Chateau d'Yquem Premier Cru Superieure Sauternes, 1950

No, this is not a budget wine, but, again, I had the privilege of sharing this bottle with my brother-in-law in Australia. 1950 is his birth year. He bought this wine several years ago and has been keeping it for the right occasion. At 60 years of age and newly married, he is pleased that the wine is still singing. The color has turned to a light tea color, probably the only sign (aside from the label) that the grapes for this wine were harvested 60 years ago. Still good brightness and depth of color. The bouquet and flavors are rich, rich, rich--apricots, honey, brown sugar. Very fine and precisely focused. If tasted blind, we agree, this Sauternes would probably be tabbed as a very good German Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese from a great vintage of the 1970s. The finish goes on and on. This is not the oldest wine I have ever tasted. I had the 1928 Palmer and the 1947 Cheval Blanc at tastings in the early 1990s. But it is the first wine of such magnitude and age that I've had a chance to savor. Four of us consumed the bottle over about an hour with a selection of hard and soft cheeses. We were sad when the final drop was gone.