1959 Siran

Tasted at the vertical at the château, the 1959 Château Siran has a more understated bouquet than the 1947 Siran, and for a 1959 this feels quite "contained" and "correct." However, that should not detract from the purity and delineation on display, adorned with beautiful cedar and spice-tinged red berry fruit, dried orange peel mixed with broom and bay leaf. The palate is fresh on the entry with a keen thread of acidity. It is obviously fully mature and perhaps several years past its peak, although it is well balanced and tensile, and almost Graves-like in style. This is a "gentleman's claret," the kind you might find in a forgotten dusty bin in a private club down St. James Street. While not the greatest 1959 claret that I have tasted, it has a charm and sense of breeding that encourages you to take another sip. Lightweight for a 1959? Maybe, but still a lovely wine to enjoy sooner rather than later. Tasted February 2016.