Birthday bash wines

Keith Levenberg

Keith Levenberg
And by birthday bash I mean a weekend home with the kids not leaving the house except to walk the dog - doesn't get any better than that.

1961 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild
Recorked by the Lafite cellarmaster in 1989. You can usually count on these being in good shape since they wouldn't recork a bad bottle. Even so, this is starting to fade. It needs some air for the Lafite cedarwood perfume to emerge from what starts out in the territory of dusty used bookstore scents. The texture is all silk and satin - the Lafite class is still here. The palate evokes walnut and potpourri that builds to another wave on the back end before the gentle fade.

2014 Clos Roche Blanche Pif
Now that I feel old I might feel less guilty dipping into my lifetime supply. It's been about two years since my last bottle. The fruit in this one is fresher but the texture is softer and rounder. It pops with vibrant red berries with even a little bit of raspberry zing. A little Benjamin Button action here in the fruit department. The crunch has mellowed out though. The green peppery bite that I always love about CRB still has the refreshing green but more of a breezy streak than a sharp bite. But there is no diminution in energy. This is still a wine that you half expect to glow in the dark. Nothing has the life force of CRB.
 
it had also been about two years prior to a bottle of 14 Pif in September. I barely recognized the wine as it was all about the Côt this time around. Best on day 3 in a tutti sort of way.
 
Keith, I've tried to imagine, since I first got involved in wine, in 1972, a '61 Lafite. Reading your note caused me to nearly sit bolt upright. Then to calculate--that wine is now 62 years old. And shudder at the thought that more time has passed than I can begin to contemplate or to reckon with...
Thanks for the heads-up!
 
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