What makes a great vintage? In 1961, one of the greatest vintages in the 20th century, it was down to nature and wine making; modern technology definitely didn’t play a role.
Nature took its course and pruning happened naturally. A very wet August followed with a sunny September produced small concentrated grapes with thick skins. The end results were complex, aromatic and tannic wines with long aging potentials.
“But then,” the instructor Stephen Mack added, “the wines are 50 years old and let’s hope they are still drinkable!”
And so we began the tasting of the 4 61’ wines:
Ch Meyney ‘Prieure des Couleys’ (Cru Boureois Superieur)
Ch Lynch-Bages (5th Growth)
Ch La Lagune (3rd Growth)
Ch Gruaud-Larose (2nd Growth)
All the wines were tawny in color and some with brownish rim.
Ch Meyney surprisely still showed some fruit on the nose and palate.
Ch Lynch-Bages was very earthy, showed cedar wood and some sweet spice.
Ch La Lagune was quite sweet on the nose and palate, the finish was quite long; reminded me of Port.
Ch Gruaud-Larose, showed sweet spice, wood, leather and the finish was long.
Remarkable indeed, all the wines were still “drinkable” !
Grape Wine Journey 
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