In the late 1970s, Suburban Wines in Yorktown, NY changed hands. The new owner sorted through the inventory in the basement and found cases of old Bordeaux. I bought a case of 1966 Clos Fourtet. I do not remember what it cost, but it was probably less than $5 per bottle. It then spent about 8 years in passive storage in a basement that was only half underground with a leaky door to the exterior, so it got a bit warm in the summer. It then spent the next 27 years in a better underground passive cellar, followed by two years at 58 degrees in a temperature controlled cellar. Then I tried to open it and the cork collapsed most of the way into the bottle, but I was in the middle of a party, so I grabbed a cork sitting on the cellar counter and shoved it in. Then it got pushed to the back of the cellar, upright, with a dry cork shoved half way in, and with the original cork maybe blocking part of the neck. Yesterday, when bringing the California rocket fuel delivery down to the cellar, I was moving some bottles around, and there it was. Today I brought it upstairs, removed the top cork, attempted to remove the lower cork, gave up, pushed it in, and decanted it through a fine mesh strainer.
You know what! It’s not half bad, and is certainly not dead. I would actually say it is on the plus side of good. For an abused 50 year old Bordeaux, it’s still got fruit with a bit of mustyness and an earthy almost forest floor and herb component. No evident tannin, of course. At first I thought it was maderized, but that seems to have completely blown off (I know that makes no sense, but 90 minutes after the decant, there is no madeira flavor. he color is slightly brownish, but still primarily red wine in color. Not exactly my sweet spot, but a lot better than most other Bordeaux I have had at that age. I suspect that many of you with a taste for old Bordeaux would enjoy it a lot. Another example of the idea that babying wine may not be as necessary as we think it is.
I’ll trade you one of my purple 2005 Fourtets - Derenoncourt now consults - for one of those 1966s! Would be a perfect trade for our respective palates.
No. I have had most of the case. CT says I have three left, but I think there are only two. This is my fourth bottle in the past 10 years. I brought one to a Berserkerfest about 6 years ago and it was rotten with a bad cork. Then there was this bottle:
1966 Clos Fourtet- France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (5/29/2011)
I bought this in the late 1970s when a liquor store changed hands and the new owner was selling off unsurfaced inventory he found in the basement. The last bottle I opened a few years ago had a completely disintegrated cork and was vile. I decided to try this one with a few other collectors and friends on the back decks with way too much food. This had a good solid cork that I was able to remove in one clean pull. I decanted it through a screen and poured right way. Color was nice, a bit light but with very little bricking. Flavor was leather and herbs with little fruit left. This was a good aged Bordeaux but not a religious experience. I do not know if it is worth the trouble of waiting so long, but I do not regret that I did. I am a fruit fan and I have had a few 40+ year old wines where there was some magical fruit that jumped onto the palate at old age. This was not that but it was still enjoyable. (89 pts.)
