WTN: 1966 Rioja with Easter lamb.

Rioja “Imperial” Crianza 1966 – Companía Vinícola del Norte de España (CVNE).

Having great memories of two previous bottles, I felt pleasurable anticipation of it as a pairing for succulent Easter lamb. When I saw that its level was down to about 1cm below the neck into the shoulders, I had misgivings, resolved not to decant and took out a Bandol as substitute. A leaky and crumbing cork did not improve my confidence but the first sniff at the bottle did; quite vigorous bloom of round sweet fruit with light vanilla hints just as I recalled from my first bottle in 2001 and the second one two or three years later.

Alas when I poured about 30 minutes later, the bloom had already receded and there was a metallic edge. The palate was better with elegant complex fruit and excellent shape and length but the wine from this bottle has lost stuffing and now plays no stronger than mezzo-forte with consequent difficulty in standing up to the food; still 16/20+ for its quietly elegant distinction but not the great experience for which I had been hoping. Bottles with sound corks could still be very fine.

1966, I was in my third year at Hotel school and was drinking Volnay at twelve pounds a bottle!!

I would not expect a 40+ year old crianza to be any good at all. Glad you got something from it.

I would not expect a 40+ year old crianza to be any good at all. Glad you got something from it.

Even on this bottle it was more than "something". The two previous bottles were really vigorous and excellent. I wonder whether the earlier "crianza" bottling did not help to keep the wine fresh through the decades.

1966, I was in my third year at Hotel school and was drinking Volnay at twelve pounds a bottle!!

Bob, £12 was a fortune for wine in those days. Don't you mean twelve shillings?

I paid only £2.25 (45 shillings) each for 3 bottles of Ch. Latour 45 in the early 60s. Harold Wilson caused inflation and devaluation but not to that extent!!

Restaurant prices Tim, if I remember exactly! I was also knocking back Nuits St Georges.

was also knocking back Nuits St Georges.

Before Britain joined the EU (EC in those days), there was a genuineness issue with a lot of Burg, particularly Nuits Saint-Georges, sold in the UK. Even "respectable" merchants like, it was rumoured, the Wine Society used to help the producers to cheat by not demanding the "acquit vert" when buying the real thing, thus allowing the producer to dilute his official production of the real thing with inferior plonk or higher than authorised yields.

I guess that with your hotel trade connections you were able to avoid most of the bad ones.

I paid only £2.25 (45 shillings) each for 3 bottles of Ch. Latour 45 in the early 60s. Harold Wilson caused inflation and devaluation but not to that extent!!

Don't ask me what I want it for, (ah-ah, mister Wilson)
If you don't want to pay some more. (ah-ah, mister heath)

(My personal introduction to British economic policy)

I must confess to a deep-seated attachment to Old Pence and the marvelously Byzantine British monetary system prior to decimalization. For a tourist visiting the UK, it was almost an initiation into a private club to be able to freely convert shillings to guineas and know how many pence in a half crown. My attachment to it was reinforced when I learned in later life of Newton's connection to the founding of the Bank of England. Life is so bland, now, in a decimalized UK

Mark Lipton

Tim reckons.......I guess that with your hotel trade connections you were able to avoid most of the bad ones.

Wishful thinking there Tim. I was working at the Francis hotel in Bath for a while (part of my training experience) and used to date one of the receptionists! I thought I could not go wrong with a good Burgundy at the local bistro. Fun really started when we hit an after-hours club, we drank tequila sunrise and sang Moody Blues tones with the bars guitarist!