For anybody celebrating a 60th birthday or anniversary in 2024, we advise looking away from France’s classic wine regions to other places where the 1964 wines are (we think) better value…
Arden Fine Wines’ Mayfair landlord is the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce. We like to do our bit for Arab-British trade with offers of the great Lebanese wine Chateau Musar.
The late Serge Hochar, who was winemaker at Musar for 55 years, said that “’64 was my wild wine…”
It was the first Musar vintage to use a little bit of added sulphur to keep it stable in transit and during cellaring.
(SO2 is added to all wines except so-called “natural” wines. SO2 will not poison you – though it is often overused in cheap wines [to keep them “fresh”] and might give you a headache… 🤕)
The remarkable 1964 Chateau Musar is still going as strong as ever.
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Chateau Musar 1964£960.00
The Iberian Peninsula also had a good year in 1964.
There was no Vintage Port, though Colheitas (single-vintage Tawny Port) are available and well worth a look.
The 1964 Rioja vintage was classed as “Excelente” by the Consejo Regulador Denominación Origen Calificada Rioja.
CVNE Imperial Gran Reserva is a fine example of this excellent Rioja vintage. Imperial is a red wine that has always been designed and built to last and to improve – and it goes well with fish (sic).
Some years ago I dined at Kaia Kaipe in Getaria, a fishing village 30 miles or so west of San Sebastián.
The main course was turbot, cooked on the barbecue downstairs and seasoned with oil, Txakoli (the local white wine), and garlic.
White wine is the obvious choice to accompany these fish dishes but the local preference is for mellow old Rioja –like 1964 CVNE Imperial Gran Reserva.
Highly recommended 😋.