9 July 2011: A quiet evening at home. Perfect occasion to enjoy a bottle of 1959 Latour (VTS). The wine needed 2+ hours of decanting time to display its finest. Richard first poured the wine into a small red wine glass for me to guess the wine. Well, I got as far as 1959 Bordeaux....but failed on the commune. What was very interesting was that the fruit and much of its character failed to show up on the nose nor the palate when in the small glass and it was very hard to appreciate the wine. Once in the much bigger Bordeaux glass, the wine went through the most dramatic transformation!
A deep ruby core, slightly garnet at the rim. Through the sumptuously rich layers of sweet blackberry compote, caramel, leather, autumn leaves, mineral/wet stones, cigar box and violet, there was a slight hint of volatile acidity, which was barely offensive at this moment of evolution. On the palate, there was no question of the power and concentration of this wine, the richly layered mouthfeel revealed its majestic and well-matured charm, and an unmistakably classic Pauillac character. The years have mitigated little of its austerity - the wine still needed time in the glass to open up. It still showed much vigour and a firm structure that would suggest still quite a few more years of perfect enjoyment. The tannin has still not completey resolved, still quite astringent - appealing to those who prefer a lingering dry finish (the classic or old-fashioned palate?). Simply stunning, a wine to be admired and remembered for a long while! Drink now and for the next 4 - 5 years for peak enjoyment (or much longer for the larger formats)! 19.5/20
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