I was invited to attend this tasting as a guest. I enjoyed the tasting itself along with learnig from the great experience of the tasters in this group.
Soft wine with a weak mid-palate. Some green pepper and cedar elements precede a quick finish. Served blind. This is definitely a CS-based wine. Given the softness, it seems more like an '85 Bordeaux than an '86. Perhaps something like the 2nd wine of Pichon Lalande '85???
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
This wine was a roller-coaster in the glass. Starts with a slight reductive/raisiny aspect in the nose. But the palate is better and improves still. In the mouth the wine shows decent acids at first, but then the wine just fades out as it sits longer.
Very nice showing. Classic Bordeaux profile. A good solid wine with great weight. The tannin is there, but in the background. Silky smooth wine at the end.
This has a bit of ammonia on the nose. It is a touch bretty/horsey. It has a particularly nice mouthfeel and is the biggest and strongest wine of this flight of 3. Nice wine in a rustic style.
Nice sweet cassis nose. Big wine with solid, well-integrated, fine tannin holding it upright. The wine shows good structure and integration overall. A lovely wine and a success for Beychevelle.
A bit of caramel on the nose. The tannins here are hard and stemmy. There is an old-school rustic grip about this wine. The wine seems a bit out of sorts. Has apple skins on the palate and shows some VA.
Chocolatey, mocha nose. Fully resolved in the mouth, lovely and round, silky at first with some tannin at the end. After a while in the glass the wine starts to clamp down a bit.
This has a hospital nose - slightly medicinal and showing some plastic/Band Aid. However on the palate there is good richness and the wine shows better.
Judgement reserved on this one. This was the hardest, most tannic wine of the night. Borderline impenetrable. I found it impossible to judge. Either this wine will come out the other side and live 50 more years, or this thing will never come into balance. Right now it is hard and beastly. If I owned any I'd look at keeping it very long term or selling it.
My WOTN, this showed more candied aromas/fruit, but far from over the top. Creamy blueberry palate but with excellent acidic lift. A superb wine. Much better than I expected!
A waxy, pineapple and lightly honeyed nose leads into a palate featuring nice botrytis, a heady wine with good sweetness but healthy acids too. Great balance overall. This is my style of Sauternes.
1986 Château La Lagune 84 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
Soft wine with a weak mid-palate. Some green pepper and cedar elements precede a quick finish. Served blind. This is definitely a CS-based wine. Given the softness, it seems more like an '85 Bordeaux than an '86. Perhaps something like the 2nd wine of Pichon Lalande '85???
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue