I recently purchased 6 bottles of 70 Lafite Rothschild. I opened one tonight. I have not tasted it yet. I have some real questions about the authenticity of these bottles. The labels were pristine. They did not look almost 35 years old. Upon removing the cork it looked the appropriate age. There was next to nothing printed on it. What was there was next to illegible. I do not have anything to compare the cork to. I am used to the vintage and the seal of the vinyard printed on the cork. Has anyone here had a Lafite Rothschild to compare it to? The bouquet of the wine was very good. I will report the taste after dinner.
Fred wrote in news:dIi%f.4910$3s4.1848@fed1read11:
Once the cork dried the writing on it was more visible. There is an oval picture that is hardly visible. Around it is GRAND VIN DU CHATEAU". Below it is 1970 or rather smudge-smudge-smudge-0. The wine was very good, but not fantastic. Upon tasting it was rather peppery with not a very long finish. The alcohol and tannins were rather prominent. Not what I would expect from a 1970. My girlfriend said the wine did not have the varnishy taste that is typical of Pauillacs. The amount of sediment was not impressive. The sediment left was about the size of a quarter on the side of the bottle and a little less in my glass. I am still up in the air about this wine. Is it fake or just not an excellent example of the vintage?
1970s have been a favorite of mine. All previous ones have been excellent. If I were to give this wine a numerical rating it would be in the high 80s.
I have both bottles and magnums of 70 Lafite. The corks do have information printed on them. I peeled back the foil on one bottle, but it is not possible to read the information well through the dark glass with the cork still in the bottle. I have had this Lafite since way back in the mid 70s. The price stickers still on the bottles read $26.69 in US$. It was shipped by Barton and Guestier in Bordeaux and imported by Chateau And Estate Wines Division of Browne Vintners, New York, NY.
Since the 70 Lafite is not the darling of the auctions such as is the
59 with the very high price it brings, it is less likely to be faked than a high ticket item such as the 59. However it is possible.
Older wines sometimes are recorked. If not done at the chateau, this might result in an unbranded cork, but the buyer should be told about the recorking. I have, for example, seen very old bottles of vintage port that were recorked in the UK, but this fact was noted along with the name of the firm that recorked. At least my bottles of 70 Lafite have shown no need for recorking yet.
If the wine is stored in a cellar without humidity so extreme that it produces mold and mildew, there is no reason why the labels will not look fairly new, especially if the wine is stored in an unopened case until just before it is sold. My 70 Lafite labels are quite clean, and I control humidity to the about 60 to 70% range to avoid mold problems, but still be plenty high enough for the bottles of wine. The mold will not hurt the wine, but it makes me sneeze.
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