Wine of the Week
FiRsr-GROWTH clarets don't come. my way with monotonous frequency, but last week I was entertained to no fewer than four of them—a 1952 Château Margaux and a 1953 Haut Brion at a dinner given by the head of Lebegue, the shippers and, at a luncheon at Hatch Mansfields, three interesting years of Haut Brion: 1918, 1948 and (again) 1953. What stood out was the excellence of the 1948—a year long overshad- owed by the greater fame of the 1947s and 1949s, but now coming into its own. A 1948 Château Talbot at a friend's dinner table at the week- end showed that the other crus classes of the Mddoc are as distinguished as the first growths: he spoke warmly of the Brane-Cantenac and the Palmer of the same year, and of Ldoville-Barton as perhaps the best of them all. So this' is my year, so to speak, of the week : not many English firms shipped it, but Avery's of Bristol may still have some left, and so may a knowledgeable restaurant or so: amateurs lucky enough to have some in their private cellars should be patting themselves on the back for their forethought— and on their fronts in appreciation.
C. R.
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