1961 Batailley
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Tasting notes
The 1961 Batailley is a wine that I have tasted three of four times including a spellbinding bottle back in 2007. Nothing has ever quite approached that example, although this bottle made an extremely fine Pauillac in this year. Blackberry, mint and graphite comprise the well-defined nose, bottles displaying varying levels of precision, this one quite good. The palate is medium-bodied with a fine bead of acidity, impressive depth and unapologetically classic in style. Truffle and smoke develop towards the finish that offers plenty of freshness, even if it does not quite possess the length of its peers. One of the better value 1961 Left Bank wines if you find a bottle. Tasted at a private dinner in Bordeaux.
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Average Score
Neal Martin
Neal Martin, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Tasted at the Batailley vertical tasting at the château, the 1961 Batailley can be astonishing if you chance upon a tip-top bottle (cf. my tasting notes back in 2007). This was a good example but not in the same class as that. It commences well on the nose, still fresh and tensile with graphite infusing the black fruit that maybe do not have as much freshness and precision as an impeccable bottle might convey. The palate is medium-bodied with a fresh line of acidity, decayed red berry fruit, a touch of black cherry, cedar and truffle, with smoke toward the finish that is dense and solid. It is a very fine 1961 Left Bank that is probably overlooked, though this example just dipped before the finish line. Tasted April 2016.
About the producer
It was on the site of Batailley in 1453 that one of the final battles (or “batailles”) of the Hundred Years’ War took place. Today owned by the Castéja family, the Fifth Growth is renowned for producing wine that is the epitome of classic Claret.