Sorry about your dad.
But hey , I was born in 59. Live in Manhattan. In town this weekend. Not too busy. Just sayin ![[whistle.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/87d24eb81ec6dc01d84f3d6c19fa9a357e90218e.gif "whistle"){kind=small}
Victor already gave instructions.
Condolences, brother.
Many thanks to all. I will post notes shortly.
Mom and Dad drank up most of my La Mission Haut Brion 1989 when visiting Noo Yawk, and my Haut Brion 1990, Pichon Baron 1990, and Poniatowski Vouvray 1990 when I visited Chicago. He left us two unopened bottles of birth-year 1927 Alvear Pedro Ximenex; she and I drank one at dinner on his last day.
If I leave this world with just one bottle of wine, that would be a feat. ![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}
A wonderful thread in homage to Victor’s dad, and by extension, all of our dads. So cool you enjoyed these experiences with your father. And quite a tribute, with a classic wine.
Wow Victor, the wine looks awesome. Can’t wait for the TN.
The excellent wine staff at Union Square Cafe carefully wrangled out the very old cork, which had an odd mid-section, resembling white wax. No counterfeiter would ever have taken such effort to create that contraption, helping to indicate that this was no fake. Our server tried the first sip, and said, “Hey, I’m digging it.”
As the top picture demonstrates, the color of this almost six-decade wine was deep and in-penetrable red, transitioning to brick at the rim, evidencing excellent storage conditions.
The wine readily offered a raspberry and blackberry nose, with laced with pipe tobacco, honey, espresso, and sun-warmed gravel.
Its mouthfeel was medium bodied and layered, effortlessly draping and gliding like an heirloom silk robe.
The palate was ample yet elegant ripe fruit, with addenda of seared red-meat glaze, ginger, coffee, and cinnamon.
Everybody happily drank but otherwise ignored an excellent bottle of 1986 Haut Brion.
I will add more notes later. Thank you.
Victor, I am sorry for your loss and I am sure that opening a legendary bottling such as the 1959 La Mission was especially tough given the circumstances but I am certainly glad that you had what sounds like a wonderful wine experience.
as did the famous British wine critic Andre Simon.
So nice that it was a good bottle!
So sorry for your loss Victor. Hope his memory is a comfort to you
The Haut Brion 1986 was delicious, whereby the characteristically massive tannins of that Bordeaux vintage have finally rounded and softened enough to balance beautifully with the complex dark fruit, warm gravelly earth, and deep tobacco notes. Never before has the Haut Brion 1986 offered such a rich but feather-like, glycerin-woven mouthfeel. The finish was long yet elegant. Based on the vibrantly bruise-like red and purple hues of the wine, with no hint of browning at the rim, the wine seems to have reached its long-awaited maturity, promising at least two more decades of drinking pleasure.
The Sauternes was, as usual, lovely beyond words.
The Bolla Amarone 1959 was mildy heat damaged, but not bad.
Poniatowski Clos Baudoin 1990 provided the best showing ever for this wine, alive with notes of warm pear, bright Meyer lemon, and rich (but not too sweet) butterscotch, all delivered with a luxuriously extended finish, bearing an unexpected hint of Perigord truffle.
If I recall correctly, what is in the privacy of your own (rented) home is none of our business.
That being said , my sincere condolences on your loss.
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Hey Victor. I’m still trying to decipher all the inside jokes about you from the East Coast crew. You have a large persona here, based on your parsimony and various forms of chagrin/bemusement about your fellow NYers … as far as I can tell.
I don’t recall you posting a lot about actual wines. But based on these evocative notes I’d sure love to see more from you!
And I hope the pleasant memories of time well spent with your dad will always buoy you.
Condolences, Victor.
Take comfort in knowing that you did your father proud.
My mom called me today, to welcome my joining the Old Fogey Club. 
Victor, my condolences.