Thursday, November 01, 2007

Chateau Lagrange Vertical 1990-2004


[An oldie, but a goodie, more to come and more recent at that!]

With the 2004 Bordeaux still in barrel, We attended a combined vertical tasting of St. Julien third growth Chat
eau Lagrange and Margaux third growth Chateau D’Issan. The tasting was led by director and winemaker at Chateau Lagrange, Marcel Ducasse, and owner and winemaker at Chateau D’Issan, Emmanuel Cruse. Although we tasted the chateau’s wines side by side, we believe it is more useful to discuss the wines separately so that we can paint a better picture of the style of the chateaus overall. In this first installment, we will discuss the wines of Chateau Lagrange.

The ‘04 barrel sample of Lagrange was on the docket, followed by a line-up of the Grand Vin dating back to 1990 — with a 2001 Les Fiefs, the domain’s second wine, thrown in. As the wines were being poured, Ducasse amused the crowd by announcing that Michel Rolland was not consulting on his wines, making it clear that this is now one of the ways to distinguish your wine in Bordeaux versus the other way around.


Ducasse was hired by Chateau Lagrange owner, the Japanese conglomerate, Suntory, shortly after they took over the domain in 1983. Most of the credit for restoring the chateau and vastly improving the quality of the wine goes to Ducasse, with the help of the seemingly bottomless pockets of Suntory. Having never tasted any vintages of Lagrange prior to 1983, it would be difficult to compare. However, given the nearly universal disapproval of the wines prior to Ducasse it is probably safe to say that the wines are much better and more consistent since his arrival.


What we were looking for in the wines first and foremost was balance, which is what is said to drive Ducasse. Indeed the balance stood out in these wines, as did a velvety texture and clean fruit. In fact, clean fruit made it into nearly every note we took on the wines, including the 2001 Les Fiefs de Lagrange. The wines hint at that relatively fruity and wonderfully fragrant St. Julien style. We found that the younger wines derived a good deal of their personality from the barrel, with toast, chocolate and coffee in the foreground and dark fruit slightly behind. The wines are rich and round, with a power that remains judicious rather than overblown. Depending on the style of wine you prefer, you can drink Lagrange young (think toasty, velvety chocolate and berry) or wait a few years (turning to silky and earthy, with more spice and mint.)


Ducasse added Petit Verdot to the blend starting in 1990. He has been using it ever since and has been known to add upwards of 15% in some vintages as long as the balance is kept in check. As 1990 was the oldest vintage presented in this particular tasting, we can’t say whether or not the grape made a dramatic difference in the blend. We can say, however, that we detected the spice and pepper typically associated with Petit Verdot in these wines.


Overall, the tasting cemented Chateau Lagrange’s place as a worthy third growth in our minds — one that is consistent and merits watching year in and year out. If balance is the true sign of a wine’s quality (and we tend to think that it is) then Chateau Lagrange should not be overlooked by fans of rich, well structured Bordeaux, especially at its price point.


Wines Reviewed:

Vintage

Winery

Wine Name

Region

Current Grade

Peak Grade

Price

2004

Chateau Lagrange

Grand Vin

Bordeaux

NR

A

$30

2003

Chateau Lagrange

Grand Vin

Bordeaux

B+

A

$35

2000

Chateau Lagrange

Grand Vin

Bordeaux

A

A

$60

1996

Chateau Lagrange

Grand Vin

Bordeaux

A

A

$60

1990

Chateau Lagrange

Grand Vin

Bordeaux

A

A

$125

2001

Chateau Lagrange

Les Fiefs de Lagrange

Bordeaux

B+

B+

$26

No comments:

Post a Comment