TN: 1966 Bordeaux

1966 Chateau Brane-Cantenac (Margaux, Bordeaux)

Sunday luncheon at home, and with the continuous rains and grey sky, I wanted to share a mature claret. Stood up for four hours, popped and poured. The label says 12% alcohol. Deep strawberry red body with a light red rim. The nose takes a few minutes to open up, revealing a subtle profile of cooked meats along with a hint of oak barrel. The savoury mouthfeel is fine and concentrated. The length and finish is not dry, but smooth and assured. At 50 years old, this old school claret is still proving pleasure.

If you are a 66 baby Bordeaux will likely show well on your birthday.

1964 and 1966 have some standouts. My 1965 birth-year was an abject failure. I’ve had some wonderful wines from those other two vintages, including a recent Leoville Poyferre at Bern’s. Love reading Nicos’ posts on old Bordeaux!

It has been well established that 65 kids can claim both 64 & 66 as birthyesr wines. You’re lucky man.

Cool label, never seen that one before.
'66 Brane has always been a winner.
Robert- '65 Montrose, delicious, really;)

My pleasure chaps.

They should go back to that label!!

With levels and colors like these, you should risk decanting some of these bottles. Could make the fruit really pop!

Some of the 1966s are showing really well right now. Haut Batailley is remarkably good, probably the best Haut Batailley I’ve ever encountered. And the '66 Ducru is magical!

Ok, that’s odd - I have a '66 B-C and it has the label we’re used to seeing today. Different labels for different importers?

Try California instead. I’m a 65er as well and at Thanksgiving had a '65 Charles Krug Reserve from Napa that was showing quite nicely. I still have a '65 Beychevelle waiting in the cellar but I don’t have terribly high hopes for it.

I prefer this label too!

Thank you for all of your recent notes Nicos.

It seems that you tend to get the cork out in one piece in most instances. What device are you using?

Best Regards
Jeremy

Greetings Jeremy,

Thank you for your kind words. I am using a Durand.

Best regards,
Nicos

The two best Bordeaux I had from '66 in the past decade were Palmer and LMHB. Both outstanding.

66 LMHB is nearly a legend, Ausone is terrific too.

Good info, thanks!