1962 Pichon Baron

Every year around Christmastime, three of my friends and I get together for a little holiday dinner. We’ve known each other since elementary school in Forest Hills, NY, and the quartet reached its full flower in middle school, where we were one of the more disruptive elements of a large but loosely defined clique and had a lot of fun right up until graduation. We all still live in Manhattan, ironically, and about five years ago I hit on the idea to start organizing the dinners.
Last year, we decided to go to a French restaurant. The season wasn’t shaping up to be anything particularly special, but the dinner was easy to coordinate, for a change, and I was really looking forward to it as I’d picked out a very cozy and warm little restaurant, Bistro Les Amis, in SoHo.
The week before the dinner, I was wine shopping as per usual, picking out a bottle of Burgundy for a colleague of mine who was leaving his job for something better. At the last minute, after I had paid, I decided to swing by the end of the counter and look in the bargain bin to see if there was anything of interest. I’d had luck there before, but this time it was even better. I noticed an old bottle of what looked like Bordeaux. On closer inspection it turned out to be a bottle of 1962 Pichon Baron. I was immediately excited, as you can imagine!
The fill was middle to lower shoulder but some of the still intact foil had been cut off to reveal a cork that was very sturdy looking. The label was quite faded but intact. The price might lead one to believe that the wine could be shot - $75. A bottle of ’61 Pichon Baron that they had in stock from the same cellar was almost $400. Why so cheap on this ’62? We know that ’62 is overshadowed by ’61, but it’s also considered to be a very good vintage, verging on excellent. Some say it’s one of the three best vintages of the ‘60s, along with ’66.
I thought it over for awhile, asking the owner some questions. He thought it had great potential but there were no guarantees. He mentioned that the price was lower because there was only a single bottle. Don’t ask me why that would diminish its value. I was thinking, "when will I drink this? I’ve got to get to it soon." Suddenly, I had a moment of clarity – I could bring it to the Christmas dinner where it would be, get this – all four of our birth year wines! The beauty of school friends, with so much in common becomes clearer than ever at times like these. Even if the wine was dead, it would be a great party favor and would save me the chore of finding three individual Christmas presents.
I bought the bottle and immediately proceeded to look for notes online. None of them were particularly encouraging. Most suggested that it was way past it’s prime, and probably overly acidic due to the style of the vintage. But I was intrepid and kept my fingers crossed.
Four days later, we met at the restaurant. Bistrot Les Amis asked for a reasonable corkage and provided excellent service, although I brought my own glasses. Everyone on the staff was intrigued by the 45 year old bottle of Bordeaux and it cemented my reputation as a wine lover at one of my favorite local haunts. We ordered a bottle of Chateau de Fonbel, St. Emilion 2004, a 90 pt wine, just to have some more wine at the table and in case the Baron had flown his last flight long ago. I had the Baron chilled slightly as it was a little warmer than it should be.
I pulled the cork myself. Amazingly, it easily came out in one piece. It was very long. I poured out some wine. It was fully intact! The wine was a ruby red color and when I say ruby red, this is what rubies must really look like. It was gorgeous, fully mature red wine, and it reeked of tobacco. It was full bodied, with a long finish and flavors of chocolate and currants on the palate. It grew and grew as the night progress, easily lasting the full meal and seemingly growing stronger up to the last drops. It was fully alive.
Very well balanced, it surely had seen days of greater fruit concentration. However, it was richly satisfying, and spoke of a style of wine with longevity, gravity, depth and complexity that one will only encounter rarely unless you’re a member of the wine trade. It went perfectly with the food, and it was great to see my friend’s faces as they drank it. It was a great party.
Ahem, the Fonbel. The Chateau Fonbel provided a nice contrast. Not that it provided much else. Next to the Baron, it reminded me of Beaujoulais, of which I’m not a great fan. Extremely light and fruity, with a slight chemical or medicinal flavor that I associate with gamay, I’m sure the wine would have been much better if it wasn’t tasted next to a 45 year old Pauillac. However, it did serve a great purpose by assuring me that I wasn’t simply seduced by the atmosphere and history of the immaculately preserved, mature Bordeaux. The 1962 Pichon Baron was certainly the real deal.