Bordeaux vintage assessment
The dependable 50's

1959. This was mostly a left bank and Graves vintage where many wines deserved to be called "great". They are still unbelievably good. The wines show a certain ripeness and seductiveness that makes this vintage stand quite apart from most other vintages. Even when you sense that a 1959 you are drinking may be past its prime, it still shows a lingering sweetness in the finish that is quite unusual.

Without a doubt the two greatest wines from this vintage are Lafite and Haut Brion, though on a given day Latour and Mouton Rothschild can give a respectable challenge. I actually did a comprehensive tasting of this vintage many years ago, same wines served blind, at three different locations-Los Angeles, with my group; London, with many of the British wine writers; and Bordeaux, with the legendary Emile Peynaud and the Bordeaux Chateau owners (I will write about it in one of the later issues). The results from the three places were very similar.

The wine that gave the stiffest challenge to the first growths is a wine we don't hear from in recent years, Ch. La Lagune! I had just a few bottles but which are all drunk up now. Unfortunately, I can't find any more of it even though I have kept looking for it.

There are a great many noteworthy wines in this vintage for me to list but a few, besides the first growths, to that are truly exceptional are Gruaud Larose, Montrose, Lynch Bages, Carruades de Lafite, Domaine de Chevalier, and La Mission Haut Brion.

The right bank did not, generally, make wines at that great a level, except for some bottles of Petrus I have had. I served one of these bottles, blind, over ten years ago to Christian Moueix who guessed it as a 1961! It was that spectacular. Another great surprise is 1959 Ausone.

1958 Considered a forgettable vintage it produced some decent wines, nevertheless. Actually I have had Latour and Haut Brion in magnums, served blind, and both were excellent

1957 Even though marked by high acidity there are some nice wines from this vintage, particularly Lynch Bages and Mouton Rothschild both of which are excellent. Also, I have found Lafite, Margaux, Palmer and Cheval Blanc to be quite good.

1956, 1954, 1951 are mediocre vintages with some exceptions like 1956 Cos d'Estournel and 1954 Lafleur Petrus which were quite lively.

1955. Beautifully balanced wines though at times they seem a bit "ponderous". Very firm and chewy without any rough edges, the wines have lasted remarkably well. Excellent to extraordinary wines everywhere in Bordeaux.

On the left it is, once again, Lynch Bages and Mouton Rothschild. The fifties were particularly remarkable for the consistently great performance of Lynch Bages, as the forties were for Calon Segur (and both the decades combined were for Figeac and Montrose !). Cos d'Estournel and most St. Estephes are also beautiful in 1955.

Then on the right, superb Cheval Blanc and excellent Trotanoy, Lafleur, Lafleur Petrus, Latour A Pomerol, Petrus and l'Evangile. And in Graves, exceptional wines all over the place, particularly at Haut Bailly, Haut Brion, Pape Clement, Domaine de Chevalier and, of course, La Mission Haut Brion.

1953 Suave, elegant and charming, these wines, particularly from the left bank, have an extraordinary balance and a silky texture which make them the very definition of what clarets are all about!. Today they are drinking beautifully, and, in magnums, they are perfect .

There are so many magnificent wines, to name just a few: Lafite, Margaux, Mouton Rothschild (and, almost identical to it in every respect, Lynch Bages!), Haut Brion, La Mission Haut Brion, Palmer, Montrose, Cos d'Estournel, Calon Segur, Ducru Beaucaillou, Gruaud Larose, Pichon Lalande. I can go on and on and I have had them all. Surprisingly, Latour did not make as great a wine this time around.

On the right bank I had Figeac a few years ago which was superb even in half bottles. Also excellent are Ausone and Cheval Blanc. This was not a great vintage for Pomerols, however.

1952 A hard vintage with tough wines. Only a few pulled through on the left bank like Mouton Rothschild, Lynch Bages, and Calon Segur.

On the right bank it is a different story. Exceptional wines at Cheval Blanc and Ausone as well as at many of the Pomerol Chateaux like Lafleur, Vieux Chateau Certan and Petrus.

1950. An underrated vintage with strong tannins which can still be quite charming. Margaux has always had a great reputation in this vintage and it is still excellent. Also very good are Latour and La Mission Haut Brion. But it is Figeac which is the most spectacular. And in the Pomerol region many superb wines, in particular, Lafleur, L' Evangile and Petrus.