1959 Château Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac, Bordeaux

A classic year, and not only because Les 400 Coups by François Truffaut was released or because our cellar master Georges Revelle received the Legion of Honour. Ideal climate: February and March pleasant and sunny, frost at night, dew in the morning, warmth and sun during the day. A cold April, very hot July, very fine August. Perfect weather for the harvest, with the grapes brought in under the heat: this was one of the last vintages not to benefit from thermal assistance. Very low acidity. A sign that this vintage marked a change and the beginning of ripe wines. A remarkable Lafite thanks to our deep gravel, which allowed the vine to stand up to the intense summer heat. A legend of the century, the 1959s have an (almost) unlimited lifetime.

Quite a chronological leap from the last vintage, 1982, but not that great a leap in terms of evolution. In the glass it looked as deep as the 1982. This wonderful wine tasted as though it was born in the 1980s. Amazingly deep crimson then extraordinarily concentrated, sweet and rich. Long, rich and reverberant on the palate with a strong mineral bite to it. Massively sweet aftertaste even though there is nothing remotely sticky about this; it finishes appetisingly dry.

This bottle of 1959 Lafite-Rothschild came directly from the château cellars. Served blind, I estimated a vintage half its age. It has an ethereal bouquet with breathtaking precision, black fruit, pencil lead, crushed stone, pressed iris flowers and most of all, aromas of walking round an old English stately home. The palate has a haunting sense of balance, filigree tannins and spellbinding focus with a long, persistent, tobacco-tinged finish. My word, this comes very, very close to perfection. Tasted at Maison François in London.

Drunk from magnum, the 1959 Lafite Rothschild is one of this château's finest vintages of the postwar period, and this example was as good a bottle as I've ever encountered. Blossoming in the glass with aromas of sweet red berry fruit, pencil shavings, potpourri and cigar box, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, exhibiting terrific mid-palate plentitude while remaining quintessentially suave and elegant. Served alongside the compelling 1959 Ausone, it was impossible to choose a favorite.