1959 Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac

I have tasted this wine several times over the past few years, and each bottle has blown me away. Now almost 60 years old, it still has a deep, rich colour that has barely budged since my last visit. Perfectly balanced, it barely tastes older than the 1982 and displays the cedar signature of Lafite coupled with truffles, graphite and still-rich cassis and bilberry fruits. There's something more besides, that's hard to pinpoint but elevates the whole experience - maybe it's the mouthwatering persistency and the dancing minerality. 1959 saw a warm and sunny start to the season, with cold nights (particularly in April) followed by a very hot July and sunny but cooler August. It was a perfect harvest, with the grapes brought in under heat. They had relatively low acidity when they were picked, which has not in any way held it back from ageing with grace and poise, and I wouldn't bet against this carrying on serenely for another half-century. Looking back, Baron Eric feels it was the year the marked the change towards riper-styled vintages in the 20th century. I have just read a Washington Post article from 1979, by the way, when this 1959 was the star of a three-decade vertical of Lafite - you can consistently find the same result in dozens of articles over the years. Fitting then that this was the year that cellarmaster Georges Revelle received the Legion of Honour. (JA)