this was one of the wines served by board-o on 12/7. wine was opened and decanted about 15 minutes before drinking. i kept tasting over the next 90 minutes. this was my wine of the night.

very dark ruby purple, some amber at the edges. thick slow moving legs. nose still a little tight and young, but exhibiting plenty of fruit, leather and spices. this is still a full bodied concentrated wine that showed black fruit and sweet tobacco. very impressive wine with tannins that suggest this wine has plenty of life. me94

ojeffso:

obviously you're in rarified air tasting such aged bordeaux, and supplied by none other than the master of bordeaux himself. my question, since i have no 66 latour, but do have 66 lafite, can i expect a similar experience. it's on the drink now calendar, just waiting for the right meal.

66 Latour is substantially better than the 66 Lafite. Drink up.

thanks jones. i'm assuming that with the 66 lafite, much as i did with the 62 beychevelle, to just decant and pour, rather than letting sit for a while.

Absolutely!

bump as a comparison.

Interesting, and my bad for not doing a search, thanks for bumping this up...I did not get black fruits, I wished I would have I'd have rated it a lot higher, maybe next time.
Ha I fixed it!

First a little backround and the questions...I have for the last couple years been assembling a collection of birthyear wines, including 4...well now 3 '66 Latours. These last 3 came from a single lot on Winebid and are a bit unique. They were shipped by Ch. Gaultier and Co., Bordeaux, France and Imported by The Stacole Co., Deerfield Beach, Fl. They all are stamped on the lable with a circular red stamp that says 'Selection Nicolas', all 3 labels are stamped in exactly the same spot indicative of the stamp being applied during the label printing process, vs sometime after bottling. The labels do state Mis en Bouteille au Chateau.
The cork has a five pointed crown on top, is the exact same size as my other Latour corks, has the Latour trademark, 1966, Mis en Bouteille au Chateau, and Rebouche en 1988. The labels and foil (not lead) are pristine with no fading, the copper writing and trademark still shimmer pink, metallic red when viewed at angle to bright light. Fills are about 3mm below cork bottom and there was suprisingly little sediment. There is also a small black label, lower back, that says 'CE VIN DOIT ETRE DECANTE'. My take is that these were, as stated, recorked in 1988, but I wonder if they were not winery bottles that were labeled as well at that time and then released to the negotiant (Nicolas perhaps?). Can anyone shed some light on this?

TN's- Not decanted, bottle opened about 20 minutes before first glass. Medium deep, slightly clouded red, bricking at edge. Lovely, initially soft nose of pine forest, cedar, beef blood, iodine, and tobacco. Mostly medium red fruits and cedar on an initially medium bodied palate that put on weight in the glass, becoming decidedly full bodied by the time half a bottle was gone. Still shows great structure with nice acidity and firm, dusty tannins that round out a nice long finish. Should easily last another 10+ years, but I don't think it will get much better. 92-93 points

I missed some of the followup on this. I've had the '66 Lafite and Latour each about ten times. In their youth, I preferred the Lafite, but the Latour has held up better.

We had our twelfth and final bottle of this great wine last night but took no notes. Upon decanting, the rich Latour nose filled the area. The wine was deep and still young tasting, with loads of fruit and substantial soft tannins. It was nicely complex, but not up to the level of the 1970. I wish I had a few more left. About 95

Disregard my previous post. That was our 11th bottle. I bought a case in 1978 and must have put one bottle in the wrong bin, but I found it two days ago and stood it up. The cork was a bit soft, but the fill was fine, surprisingly so. I took no notes, but the wine was rich, warm, and complex, about a 95 or 96. I got to say goodbye to this wine twice.