Château Bouscaut Graves 1947

Plenty of winemakers today would recognise the growing conditions of 1947 – a year that was hot from the beginning of April and pretty much throughout the year, with the odd hail storm, and plenty of battles with grapes shrivelling under the drought condition. Despite, or perhaps because of this, it has passed into one of the legendary vintages of 20th century Bordeaux, meaning that drinking this bottle of Château Bouscaut 1947 was an extremely special moment. No Pessac Léognan, and no Cru Classé de Graves on the label here, as you would find today – it was simply too early for either mention. What we got instead was one of the wines of the week, in glorious condition, with an incredible fragrance that stealt out of the glass and into the room, lace-like delicacy to the tannins, warm ash, crushed violets, finessed redcurrant and cranberry fruits, still fully engaged. A testatment to the work of Victor Place and the Comte de Rivaud, owners in the 1940s. They had done extensive work in the vineyards, laying drainage channels, renovating the cellars and even adding a tower to the château that you can still see today. It goes without saying that there will be bottle variation, but what a wine.