Lafite. I was sniffing this all night. Not a big wine but an absolute joy to experience. All the necessary elements were there but all lighter in nature. This is the second 61 First Growth for me in 2 weeks and I must say they are drinking light but they are holding up. The other bottle was an Haut Brion.
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1/7/2024 - Keith Levenberg Likes this wine: 93 Points
Recorked by the Lafite cellarmaster in 1989. You can usually count on these being in good shape since they wouldn't recork a bad bottle. Even so, this is starting to fade. It needs some air for the Lafite cedarwood perfume to emerge from what starts out in the territory of dusty used bookstore scents. The texture is all silk and satin - the Lafite class is still here. The flavors include some walnut and potpourri that build on the back end before the gentle fade.
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