1981 Château Le Pin

The 1981 Le Pin is a marvel to behold at 42 years of age, and I would argue superior to Petrus that year, having tasted that wine just a few weeks earlier. Showing modest signs of bricking at its rim, the bouquet is just beautiful: red fruit, sloes, shavings of black truffle and freshly rolled tobacco. Over the course of a couple of hours, it gains rather than loses vigor. The palate has admirable concentration, considering that this was not a benevolent growing season, quite full in the mouth with dark berries, tobacco, white pepper and clove. Very cohesive and even daring to fan out towards the finish, I hazarded a guess at the 1983 before Jacques Thienpont unveiled that it was two years earlier, his third vintage. Sublime, though nowadays, incredibly rare.

Served blind, it was interesting to pair the 1981 Le Pin with the 1981 Petrus. The 1981 Le Pin had not lost any of its toasty new oak character. It offered a medium ruby color and some herbaceous, sweet, black-cherry notes. Medium-bodied, elegant, soft, and fully mature, it tasted very good rather than exceptional. My previous encounters with this wine were much more memorable. The notes for this wine are taken from the description of Series IV - Flight A of the 1995 tasting conducted in Munich by Helga and Hardy Rodenstock. Many years after the tasting from which this note derives allegations were made concerning the authenticity of old and rare bottles of wine sold by Hardy Rodenstock to collectors around the world. The matter has been the subject of numerous articles, litigation and at least one book. Mr. Parker believes that the wines served to him at this tasting were authentic so this note and the others from that specific tasting continue to be posted on eRobertParker.com.

Served blind, it was interesting to pair the 1981 Le Pin with the 1981 Petrus. The 1981 Le Pin had not lost any of its toasty new oak character. It offered a medium ruby color and some herbaceous, sweet, black-cherry notes. Medium-bodied, elegant, soft, and fully mature, it tasted very good rather than exceptional. My previous encounters with this wine were much more memorable. ||The notes for this wine are taken from the description of Series IV - Flight A of the 1995 tasting conducted in Munich by Helga and Hardy Rodenstock. Many years after the tasting from which this note derives allegations were made concerning the authenticity of old and rare bottles of wine sold by Hardy Rodenstock to collectors around the world. The matter has been the subject of numerous articles, litigation and at least one book. Mr. Parker believes that the wines served to him at this tasting were authentic so this note and the others from that specific tasting continue to be posted on eRobertParker.com. Wine Advocate.February, 1996