So, the Latour vertical has flexed the muscles in the brain marked “vinous”. A glass or two of 1959 Krug has taken the edge off things (three different magna, if you like, with three distinct characters: like siblings) and some Batard has got the palate going again.
My friend, our host, is a 1959. Which is a bit of a result if you like claret. If Ch. Latour is one half of the evening’s theme, then 1959 is the second half with extra time. So: two clarets for the second course, from chateaux that I am not overly familiar with: Evangile (Pomerol) & Canon (St Emilion).
It takes some pretty special wine to last 50 years. Bear in mind that most wine on the shelf in your local supermarket is already fading at six months and dead at two years. It takes ingredients: alcohol, acidity, tannin, fruit and, the conductor of the orchestra, the director of the play: balance.
The Canon tasted the older of the two. It was further along the road, though with a pure edginess and the distinct aromas of mature claret that are irreproducible. Maybe past its best, but the beauty, the class, still evident.
The Evangile was the “younger” of the two, with plenty of fat rich fruit still there. This was hard to warrant as a wine that predates the Routemaster Bus.
Were it not for the next course, then these two would have been vying for a place in my “Wine of the Year” reflection, the Evangile squaring up with 1976 Volnay, Clos des Chenes, Domaine Lafarge for first place.
Main course to follow. Happy Christmas.
