1957 wine

I was looking to get a birth year wine from the vintage 1957. Any help would be appreciated to point to a store that may have it and something that still may be drinkable. I found a borgogno riserva, thoughts on it?
Thanks!!
Tyler

Tough year. I ended up getting a 1957 Kopke Colheita, which was pretty nice if you like that style.

Hi,
my vintage, too … so I have some insight.

1957 wasn´t a great year, but also not bad in some regions.
Most important is the bottle condition … if storage was perfect and fill is still good there are quite a few wines that provide pleasure - but bad bottles can be easily over the hill …

Bordeaux: there are some good to vg wines: Haut-Brion, Lafite, also Mouton, Lynch Bages, Poujeaux (!), LMHB should usually be fine, but I only had an off bottle … Latour is good (but not worth the money) … same for Las Cases … Pontet-Canet is not bad …
Ok were Pichon-Lalande, Cos d´E, Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Cheval blanc, Leoville-Barton, Trotanoy …
but the vintage is better on left than right bank … and there are some good sweeties …

Burgundy: there can be some very positive surprises … from Grand Cru (Musigny Vogüe) to even village level (Vosne-R Clos Frantin) … but this is rather a “finding good bottles” issue - than searching for specific wines …

Rhone: good to vg in the North, not bad in the South … I had a fine Hermitage Sizeranne/Chapoutier from 0.37 (!) - and several other Hermitage that were good …
Chateauneuf can be really good, if you find either good negociant bottlings - or the (rare) domaine bottles like Beaucastel, Mont-Redon, Clos des Papes … definitely worth the effort …

Barolo can be good - and the same applies for the (rare) vintage Ports … even Colheitas …

But bottle condition is always the point …

Berry Bros bottled Bonnes-Mares from 57 was a nicer wine than 59 DRC Echezeaux when compared 5-6 years ago. Both excellent, but the 59 was more brusque and powerful, less ‘ready’…

I was in the same position for my 50th awhile back and IIRC, that’s the wine I ended up buying too. Agree that it was good.

Excellent overview of the possibilities, Gerhard. I actually only thought Port was an option. The Kopke Colheita is brilliant.
For my birthday I have purchased a Borgogno Barolo Riserva
I thought about this one, but I passed
https://www.jahrhundertweine.de/en/shpSR.php?A=14649&p1=266&p2=273

Another option is a Rivesaltes. They’re pretty bullet proof, rarely exceed $200, and are often a good option for birth year wines in off vintages. There are several listed on WineSearcherPro.

Good luck,

Warren

I know there are Rivesaltes around on the market of almost any vintage …
Seriously (but I can´t proof it) I simply doubt that several producers have bottles in stock of so many vintages - and usually exactly of the anniversary vintages …

I had two old Rivesaltes recently side by side … (forgot the vintages, from the 50ies/60ies … I would have to look at my notes - but it doesn´t matter): both were very similar … really good wines - but I´m not sure if they were what was written on the (rather new) labels …

Thank you everyone for your replies so far. This is actually not my birth year but will be a gift for my girlfriend’s father. Tonight I had a little time to browse the Internet to see what I could find. There are certainly plenty Rivesaltes available. To be honest, I have never had this nor heard of it before it was suggested. I tried looking for taste descriptions and the one thing I gathered was “sweet”. Is this similar to port?
I looked at the suggested port and it may be a hair over my budget. Although I would rather spend a little more to buy something that I know is still good.
I found the borgogno on 2 overseas sites and the price difference between the two was around $300 which I found very strange!
I will be shipping it to Italy(yes he is italian) so I’ve been trying to look at only overseas’ sites. Anymore suggestions would be appreciated!

The 1957 Huet- Vouvray Demi-Sec is gorgeous, but it’s getting tough to find these days. Not seeing it in the US on winesearcher, presently, but it is available in Europe.

Brad, that looks like a hard one to find. Only one I found online so far was one in the UK …

Thanks, now you’re making me feel really old!

No no you just have much more wisdom than I do
Although I have not been on here long, this forum has been a great learning tool thanks to everyone! I really began buying about two years ago and have slowly been trying to create a cellar and this site has been a great asset.

If you’re shipping to Italy, I’d search in Italy. You might want to add a “where to find older vintages in Italy” thread.

I have celebrated my past milestone birthdays with wines from milestones in my life instead of buying wine from 1957. The only exception has been Armenac and Cognac. The 1957 Hine has been quite good.

1963 Ports to celebrate first grade. !970 wines for my bar mitzvah. I graduate college in 1978 and medical school in 1982. The list goes on and on.

Cappellano made Barolo and Barbaresco, both of which can be very good.

I’d have to echo the suggestions of the Kopke Port. The one I got was a 60-year Tawny, bottled in 2013. I think it was about $165 for a half bottle.

It was way above my budget too, but there just isn’t anything decent from 1957 available at a sensible price. I reasoned that at least I could be sure the bottle was in good shape, given it had been bottled so recently.

I was born in 1957. If you keep your eyes open and are patient, some nice wines can be found, although the pricing will vary. 1957 Massandra and Huet have been consistently great. 1957 Prunotto Barolo was also nice. 1957’s that offered less enjoyment included Louis Martini Special Selection Cabernet and Ch. Mont-Redon CdP. I am also still holding out hope for other 1957’s I found but have yet to try: G. Borgogno Riserva Barolo, Ch. Coutet, some Madeira, and Ficklin and Quinto do Noval port. I have never tried 1957 La Tache but heard it was really nice (and likely very expensive).

This isn´t true, but I don´t know what´s available for YOU in your region …

1st point to consider: Don´t buy 1957s in 2017 ! Buy them in 2016/2015/2014 … or even earlier …

E.g. I bought a 1957 Poujeaux with excellent fill for less than 30,- € … and it was not worse (5 years ago) than Lafite 1957 … side by side in the first half hour even better than Lafite …

If you have some insight you can find really nice and satisfying bottles now and then: 1er cru Burgundy, Rhones, German Rieslings … Barolo … sure, if you look just for the “stars” it´s going to be expensive …

I would recommend Madeira. Reach out to Rare Wine Co. and ask what they have from that year. You wont be disappointed.