Dinner wine for tonight: 1959 La Mission Haut Brion

[Victor_Hong]

I have finally lived past my IQ.

[David_Glasser]

Bet you’re not even half way there yet, Victor.

[Corey_N]

Well, anybody who wants a sip should show up at Union Square Cafe tonight.
I got it as a very wonderful (albeit overly extravagant) birthday gift. No reason to age any further, as I sort of learned from the passing of my father, two weeks ago.

I just saw this. I’m for very sorry for the loss of your father. I know how much he meant to you. I hope you can take solace in knowing that he lived a very full life and that he could not have asked for a better son. My condolences.

[Cole_Kendall]

Happy 60th Victor to you and the wine, both fortunate to be born in such a good year!

[Mark_Y]

That is the way we should all look at our wines

No doubt. How does the saying go again? “ We all need to find someone who looks at us the way Victor looks at that bottle of wine. “?

Sorry for your loss Victor! Looks like you had a great evening.

[M_Dildine]

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.

100 points on the vicarious scale! Thanks Victor!

[Viet_Ly]

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.

+1. I’m a newbie here so sometimes what gets thrown around on here goes over my head but I enjoyed reading your notes.