Bel-Air Marquis d'Aligre "Den forbudte Margaux", ca. 1845

"The Forbidden Margaux" is extremely rare, mythical Bordeaux and the first - with the exception of a little Latour - to be bottled in today's classic Bordeaux bottle. There are hardly more than a few bottles left (but more empty than full!), So it is coveted by collectors. Was sold without vintage, but is probably 1845 or maybe a few years older! The story is unique:
Bel-Air belonged to the early 1800s marquis Etienne d'Aligre (1770-1847 - photo), who reserved the entire production for private pleasure. In the years 1825-1847 the whole harvest was bottled in a special bottle engraved "MARGAUX BEL-AIR MARQUIS D'ALIGRE" on the front and the words "Défendu den Laisser" (Forbidden to Leave It "on the back - hence the name" The Forbidden Margaux ". bottled without vintage and without label.After his death, the tradition continued for most of the harvest, only the nephew used his own name: "BEL-AIR MARQUIS de POMMEREAU", the last bottle "Margaux Defendu" was bottled in 1889.
However, some of the wine did not get drunk. The Marquis's private cellar was sold to 2 neighbors and after the death of one, the wine was sold to 2 restaurateurs in Paris - it was here that the term "The Forbidden Margaux" first appeared.
The wine enjoyed great reputation -to some extent because few were allowed to taste it. The director of the domain Boutet came in 1847 to Latour and in 1855 to Margaux. Still, Bel-Air did not rank among the 60 castles in the Cru Classé, although contemporary sources put the wine extremely high. The reason was that the wine was not sold on the open market. This did not happen until 1880, when the wine - now with vintage! - was sold at 1900 ff per tonneau. In the same year, the Mouton was sold for 1800.
This particular bottle was a gift to my dad in 1983 and I inherited it from him in 1998. We were told that the wine must be from around 1845. The bottle is nice and has been stored more than perfectly.
Offers accepted!
References, i.a.
http://www.academiedesvinsanciens.org/bel-air-marquis-daligre-defendu-den-laisser/
https://www.abcduvin.com/index.php/term/,6c53ad9f5fa7aa706e53adb1aaaa.xhtml
About Marquis d'Aligre: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89tienne_Jean_Fran%C3%A7ois_d%27Aligre