1959 Lafite Rothschild

Tasted from magnum, the 1959 Château Lafite is extraordinary, majestic stuff that’s so rich and opulent, I wouldn’t guess Lafite in a blind tasting. A mammoth bouquet of flowery incense, orange blossom, and exotic red, black, and blue fruits literally jumps from the glass, and with air, it shows more classic Pauillac lead pencil and tobacco nuances. Deep, full-bodied, and incredibly opulent on the palate, it’s fully mature and I suspect drinking at point, yet this is a wine that will still be enjoyable at age 100.

A classic year, and not only because Les 400 Coups by François Truffaut was released or because our cellar master Georges Revelle received the Legion of Honour. Ideal climate: February and March pleasant and sunny, frost at night, dew in the morning, warmth and sun during the day. A cold April, very hot July, very fine August. Perfect weather for the harvest, with the grapes brought in under the heat: this was one of the last vintages not to benefit from thermal assistance. Very low acidity. A sign that this vintage marked a change and the beginning of ripe wines. A remarkable Lafite thanks to our deep gravel, which allowed the vine to stand up to the intense summer heat. A legend of the century, the 1959s have an (almost) unlimited lifetime. Quite a chronological leap from the last vintage, 1982, but not that great a leap in terms of evolution. In the glass it looked as deep as the 1982. This wonderful wine tasted as though it was born in the 1980s. Amazingly deep crimson then extraordinarily concentrated, sweet and rich. Long, rich and reverberant on the palate with a strong mineral bite to it. Massively sweet aftertaste even though there is nothing remotely sticky about this; it finishes appetisingly dry. (JR)