old Pomerols from Belgian cellars : now with picks

As you may know , Belgium was one of the few countries importing Pomerols before they became a worldwide success . Some of my friends still have good numbers of old Petrus , Lafleur and VCC . Some of them even own a chateau in Pomerol . That helps when organizing a dinner with as the theme : old Pomerol .

1. Lafleur 1955 : initially , it smelled like a Chambertin : floral and bricky. Very elegant . Then it opened up and became powerful , spicy with a long strong fresh aftertaste . Amazing wine
2. Petrus 1955 : lighther and slightly evolved , it would have been great drinking it alone . But it somewhat paled in comparison with the Lafleur .
3. Lafleur Petrus 1959 : still dark color , some lead , still fresh with good power . Not a finesse wine , it’s about power . Very good
4. Petrus 1964 : amazing classy wine , very long . One of the best post-war Petrus . This is very refined . The secundary aroma’s are still dominant , no sign of decay . Wow
5. VCC 1961 : sweet which is typical for a 61 . Soft and elegant , a classy old lady .I know Americans love it for it’s sweetness but the next wine would somehow dominate this one.
   6.VCC 1948 : direct from the cellars of the chateau . Amazing wine , my favorite of the evening . Still fresh and powerful , if you can believe it . So refined . A 69 year old wine that is still fresh , we were very lucky yesterday
   Cheers

To be friend with the Thienpont family is never a bad thing !

Great tasting. Pétrus 50 is for me one of the greatest Pétrus of this period. I had it in magnum in my cellar and drank it. It was better than Pétrus 1964 in magnum which I had drunk also. Two immense wines.

I have had the same comparison of Lafleur and Pétrus for 1947 and Lafleur was incredibly better than Pétrus, the best ever Lafleur for me.

Interesting notes on some fantastic wines. I am curious about your data on this point

Sorry , Neal , I don’t understand your question .
Francois , the best Petrus I ever had in my life was the 1950 .

Nice notes!

I love the old Belgian cellars, and one of the greatest wines I have ever had was a 1947 Lafleur Petrus, which I got as a full case from an English merchant who has bought wine from a collector for years.

Labels are horrible, but the wine is stupendous. In this day and age, there is no way I could ever sell these wines, so forced to drink the occasional bottle.

Other greats include some old Trotanoys and a Nenin 1953. Outside of the Right bank, they seemed to have bought a fair amount of old Beychevelle.

We all got together and voted; didn’t you get your ballot in the mail?

Bruce

I voted against the sweetness thing. I demand a recount!

Herwig,

Neals question is very valid. Parker loves CdP and Pomerol. You too as we know due to your numerous posts. So why your stereotype of the americans loving sweet wines? Especially on a board like this where most of the participants do dislike CdP and love Burgundy instead? Your very old stereotype of Americans adoring coke and sweets is misplaced. Many people like Neal will see it as a typical french or belgian or european arrogance.

Neal, don’t you know that all 324 million Americans love sweetness.

I voted against the sweetness thing. I demand a recount![/quote]

OK, 323,999,999 Americans love sweetness in wines.

FIXY

Really interesting to consider these notes with the great frost of 1956 in mind. In terms of what wines would have been mostly from young vines, etc.

Great notes.

Coincidence that I was at a '64 right bank vertical 15 years ago - maybe my best tasting ever – where among the top four 64 reds, '64 Petrus (stupendous) was slightly more complete than Ausone, Cheval, and VCC (the latter two my sentimental favorites and amazing in their own right). Petrus was on top of the 64s. Reds that is. (Laville was also in the house. Another ridiculous and very young wine - still.)

But then came 48 VCC and 34 and 28 Ausone. There was no going back. Each as good as the other. Each in a different league at that point in their evolution compared to '64 Petrus.

Always nice to drink those wines with great provenance. I too had a fabulous magnum of 50 Petrus ,that remains a lasting memory.Definitely one of my top 10 reds of all time.
48 VCC is a magnificent wine ,although I only tasted it twice where it soared as it should.Alas,I have no more.Never had the '61, so not sure if I’d like its sweetness or not. A beautiful list of wines, I’m envious. Haven’t had a 45 Trotanoy in a while, but another fabulous old wine,that has stood up to time. Maybe you can add it to the next old Pomerol dinner- love to know how it stacks up.Congratuations Herwig- Cheers

wow

I knew that extreme envy was on its way when I saw the subject of this thread. And the thread delivered! A wonderful event Herwig, thanks for sharing these notes. I don’t want to visit Belgium - just Belgian cellars .

Stunning tasting. A 59 trotanoy several years ago certainly ranks in my top 5 wines of all time. I was at a very nice dinner last night (TNs to come) where one of the diners mentioned the 55 VCC in mags he had bought from the graham Lyons collection as being stunning.

Herwig - Posts some pics, would love to see those cool bottles. Sounds like an amazing night, thanks for sharing.

If only I would know how to do that…

Thanks for sharing Herwig!