This wine has been fully mature and delicious for many years, so I was not surprised by how stunning this bottle was. It has always been an outstanding wine for the vintage - complex, rich, savory, and the quintessentially elegant Bordeaux. This beauty continues to reveal the fragrance and finesse that one expects from Lafite-Rothschild but so rarely finds. A fragrant, complex bouquet of cedar, herbs, vanillin, fruitcake, and coffee is followed by a soft, gentle, graciously-constructed wine with sweet layers of fruit. I am not sure how much longer the 1970 Ducru will keep, but from regular bottle, it is delicious and should be consumed. How nice it would be to have a stock of magnums of this wine in the cellar!

"1970 was a generous vintage, and back then, when it was generous, we let it be generous!" Proprietor Bruno Borie informed me during the tasting of this 1970 Ducru-Beaucaillou at the chateau. Medium brown in color with a remaining touch of brick, the nose reveals a wonderfully fragrant perfume of dried figs, sultana cake and baking spices with hints of dusty soil, dried herbs plus a subtle waft of crushed rocks. Medium-bodied, the palate delivers bold freshness, laden with dried red berries flavors and mineral-inspired sparks, framed by chewy tannins, finishing spicy.

Full bottle 1,267 g. Too old to have the alcohol on the label! Jean-Eugène Borie named on the front label.  Transparent shaded ruby-to-rust. Very much a fully mature wine on the nose – clearly a different generation from the 1994 Mouton served alongside. Gentle and sweet on the palate now with no sign of 1970's sometimes punishing tannins. Intriguing, subtle complex of classic claret flavours. Lovely sweetness – a representative of great Médoc made by a fine practitioner. Sweet and long but it could dry out easily. I think I may serve this straight from the bottle just to preserve that now-delicate fruit. (JR)