I’m a sucker for Lafleur and I had the misfortune of drinking both the '47 Lafleur (BB) and '61 Hermitage La Chapelle in the same year when I was only 25 (thanks John C.) but it ruined my palate for the rest of my life. I am convinced that pre 1960’s Bordeaux were a completely different animal than today but who knows…need to source some 70s Lafleur…
The Madeira was stunning : it is a bottle from the beginning of the 19th century . The format is called a " Dutch bottle " . I was told it was used on ships . Unbelievably , still aromatic and relatively fresh .
Awesome, thanks for posting these, very cool to see.
pictures of the 1945 Yquem which I have drunk recently
in a time in which there is suspicion about labels, your picture shows a very big difference with mine. It shows that labels can be printed at different periods of time and be real.
Or not… Francois , I am 100 % sure about the provenance of the 1967 , as it came from a case that was bought on release . The 45 , I bought at an auction . But it was recorked at the chateau … ( and it was not the greatest 45 I had ) So I am not sure . But it tasted very right…although I fully agree with your opinion that a recorking is not as good as the original one .
They are all different , aren’t they…
I can now post pictures with the help of my 18-year old son … he claims our berserker board is using old fashioned technology when it comes to posting pictures 
Here is my report on 1945 Yquem :
Château d’Yquem 1945. This wine is fascinating. Its color is fairly clear when he is 72 years old. The perfume is diabolical, carrying all the spices of Arabia. In the mouth it is molten gold, honey by loads. This glorious wine is perfect and what makes it so is its correctness of tone. There is not a gram of heaviness, the sweetness is metered wonderfully. The charm acts. The wine is fluid and beautifully complex, eternal. This wine will reap the votes like in a banana republic so much it is acclaimed by all with 8 votes on 10 as number one.
The consensus vote was : 1 – Château d’Yquem 1945, 2 – Montrachet Domaine de la Romanée Conti 1997, 3 – Pétrus 1962, 4 – Musigny Duvergey Taboureau 1949, 5 – Champagne Deutz 1953, 6 – La Tâche Domaine de la Romanée Conti 1986.
Herwig,
My only Belgian friend loves beer.
I look forward to having Belgian friends who inherited cellars full of old Pomerols from their dads.
Your son is right; it’s much easier to post pictures (and higher-resolution pictures) on Instagram or Facebook.
Khiem
Do we have any idea how many barrels came into Belgium annually from Bordeaux?
There should be some records somewhere
Francois , the 1945 Yquem is my all time favorite !
Khiem , come on over ( the dads are sill alive ! )
Mark , when Neal Martin wrote his book about Pomerol , I helped him ( just a very little ) by bringing him to an old lady wine merchant for an interview .
I knew negotiants as VanderMeulen , Barriere and a few others very well , my own family bought from them . It was very common to buy a wine by barrel or half a barrel ( when my parents married , the wine at the dinner was half a barrel of Eglise Clinet ) . I also knew that the father-in-law from a dear friend of mine bought a barrel of Petrus on a regular basis ( he was a farmer ! ) . Usually only the good years .So I knew about Belgians , buying the best barrels of Pomerol from the best years , instructing the negotiants to go and taste and bring back the best barrels . Elevage and mise en bouteille ( putting the wine in the bottle ) was done in Belgium !
But I thought it was only for a few negotiants to have this as a business . The old lady we interviewed said there were more than a hundred wine merchants who used to do this , many times for individual clients . Everything was possible : you could put the barrel in your own cellar and drink from it ( now that was not so common ) . Labels ? Only if you wanted some ( I had a case of 1948 Petrus without labels… )
Records ? No , that would not be possible with such a scheme . But when I see all these big formats of Lafleur , Petrus , Eglise Clinet and VCC … This is highly suspicious . People did not use those formats .
That is fascinating, and leads some interesting questions. I am pretty sure at that time, nobody made full assemblages, and bottling was done by the barrel, and I suspect your VCC 1948 and possibly the 1961 came from the best barrels, the “owners reserve”.
I wonder also, if the merchants came down and tasted the individual barrels (they certainly did in Burgundy: Ronald Avery was well known for it) and chose specific ones for their clients and consumption. If so, a case could be made that these are the best of Pomerol, and chateau bottles may not have been as good. Just speculating, but given the practice of selling barrels, and Belgium being such an important client, it would make some sense.
wow Herwig. Half barrels of Petrus
Most of the bottles pictured weren’t shipped in barrel and bottled in Belgium, at least if we’re to believe the labels (Mis en Bouteille au Château).
Here you go , Frank .
Awesome, Herwig, thanks for posting pics!