Andy Rodker's photos with the keyword: claret

La Mission Haut-Brion, 1963 half-bottle. Faded label. This wine was found by my Dad in a wine merchant's shop in Brighton. He got it to have with my 30th birthday meal. So it was 25 years old when we opened it, and that was 35 years ago but remembered in perfect detail! (... and so good I kept the bottle, which I very rarely do). So my parents, me and my girlfriend at that time enjoyed two (very) small glasses each - one with the main course (grouse from memory because I can recall helping my mum pluck and draw them) and the other with the cheese. The surprise to me (and to those of you in the know) is that 1963 is widely considered to be one of the very worst Bordeaux vintages of the 20th century. Nevertheless, La Mission have a reputation for producing great wines even in atrocious years and they excelled themselves with this one!

A special wine and one I'd been looking forward to for quite a while. Glad I was patient! After 25 years, it was still fruity and was perfectly in balance with a fairly hefty thwack of tannin, but the latter wasn't too aggressive. I reckon this would still be enjoyable in 50 years time! As it was only my mum and me (my dad would have loved to have drunk this but can't drink alcohol these days), we have enough in the decanter for a glass and a half each with tomorrow's meal. Even though it is 25 years old, I have no doubt that it will be just as good tomorrow having been opened 30 hours previously. I know the light wasn't great so I'll write what it says on the label: Léoville Las Cases, St Julien 1998. A second class grand cru, generally referred to as a 'super-second' and commanding prices up near the first class grand cru claret level (in other words into the stratosphere!). My excuse is that I bought it before the explosion of classed growth claret prices when the market was skewed by the Chinese putting pressure on demand ... and that it was my 65th birthday! Maybe I should have thought to give the table a quick wipe with a cloth first! In summary what was so astonishing to me was that this wine was like a classic from the early 2010s, At a blind tasting I would have guessed the year as 2015 or thereabouts. Only 17 years out!