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The July 2020 Auction: Part 1
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1 / 2Lot 1599
Estimate: $225
Very top shoulder, lightly scuffed, nicked capsule, very lightly scuffed label.
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Collection name
Reviews
91JG
"The 1981 La Tour Haut-Brion is still a fairly young example of the vintage and really needs some extended aeration time to fully blossom, but blossom it most assuredly does when given enough time in decanter! The wine starts out a touch bretty, which coupled with the signature Graves tones of iodine and singed cigar can be a bit off-putting to the uninitiated, but with a couple of hours in decanter the wine starts to really put its best foot forward and is a superb example of the vintage. The bouquet eventually is deep, pure and complex, as it offers up scents of very sweet cassis, saddle leather, charred wood, singed tobacco, gravelly soil tones, a bit of bell pepper, cigar smoke and incipient notes of black truffles. On the palate the wine is fullish, very soil-driven and complex, with a sweet core of black fruit, melted tannins and outstanding length and grip on the long and classic finish. La Tour Haut-Brion was always famous for using more press wine, and in 1981, this certainly has given the wine impressive structure for the vintage. A lovely wine."
Region
Red
Country
Score
"The 1981 La Tour Haut-Brion is still a fairly young example of the vintage and really needs some extended aeration time to fully blossom, but blossom it most assuredly does when given enough time in decanter! The wine starts out a touch bretty, which coupled with the signature Graves tones of iodine and singed cigar can be a bit off-putting to the uninitiated, but with a couple of hours in decanter the wine starts to really put its best foot forward and is a superb example of the vintage. The bouquet eventually is deep, pure and complex, as it offers up scents of very sweet cassis, saddle leather, charred wood, singed tobacco, gravelly soil tones, a bit of bell pepper, cigar smoke and incipient notes of black truffles. On the palate the wine is fullish, very soil-driven and complex, with a sweet core of black fruit, melted tannins and outstanding length and grip on the long and classic finish. La Tour Haut-Brion was always famous for using more press wine, and in 1981, this certainly has given the wine impressive structure for the vintage. A lovely wine."
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The world's most influential fine-wine producer and the benchmark for Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne and the Rhone. Its appellation (AOC) system codifies geography, grape and method, and its wines set the global standard for age-worthiness and terroir expression.
The world's largest fine-wine region, built around blends of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Divided by the Gironde estuary into the structured Left Bank and the plush, Merlot-led Right Bank, it is the historic benchmark for age-worthy claret and sweet Sauternes.
In the Graves, the only Bordeaux appellation renowned for both reds and dry whites. Gravelly soils yield smoky, mineral reds and age-worthy Sauvignon-Semillon blends.
An aromatic red grape lending perfume, red fruit and a leafy, savory edge. It thrives in the Loire and as a key blending partner in Bordeaux, especially Saint-Emilion.
The world's most planted premium red grape, yielding deeply colored, tannic and structured wines with cassis, cedar and graphite notes. Firm tannins and acidity make it exceptionally age-worthy, whether as a varietal or the backbone of a Bordeaux blend.
Produces plush, supple, fruit-forward reds with plum and chocolate notes. Softer and earlier-maturing than Cabernet, it adds flesh and roundness to blends and stars in Right Bank Bordeaux.
A deeply colored, tannic Bordeaux blending grape adding color, structure and floral, spicy complexity in small proportions.