Chateau Haut-Brion 1966

Over dinner at Per Se in NYC with Prince Robert of Luxembourg, the grandson of Douglas Dillon, financier and Secretary of the Treasury, and great grandson of Clarence Dillon, also a financier, who bought Chateau Haut-Brion in 1935.

During the evening we enjoyed three superb wines from Domaine Clarence Dillon. First was the Laville Haut-Brion 2005, a white of amazingly rich decadence despite still being a baby. This was followed by a La Mission Haut-Brion 2001, plush and velvety, just beginning to reveal some depth and complexity.

NP and Prince Robert

But the finale was the astounding Haut-Brion from the storied 1966 vintage. On the nose it boasted intense rose-petals and earth, mushroom and truffles and wet leaves, and was still amazingly young and fresh for a wine 43 years old.

We drank it with a dish of fettuccine in a cream sauce covered in a generous portion of shaved winter truffles. Yes, fresh winter truffles. In July. They come from Western Australia and are the real thing.

Red Bordeaux is not normally the first wine people think of to accompany truffles, at least outside the region, but this proved a divine gastronomic combination. As Prince Robert observed in his understated manner: “Yes, the ’66 is drinking very well right now”. I’ll say.