TN: 1971 Alexis Lichine (Dugat) Charmes-Chambertin

WINE TALK
1

Enjoyed this wine on Saturday with a few other great bottles (too lazy to write tasting notes for); was the second time I’ve tasted this wine. The first time I had no real expectations and was completely blown away. This time I went in knowing the potential, but didn’t want to get my hopes up given the age of the wine and the bottle variability that one can experience with burgundy. Still just as good as the first time. These two experiences make a strong case for the argument that proper storage and minimal travel make all the difference.

  • 1971 Alexis Lichine Charmes-Chambertin - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru (8/11/2012)
    This wine was bottled by Alexis Lichine, but made by Maurice Dugat (as stated on the bottle). Lucky enough to have this be my second opportunity to taste this wine and it was just as magical as the first. As was the case the first time, it did not truly hit its peak until about an hour open, which was impressive considering this 40+ year old bottle of burgundy had staying time of over two hours. There is still a dark red core to this wine in terms of color with an amber outside/shadow. As is to be expected, this wine is incredibly earthy with summer truffles, leather and strawberry preserves on the nose. Very well balanced palate and amazing finish. Bottles like this make it all worth it. (99 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

2

Nice!

3

Nice note! My only experience with 1971 Burgundy was a lovely experience as well (1971 Jacques Prieur Chambertin).

4

Sounds amazing!

5

Interesting because Lichine used to badly over-filter his wines (and admission made to me in the 1980s by his director of bottling, Charles Moncaut [a name that may ring bells in a few places]) – probably what caused Henri Jayer to be so insistent on non-filtration when he began his own bottling (Jayer also was a supplier of Lichine).

6

I admittedly don’t know much about the Lichine bottlings, but can say without a doubt he did something right with these two specific bottles.

7

THe 1972 of this wine was great also had 6 of them in the 70’s.

8

1971 burgs are on a roll on the board of late…all good reports. Thanks for the note.