BORDEAUX, RED 1976 CHATEAU LAFITE-ROTHSCHILD (1 BOTTLE)

Many will remember the long scorchingly hot summer of 1976. It was the same in Bordeaux, where many Chateaux produced big alcoholic fruity wines best drunk young.

However, some great wines were still made. Lafite, which always needs time to show its greatness, is probably the best Bordeaux of the vintage.

'76 Lafite has a wonderful complex nose, with many layers of aromas. On the palate it is now gentle and restrained, but still wonderfully complex with old wood, nuts, and leathery flavours supported by the still slightly voluptuous fruit.

I have drunk this wine many times, and its development and personality always surprise me. I have a sneaking feeling that in another ten years it will start to open up more, after all it has all the elements a great wine needs to age well: bags of fruit, bags of alcohol, good tannic structure, and it is Lafite- one of the greatest long living wines! I have been honoured and privileged enough to taste Lafite well back into the 19^th century. Never mind a touch of volatile acidity, there is so much else in these wines to be an eternal delight. Christopher Burr MW