+- WineBoard (https://www.wines.com/wineboard)
+-- Forum: RESOURCES AND OTHER STUFF (https://www.wines.com/wineboard/forum-300.html)
+--- Forum: Collectibles/Auction News (https://www.wines.com/wineboard/forum-5.html)
+--- Thread: 1966 Grand Vin de Chateau Latour (/thread-1670.html)
- bolline - 12-13-2005
Hello. I am a wine novice. I try and buy different wines but am no way a pro. I came across a bottle of 1966 Grand Vin de Chateau Latour. I did some searching and found it being currently sold for $1500. As far as I know it has been kept in a cool basement of a house for years. I have read it to be a popular wine. I was told it should of peaked about now but will decline in the next 3 to 5 years. Not sure if I should sell it or drink it. If anyone has any suggestions or can add to its history please feel free to let me know. I do not want it to go to waste. Thanks.
- newsguy - 12-13-2005
hi, and welcome to the board. some people here with more knowledge of aged bordeaux will hopefully chime in, but...
...i'm not sure where you saw this bottling being sold for $1,500; it is available at a fine, reputable wine shop in los angeles for $455. and the '66 latour grand vin is a classic wine (robert parker gave it 96 points and called it the wine of the vintage) -- if it has been stored *perfectly* over the past 35 years. if you only know that it has been in a "cool basement" for years, my guess is this wine could easily have gone past its peak and far into decline. if you try to sell this, any potential buyer is going to want to know exactly how the wine has been stored since its release and i seriously doubt you're going to find any takers at a price that you'd like. that's my long way of saying, drink it with a nice roasted chicken dinner and hope for the best. you *could* have a great bottle there.
[This message has been edited by newsguy (edited 12-13-2005).]
- bolline - 12-13-2005
It was at 67Wines.com in NY as of 12/9 listing it as $1500. A big difference from $455. If I can get an accurate reading, what should the temperature be or have been for "proper" storage if I assume it has been in this same basement at the same temperature for the past 20-25 years that I know of? Thanks.
- newsguy - 12-13-2005
ideally, you want 55 degrees. warmer is bad, cooler is good because it would slow the aging process. but won't you won't be able to measure the variance that comes with the season. i don't know where the house is located (the climate) or how far undeground the basement is, but it's quite possible that if it's 58 degrees there in mid-december it could be in the mid-upper 60s in the summer. and that temperature swing can really wreak havoc on a wine and age it prematurely.
also, you mention that this bottle seems to have been in this basement for 20-25 years. but the wine was released 35 years ago. that potentially leaves 10-15 years of unknown provenence (storage conditions).
as for the price of wine, magnums (double bottles) of it are being offered from a very reputable NYC auction house for $900 per. seems to me that 67wines.com is asking two to three times the going rate.
[This message has been edited by newsguy (edited 12-13-2005).]
- winoweenie - 12-14-2005
Hi Bolline and welcome to the board. Undoubtedly the wine shop offering the Latour for 1500 wants to keep it in inventory. Newsie is rite on about the current retail price. I can get you as many bottles as you'd like at between 425 and 475 fropm reputable wine shops here in the west. It's all moot, IMHO, because the market for single bottles of wine from suspect provenence is zip. WW