Château Lascombes Margaux 1855 2ième Cru 1961

Colour is softened to a russet pink, a little smudged around the edges in terms of losing its pristine clarity, but still with plenty of depth through the core. Tar, marmite, soot, campfire, incense, dried flowers and leather take the lead over softened brambled and sweetened strawberry fruit on the palate. Take your time and lean into the tertiary waves of old books, cigar box, cold ash, curls of woodsmoke, undergrowth, iodine. It picks up pace through the palate, showing points of fresh orange peel acidity. Not at the end of its life but there is of course no need to wait, fully in its drinking window, sliding towards the last few years. Exact blend not recorded (or at least not found). Lascombes had a barrel maker on site at the time, so although the amount of new oak is also not recorded, there was certainly some. As ever with a wine this age, a tasting note and particularly its score can only ever give a part of the picture – Alexis Lichine was the owner of Lascombes in 1961, and we are drinking a true piece of history.