I bought some Haut Bailly 1971 at auction. Levels were into the neck, color clear and still red. First bottle last month was amazing. Beautiful old Graves, with all the brick dust and leather one could want. 2nd bottle was tiring; a few shards of the first bottle’ s freshness but slowly began to expire in the glass. Similar story with number three, but #4 was back to being beautiful. Seems that this is a wine that is on the cusp, and and it is hard to predict what you are going to get. You may get an aging beauty, or a Medusa. Fun to keep trying.
Mark,
Remember, Haut Bailly is Bordeaux, not Burgundy!! 
(i.e. '71 was great im the latter, lighter weight in the former… )
Well I assume you might need more tasters to verify this. Bbcue sometime soon?
42 years for an ok vintage is a pretty good run.
Right Bank 1971s are very strong, particularly Pomerol, and Graves also is extremely good. I am down to my last bottle of Haut Brion, and it has been a really nice wine for the last ten years or so, showing little sign of deterioration. LMHB is a fuller version, but not quite as complex. And I am not unhappy with the Haut Bailly; two stellar bottles and two just over the edge for what I paid, is a win
i can bring one to one of the off-lines. Give you a chance to pull out one of your 1971 Petrus to compare.
Well maybe not Petrus, but I think we are overdue for an offline.
I love the '71 Haut Brion. I have one bottle left of a pristine lot that I can’t bring myself to open and say goodbye to.
Force yourself next time time you beat me at Scrabble.
bottle variation
alan