Community Tasting Note

Andrew S-L Likes this wine:

Sunday, December 3, 2023 - An elegant, dark, paradoxically approachable yet slightly diffident wine, drunk at a 5-person lunch from magnum (alongside a 2003 Leoville Barton). It’s not like I drink first growth Bordeaux regularly so I didn’t have much of a reference point but despite its obvious class and balance the Lafite didn’t strike me as a truly profound, pinnacle wine, at least not yet. I was surprised by 1) how fine the tannins were at this stage and 2) its fullness of body considering the modest abv. Selfishly I am pleased that the person who hosted the lunch brought it along but, relative approachability aside, I think this wine deserves to be left to develop. My 94 points reflects my enjoyment on the day rather than any true skill in assessing how a high-end Bordeaux may develop over the next decade (skills I won’t pretend to have!). However, I like to think this wine is only just beginning a journey that will result in it delivering something more memorable in the future. (Incidentally the table thought that in no way was the ‘03 Leoville Barton overshadowed by this, its more illustrious cousin. The LB may be less beguiling and less sophisticated than the Lafite but it made up for it by being in a truly great spot in terms of its evolution and, therefore, being no less enjoyable. On the day I’d say the wines were on a par in terms of enjoyment).

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