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1955 Latour, 1967 Lafite-Rothschild - Printable Version

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- know-nothing - 05-09-2006

I've just inherited a wine cellar which includes, among other things, several bottles of 1955 Latour Paulliac, as well as several bottles of a 1967 Lafite-Rothschild.

I'm debating how much of the wine to keep, and how much, if any, to auction. Can anyone offer any advice on just what I have with these two wines and/or point me to some helpful websites? The internet searches I've done so far have produced some wildly confusing results.

The bottles all appear to have been properly stored and appear to be in excellent condition.

Any information regarding drinkability, muturity, availability, value, etc., even just links or hints for more productive searching, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.


- wondersofwine - 05-09-2006

British sources might be your best bet. Michael Broadbent has done tasting notes about Bordeaux that go back decades. You might contact the British firm of Berry Bros. and Rudd to see if they could be of help. On this board Winoweenie might have some information for you but those vintages are from long before I began collecting and out of my price range as well. Here's a link to the Berry Bros. and Rudd historical vintage chart: http://www.bbr.com/US/shopping/vintage-chart.lml?ID=65P2BGX3PN100B7
You can copy and paste that url in your address line and then should be able to link.
If I read it correctly both vintages you mention should be showing their age now but the '55 vintage was a much better vintage than '67 on average. (Of course with first growth Bordeaux the producer may exceed the average for a vintage.)


- know-nothing - 05-09-2006

Thanks for the help -- I'll take a look at the link.


- winoweenie - 05-09-2006

The recent retails on the 2 bottlings I've seen are as follows....67 Mouton 175-195(an extremely poor vintage) and the 55 Lafite at 525-595 per bottle. These prices are predicated on pristine storage. Hope this helps. WW


- Bucko - 05-09-2006

I have actually tasted the wines. The Lafite was dead and gone 15 years ago when I tried it -- it is worthless IMO.

The 55 Latour was a beauty when I tried it at a millineum party. It faded very quickly and is on a rapid downhill slide. If not stored perfectly, it is long since dead. The bottle we tried came from a 50 degree private cellar.


- winoweenie - 05-10-2006

My eyes musta' been crossed on this post yesterday. The 67 Lafite has a retail of 99-125 for curiosity only as Buckos' rite on on its' drinkability. The 55 Latour is still selling from 725-795 retail. I haven't had this wine for 20 years and then it was outstanding. WW


- know-nothing - 05-10-2006

Thanks for the help.

While I'm pumping you for info, assuming for the moment that the Lafite has only nominal value as you've indicated, but that the Latour may be valuable, how would one even go about selling or trying to auction the wine? I'd like to keep/drink some of it -- is this a wine that can typically be sold/auctioned by the single bottle?

Oh, BTW, upon further inspection, it turns out that 8 of the 16 bottles of '55 Latour are a '55 Latour Blanche. Any thoughts on that?

There appear to be several bottles of a '45 port, as well. Am I correct, based on my initial searches, that '45 was a phenomenal year for port?

Looking forward to your responses, as well as to seeing what else is in the cellar.

[This message has been edited by know-nothing (edited 05-10-2006).]


- dananne - 05-10-2006

The Latour Blanche is a Sauternes, but I have no idea about it's drinkability or value.


- winoweenie - 05-10-2006

Know-n suggest you inventory the cellar and then post for pricing/quality as, in poker, string-bets are annoying. You need to let us know the Who/What/Where/When of the bottles as there are tremendous variances in the pricing of 45 Ports as well as other older bottles. Not too much of a market for single bottles unless they are classics that are from classic vintages. WW


- know-nothing - 05-12-2006

Thanks -- yeah, sorry, I realized how annoying the one-question-at-a-time approach was after I read through my last post. I'll check back in after I've had a chance to get all relevant info. Thanks for your help so far, though.