(Wednesday, October 14, 2015) — Wine has been made on the hallowed soil that is now Château Lafite since at least the thirteenth century. The “most celebrated of them all” has been famous beyond its own region and country since at least the seventeenth century. The 1855 Bordeaux classification placed Lafite at the top of the pecking order, and the Rothschilds paid a princely (or bankerly) sum to buy the estate at auction in 1868. They’ve now been crafting what Hugh Johnson calls “wine for intelligent millionaires” for well over two centuries with “an uncanny resemblance between wines made even a century and a half apart.” We missed out on that tasting, a random selection of 36 vintages going back to 1799, but Winetasters has assembled a tasting of Lafites that spans four decades of vintages rated from good to great, and our evening includes the perfection of the magnificent 1990 vintage.

[Register now online. | Register now by mail.]

What can we expect to taste when we sip a Lafite? Let’s ask the experts:

“Its flavour and bouquet are considered so grand
and sublime as to afford a symposium of all other wines.”

 P. Morton Shand, Book of French Wines

“Despite its tremendous complexity in aroma and taste, all the components – the colour, the fruit, the body – fit perfectly with each other as if carefully selected piece by piece by a couturier…Lafite represents the very best that wine can be. It is not so much a name as a concept. And certainly not only for the lucky few who have drunk this wine but also for the countless people who hope one day to drink it – a bottle, a glass, a sip, perhaps more, at least once in their lives.”

Hubrecht Duijker, The Great Wine Châteaux of Bordeaux

Do you count yourself among those countless people? To savour the pleasures of this event you do not need to be a Texas oil baron, a rock star, a tech start-up whiz kid, or a prince or princess. However, if those glowing paeans to Lafite struck you as a little vague, a tad light on specifics, you can join us in October to fill in the blanks. We will taste the 1966, 1971, 1978 (from magnums), 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994 and 1995. Oh yes, and there will be a Mystery Wine.

As always with our tastings, this event will be strictly non-smoking, and we request your cooperation in not wearing any scented after-shave or perfume. Please don’t drink & drive.

Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2015 North York Memorial Community Hall
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Where: 5110 Yonge St. (under library) North York Centre Subway
Limit: 132 people

Cancellations accepted up to Friday, October 9, 2015 — David Hutchison (416-690-0281 evenings)..No reservations by phone, please. First come first served basis. Non-members may attend at guest rates, but preference will be given to members.

• Register now online.
• Register now by mail.