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Old Champagne - Printable Version

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- Tea - 12-19-1999

A long while back I was given a bottle of Henriot Reims Brut Champagne 1971 Reserve Baron Philippe de Rothschild. It came in a black velvet lined box and has an oval tag saying: "This bottle of Henriot Reserve was presented to-----..."

I was told to break this champagne on my yaht, but alas, my ship has not come in!!

Is this the year to drink it? Or should I be giving this to someone with an educated palate?

TIA!


- Bucko - 12-19-1999

This wine is the flagship Champagne of Henriot. 1971 was considered to be a very good to excellent year. That said, most 71s are now over the hill, but yours may still be hanging on. Pop the cork soon -- hopefully it will be a nice surprise.

Bucko


- tomstevenson - 12-20-1999

Reserve Baron Philippe de Rothschild was a bit of an oddity that was introduced when Joseph Henriot entered into a marketing cum distribution deal with the late Baron, and the concept ended with his death (1981 being the last vintage). Some people used to think of it as a prestige cuvee, although it was more of an "hommage", since Cuvee Baccarat was Henriot's prestige cuvee (now called Cuvee Les Enchanteleurs) and the two wines overlapped. I cannot remember ever tasting a 1971 vintage of Reserve Baron Philippe de Rothschild. The 1973 and 1985 vintages are my earliest recollection and, coincidentally (in view of your screen name), if you consult page 221 of CHAMPAGNE (Sotheby's Publications, 1986), you will see that I described the 1975 then as having "had a pleasant but strange taste of tea leaves". As for the likely quality of your 1971, I have good news, bad news and confusing news: the good news is that 1971 is a very special Champagne vintage and the best examples are still in fabulous form; the bad news is that I've tasted much younger Henriot vintages that have been over the hill, despite having been stored uniterrupted in the firm's own cellars; but the confusing news is that I've also tasted much older (1964 & 1949) that were in fine condition. As you've kept it all these years, if it were up to me, I would suggest keeing it a couple more and opening it in 2001. Try to find a member of family or friend who has an anniversary, birthday or whatever to celebrate that year, then even if it is slightly disappointing it will still have some sort of historical significance to cherish. Enjoy

You have a fairly historic bottle (historic in the sense of interest, not value, which would be fairly insignificant on the open market).

[This message has been edited by tomstevenson (edited 12-20-1999).]


- Tea - 12-20-1999

Thanks a whole bunch for (sorry about the pun) for the information. We do have a couple of family events coming up in 2001, so I may just wait and see.

I won't disappoint anyone that way--and there will be plenty of bubbly to go around.

Tea