My other guess would be, that whomever purchased these wines purchased multiple vintages. Possibly even ranging over a couple decades. Then you would have one generic label printed up, use it on all the wines, signifying vintage on the neck label. Might want to check and see if there are any other vintages floating around of the Cosson Clos des Lambray that might have a similar label -
What’s the Parker rating on the 1901?
drink by 1902.
It’s a library release as are many other Lambrays out there with the same label. Couldn’t say exactly from when, I think they were released in waves - but I would guess around the 1980s when the new owners came in and would have moved out some inventory. The story of the provenance is certainly BS, but the bottle is most likely authentic. It’s not uncommon to see very old Lambrays out there with these labels.
Look at the vintage neck tag. The border is highly irregular, and the vintage itself appears uneven, with the second ‘1’ not aligning at all. I’m no expert, but when paired with the backstory and the import strip label, there is no way the backstory is real, and it is highly likely the wine isn’t either.
Yes, agree.
I have had a few from the 20’s, 30’s and '40’s that looked like this…they were very good.
Not likely from the 80ies, the Cossons sold in 1979, incl. old stock … (so 60ies or 70ies) - the Saier would have used their new label … (no matter the vintage) …
Bought some late release 1951 (family birthday yr ) Lambray between 10 and 15 yrs ago.Label seems the same ,but the print on the year is totally different.I agree with Francois about picking 01 if you were going to fake a bottle,but the story is BS ,so buyer beware.
Definitely fake - we didn’t get colour in Europe until the late 1950s. ![[wink.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/04707e6a7bbb03e0153e349d8a9270d30e1e9525.gif "wink"){kind=small}
I think you hit the nail on the head. Weird vintage to fake, but the label has issues, and the story is total BS. The combination really brings into question the authenticity.
I don’t know the details but it’s likely that the story is some composite of how people think their dead relative’s wines were acquired in 1964. It could easily be a real or based-in-reality story applied erroneously to this bottle (which was acquired later). Probably not a deliberate fabrication.
My personal opinion is that despite a relabelling which I do not like, this wine is a genuine wine.
But I would never pay 6,600 € as it is suggested on winesearcher.
The vintage is rare and I would be interested in buying a wine of this year.
But I would buy a wine which has the original label (even if wounded) and I would pay a half of the proposed price, as a maximum, if color and fill would please me.
Forgot to look at WineSearcher. Thanks for reminding me. Look at this pic, exact same label and white slip label. The back story on this is looking more and more like a total BS story. Far more likely a somewhat recent re-release, but the quality of the neck label is terrible for a more recent label.
Anyone have a contact there to ask when, or if, these were late-released?
http://www.wallywine.com/p-27499-1901-clos-des-lambrays-750ml.aspx?affiliateid=10062
You would be willing to pay at least 10 times more than I would. Total crapshoot, IMO. A few hundred $, maybe. A few thousand, pass.
The 1937 Clos Lambrays, a rerelease from the 1980s, showed beautifully at the last NY Paulee, and was my wine of the night, and along with a great bottle of 1969 La Tache, the finest Burgundy I have ever tasted.
Andy- I saw these at Wally’s a few months ago and they didn’t seem to have too much information about them at the time. Fill level and color looked to be immaculate, very little sediment. Not saying they’re not genuine, they just seemed really, really pristine. And expensive;)
Thanks David.
Chuck,
Each one has his own way of considering what he buys.
I said :
“But I would buy a wine which has the original label (even if wounded) and I would pay a half of the proposed price, as a maximum, if color and fill would please me.”
It means that I would not buy crapshot but a bottle in which I would trust.
And up to now, I am very happy with my way of buying.
François, I did not mean to question either your way of buying, or the price you would pay for a bottle you trusted was genuine and in good condition. I was frankly shocked at the price being asked for this bottle at retail, and was surprised that you would even consider half that amount for this vintage and bottling. Whenever I see something very old or an off vintage, I would tend to be a bottom fisher, and hope that the bottle exceeded my expectations, rather than pay more and often be disappointed.
There are subtle variations of this label which was designed by the Cosson family friend Hansi from Alsace. Now I opened a 1945 Lambrays just over a year ago. As I wrote on my blog, my label previously stated “Cosson Seul Proprietaire de Clos des Lambrays”. Subsequent to the printing of the label the words “Seul” and “Proprietaire de Clos des Lambrays” was over struck. The word “Heretiers” was added above “Cosson”. In the 1960s, Robert Cosson took over the operations from his mother Renee Cosson. Alexis Lichine writes that he sold wine to shippers. My bottle was shipped by Jean-Claude Boisset who formed his Negociant company in 1961…
It is likely that this 1901 was labeled after the Robert Cosson ran out of his initial batch of over-struck labels.
Like others, I don’t believe the back story.
Aaron