Buying an upper range value Bordeaux from the generous 2009 vintage; what can go wrong?
Drinking the 2009 Chateau Lagrange, I find out. The fruit flavours are concentrated. The wine is dark fruited, with blackberry and mulberry notes. Then it hits you. The wine is very developed already, with overripe and confected fruit. The mouthfeel is rustic, and the tannins coarse. The finish is quite long and the aftertaste actually more pleasant than the taste itself.
This wine is an example of how things can go wrong in Bordeaux when producers try to please the American 'Napa' market. I remember drinking this wine on release. It was fine then, but good Bordeaux should improve for 10 years at least, not deteriorate.
Score: 86/-
2 comments:
Dear Mister Girgensohn,
I have just read your comments on this 2009 and I am thinking that you must have a bottle which has a storage problem. I can't recognize the wine in your description.
I would like to tell you that at Lagrange we have always done our wine to be close to our region and our Terroir. May be you don't know that our wine is presented regularly at the Oenology University of Bordeaux as a pattern of Saint Julien style. Of course 2009 was an exceptional year in Bordeaux but not so warm as most of the people are thinking.
This wine is 73% cabernet sauvignon and 27% merlot with 13,7% vol and one of the key point is the level of acidity which is necessary to age in very good conditions pH = 3.58.
I would be very please to host you at Lagrange next time you will come to Bordeaux to explain you our philosophie and tasting some vintages to give you the right idea of what is Lagrange. May be you don't know that we are very open-minded by organizing several dozen of benchmark horizontal blindtasting at the Chateau... this is to our mind the best way to describe and understand wines from estates.
best regards
Matthieu BORDES
Wine maker & General Manager
Thank you for your comments, Mr Bordes. If you check my blog, you will notice I made positive comments when I tasted your wine after release. I stored the wine at between 12-14 degrees celsius, and the cork was fine. Therefore there was no storage problem while I held the bottle. I cannot rule out heat exposure during transport to Australia. Unfortunately, this was my only bottle, so I cannot make any comparisons. I need to report the tasting as I experience it. I appreciate your comments, and will take up your offer when I am next in Bordeaux. Kind Regards, Thomas Girgensohn
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