Château Haut-Brion--Vintage 1981
1 double-magnum per lot
1980's: THE DECADE IN WINE Unquestionably this was a great decade, matching the 1920s for the number of high quality vintages. Unlike the early 1930s and the mid-1970s, when poor weather and a severe recession coincided, the 1980s reversed the process: there was, allowing for the natural variations described below, overall a vast improvement in weather conditions, and, even more happily, a renewed demand to match. The wine trade, if not exactly licking its wounds, did not re-enter the market and stock up. The big brewers in Britain had burnt their fingers once and, since then, have been more or less out of the market, private customers being the main buyers of en primeur wines. In the United States and further afield, châteaux proprietors had the means to renovate, to install new vats, to increase the use of new barrels, even to rebuild vineyard walls. But the most important result for the consumer was the increasing care in the vineyards: pruning and green pruning to reduce yields and increase quality, and the selection of only the best vats for the grand vin . The other noticeable thing about the 1980s is the increasing number of 'second wines' made from the less fine vats and wines made from young vines. This was a contrast to the depression in the mid-1970s, when this sort of care and selection could not be afforded. In the 1950s, consultant enologists hardly existed. The precursor was Professor Riberau-Gayon, but the best known became Emile Peynaud. His influence was considerable. He always averred that his job was to prevent or rectify mistakes, and that the accusation that Mèdoc châteaux were being 'Peynaudised' was more than unfair. However, by the 1980s, there appeared a new breed of consultants employed to advise on and, hopefully, to improve the quality of wine. Happily, though, 'designer' wines had not yet arrived. MB Château Haut-Brion--Vintage 1981 Pessac (Graves), 1er cru classé Level: bottom neck; lightly bin soield label, lightly stained label, corroded capsule, sign of old seepage "Most recently, outshining some other top '81s with excellent flavour, good length, tannin and tolerable acidity. last noted at a pre-sale tasting in London, Jan 1999 ****" MB, Vintage Wine 1 double-magnum per lot
Château Haut-Brion--Vintage 1981
1 double-magnum per lot
1980's: THE DECADE IN WINE Unquestionably this was a great decade, matching the 1920s for the number of high quality vintages. Unlike the early 1930s and the mid-1970s, when poor weather and a severe recession coincided, the 1980s reversed the process: there was, allowing for the natural variations described below, overall a vast improvement in weather conditions, and, even more happily, a renewed demand to match. The wine trade, if not exactly licking its wounds, did not re-enter the market and stock up. The big brewers in Britain had burnt their fingers once and, since then, have been more or less out of the market, private customers being the main buyers of en primeur wines. In the United States and further afield, châteaux proprietors had the means to renovate, to install new vats, to increase the use of new barrels, even to rebuild vineyard walls. But the most important result for the consumer was the increasing care in the vineyards: pruning and green pruning to reduce yields and increase quality, and the selection of only the best vats for the grand vin . The other noticeable thing about the 1980s is the increasing number of 'second wines' made from the less fine vats and wines made from young vines. This was a contrast to the depression in the mid-1970s, when this sort of care and selection could not be afforded. In the 1950s, consultant enologists hardly existed. The precursor was Professor Riberau-Gayon, but the best known became Emile Peynaud. His influence was considerable. He always averred that his job was to prevent or rectify mistakes, and that the accusation that Mèdoc châteaux were being 'Peynaudised' was more than unfair. However, by the 1980s, there appeared a new breed of consultants employed to advise on and, hopefully, to improve the quality of wine. Happily, though, 'designer' wines had not yet arrived. MB Château Haut-Brion--Vintage 1981 Pessac (Graves), 1er cru classé Level: bottom neck; lightly bin soield label, lightly stained label, corroded capsule, sign of old seepage "Most recently, outshining some other top '81s with excellent flavour, good length, tannin and tolerable acidity. last noted at a pre-sale tasting in London, Jan 1999 ****" MB, Vintage Wine 1 double-magnum per lot
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