1937 Haut Brion

To everyone's surprise, the 1937 Haut-Brion out-performed the 1947, and the soft, fully mature 1962. 1937 has a justifiable reputation for being a hard vintage, but one could see through the austere, still tannin-dominated 1937 Haut-Brion to admire the healthy, dark, dense color with only some amber at the edge. Minerals, tobacco, cedar, and coffee aromas were followed by a muscular, medium-bodied wine with plenty of power and fruit. But the vintage's tell-tale hard tannin was still present. This particular magnum of 1937 Haut-Brion would have lasted another 20-30+ years. I suspect many 1975s are the modern day clones of the 1937 vintage. The notes for this wine are taken from the description of Series IV - Flight D of the 1995 tasting conducted in Munich by Helga and Hardy Rodenstock. Many years after the tasting from which this note derives allegations were made concerning the authenticity of old and rare bottles of wine sold by Hardy Rodenstock to collectors around the world. The matter has been the subject of numerous articles, litigation and at least one book. Mr. Parker believes that the wines served to him at this tasting were authentic so this note and the others from that specific tasting continue to be posted on eRobertParker.com.