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Wine Description
The Story
At the heart of the great terroirs of the Sauternes region, Lafaurie-Peyraguey’s vineyard is located on the terrace of Sauternes gravel, 70 metres above sea level, just next to Château d’Yquem. The “Enclos” and “Maisons Rouges” plots represent the historic heart of Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey’s magnificent terroir, consisting of gravel from the Quaternary era which was deposited here more than 600,000 years ago, on a substratum of Aquitania limestone.
Silvio Denz’s objective is to produce very fine wines from the best terroirs. Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey will be made from the vines of the great historic 1855 terroirs in order to enhance its quality.
Harvesting: manual with successive rounds of highly selective picking (4 to 7, depending on the year) during the ripening period, in order to preserve the desired aromatic precision
Environmental integrity: sustainable viticulture, no chemical herbicides
Vinification: in fine-grained French oak barrels, with 40 to 70% new oak barrels each year depending on the vintage. Fermentation at between 17°C and 23°C in the air-conditioned, humidity-controlled winery, for 18 to 30 days depending on the batch
Ageing: in French oak barrels, with 40 to 70% new oak barrels depending on the vintage, for 18 to 20 months
Average production: 40000 bottles
Second wine: La Chapelle de Lafaurie-Peyraguey
Vintage 1966
1966 was an exceptional year in Bordeaux for very classic and delicate wines. However, the year started off as anything but promising. The main rainfall that began in late June continued into July, but the hot start to August dried out the soil and the weather gradually improved towards autumn, until it is almost perfect for harvest.
These wines share a truly classic, graceful and high quality character so typical of Bordeaux wines, making them elegant and balanced. Today, many of them are still good. If carefully stored, many of the best wines can still mature, but the following rule of thumb should be observed: drink them or sell them immediately. In our opinion, this is one of the finest vintages you can buy today. Almost all AOC wines are still in excellent condition, and the best examples, such as Palmer, Latour, Haut-Brion, Lafleur and Pétrus, are excellent. There is a wide selection of well-priced first, second and third growth wines on the market. For example, Cos d’Estournel, Calon-Ségur and Lynch-Bages offer exceptional value for money. As a general rule, decanting for one hour is sufficient.
The price development of this vintage no longer shows any significant upward movement – the price increase over the last ten years has been around 55%. Rising prices will continue as the best wines mature, perhaps until 2020, when any surviving wines should be removed from the cellar and sold or drunk immediately.