I recently purchased 3 bottles of ‘66 Lafite, and am planning a fun evening with some close friends to drink them. I’ve never had wines quite this old, and have to admit, I’m a little uncertain how best to prep the bottles and juice for max pleasure.
Questions for those in the know: What should I do to prep the bottles before opening? Should I decant? Do I need to let it “open up” or is it best to drink immediately after opening?
Advice welcome!
If it drinks fine from the bottle, decanting would seem unnecessary.
I’m not a fan of sediment. I would decant before serving.
I’m a fan of the Audouze method: open the bottles 4-5 hours before they are to be served, do not decant, allow to breathe just in the bottle.
Question though: why are you serving all three at once? Unless it is a very large group, are you checking for bottle variation? I’d probably open them on three different occasions rather than one.
Stand them upright for at least 24 hours before opening to let the sediment settle at the bottom. I’d also open a couple of hours before but not decant, I had a bottle of 66 Margaux last year, tasted a first glass immediately after opening and it was a little musty, but after letting it air in the bottle it was delicious. I think a full decant risks it fading too quickly if its not quite pristine, but maybe others have different experience.
Of course with 3 you could try and a little science experiment with different treatments and report back to us! I would actually use one as a test to see how it develop over a few hours in bottle and glass so you can get the best out of the other two.
There are 8 of us, and concerned that there will be a dud. Though all three bottles look great, just want to make sure we’re drinking well all night. Maybe I wait to open the third?
If you decant, decant very gentle. My preference is to not unless the wines are clearly young enough to take it.
You should be able to tell upon opening if there is each is a dud or not, so theoretically may be able to save 1 or 2 for another occasion if you don’t want to drink the same wine all evening. Then again could be an interesting experiment in bottle variation or difference in storage if from different provenance
My recommendation: if you really want to open more than one, open the B&G and one of the others, as they are clearly of different provenance. Then save the third bottle for another occasion. Supplement with Champagne and a white wine, and/or perhaps some younger (i.e. 10-15 year old) Pauillac to benchmark against. Or a 66 from a neighboring appellation (there are lots on the market). And close with a sticky.
Just my $0.02.
P.S. I’m looking forward to hearing the results. I have a 66 Lafite in my cellar that I’ve been saving, and I’m curious how it performs.
following advice of others
I would open well in advance, but decant only for 10-20 min. - or not at all.
Seems like good advice all round here. Though I wouldn’t decant. Stand up for as long as you can (ideally a week - if there’s no time for that, stand up in the fridge as this will allow the sediment to settle more quickly). Open 6 hours early to allow any bottle funk to blow off, then serve carefully straight from the bottle. The sediment should be coarse enough that you only get into it towards the end of the bottle. I quite like drinking the last dregs, with the sediment, from old Bordeaux, but if your guest are squeamish about that kind of thing, it might be good to use a cradle or to pour the whole bottle into the glasses in one go. I would be careful about decanting bottles this old as from my experience it does more harm than good to the wine.
I do think it’s important to decant it off the sediment. If the wine can stand being poured into glasses it can stand being decanted but the lower the temperature it starts at the better.
In my experience when the bottle is open long enough short decanting does no harm whatsoever - only immediate decanting can be negative sometimes- especially with old bottles.
Surprised so few would decant. I don’t think these need air per se, but I also doubt it will harm them much. But more importantly, I’d try to get the wine off it’s sediment before serving.
If you stand them up in advance and then carefully decant right before service you’ll probably be left with only 2 - 3oz of sediment in the bottom. If you simply serve straight from the bottle you’ll stir up the sediment with every pour and with 5 - 8oz left you might find you’re already into sediment which I really believe cuts into the enjoyment.
I don’t decant for sediment, and I find that if poured properly, the sediment can be contained to the bottom.
My challenge is that with older wines, exposure to air changes the wine quickly. I’ve seen old wines fall apart within an hour of pouring the wine. Decanting can accelerate that. I’d rather pour from the bottle than risk having the wine evolve too quickly.
This is what I do as well, after letting the bottle stand up straight in the cellar for at least a day.
It is imperative to handle these older wines like this in order for them to show their best. They need the slow aeration to let any bottle funk blow off. All old wines will taste and smell “off” if you try them upon opening. You need to let them properly wake up from their long slumber.
It’s ok to decant them after the 4-5 hour slow aeration, but serve immediately. This additional air won’t harm the wine immediately, but it will harm it quicker than just trying to pour slowly off the undecanted bottle.
I’ve opened several bottles of '66 Latour in this manner and they were fabulous.
For older wine I like serving decanters. I use them just to de-sediment and serve, I am not trying to introduce too much oxygen. I would rather see how they slowly open up over time. Jancis has one I like Mature Wine Decanter | Jancis Robinson Collection | Richard Brendon
Folks that I drink wine with know I’m a crazy person about sediment.
IMO most important is to stand upright first then to a cradle/vessel at an angle. Standing concentrates all the sediment at the bottom first, then the tilting moves it all to one “corner” without dispersing it along the entire “length” of the bottle.
A little maniacal, yes, but I’ve had excellent results with bottles that have tons of sediment this way.
The most important thing about wines that old is to use a Durand.
After that, I would say leave them standing for at least a week, then decant and serve. Plan on a long evening where you get to follow its evolution. Have another wine ready if it’s closed at first or if it’s a bad bottle. But don’t judge too quickly. It can have some off smells while it opens up.
Agree with this entirely. Older wine can (and will) change with air the same way a younger wine does.
