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French Wine Tasting in Lavandou Restaurant, Washington D.C.
Lavandou Restaurant, Washington D.C.
Tasted February 2, 2010 by PanosKakaviatos with 562 views
Introduction
Ten participants: Ken Barr, Chris Bublitz, Howard Cooper, Beth Cover, George Lewis, Panos Kakaviatos, Randy McFarlane, Kevin Shin, Charles Stewart, David Zimmerman
As usual meeting with the seasoned palates of Washington D.C. begs the question: Why bother to go to France to taste French wine? They have it all. Ok, you have occasional discussions over who likes Bordeaux and who likes Burgundy, and what style is better in each region, but basically we all get along. So it was a real pleasure to kick February 2010 off with excellent Bordeaux this time: four vintages of the super super second Leoville Las Cases, for example (1998, 1996, 1990, 1989).
Howard Cooper, a taster of the Burgundian Persuasion, says LLC falls easily into First Growth quality, and I am not one to disagree, although it can be a tough wine (I mean a good kind of toughness: tough love, if you will) needing much time. A sumptuous Mouton or delicate Margaux or Lafite, it ain’t. It seems to resemble mostly Latour. More Pauillac than St Julien, but most of you know that already, yes?
Charles Stewart noted with some disappointment the “Californian style” of recent Bordeaux, pointing to the difference between a Certan de May 1986 (which he liked more) and a Certan de May 1998 (which he liked less). I thought, wow, the Angelus 1998 is certainly more in that sort of “California” vein: bigger, thicker and with more evident new oak on the palate compared to the Certan de May 1998.
Like Randy, I kind of enjoyed everything. And what was not to enjoy? Each person brought something lovely to the table. Did I mention Kevin Shin’s Lynch Bages 1966?
Flight 1 (2 notes)
White - Sparkling
1997 Pascal Doquet Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut
Now Chris Bublitz found this peaking at best, but I liked a very stone like mineral nose. Some honey on the palate but not sweet, albeit with a bit of oxidation. Certainly mature, but very enjoyable.
White - Sparkling
2002 Bertrand-Delespierre Champagne Premier Cru Brut
A mix of all three Champagne grapes, this has an initially sweeter nose but also a bit more focus on the palate. Certainly more youthful as well, with more fruit as well as tell-tale chalk. Not the deepest Champagne I have had, but very enjoyable. When I tried it again at the end of the dinner, it was very refreshing, but that’s coming after a bunch of reds and their tannins, so it came off more welcoming. WOTF, but close.
Flight 2 (2 notes)
White
2001 Jean Noel Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Maltroie
At first a hint of wet sock but that blew off and this wine turned out lovely with an appealing butterscotch aspect mingling with red apple. A fine texture, well structured and juicy. WOTF
White
1997 Verget Chablis Grand Cru Bougros
It is a pity that this wine was oxidized, because it also exuded fine white pepper aspects and had a nice somewhat waxy texture. But the oxidation is there.
Flight 3 (2 notes)
Red
1966 Château Lynch-Bages
93 points
Well, how many 1966s have I had? Not too many. Branaire Ducru, Trotanoy and now - thanks to Kevin Shin - Lynch Bages. My birth year, so I was hoping that this would be good, and it was. The initial nose is charcoal and subtle notes of cinnamon and pepper later turning to light milk chocolate. Not a very showy wine, but what I liked most was the solid and even substantial palate, which was not monolithic by any means. The volume was there, and as George commented, “this must have been a beast when it was bottled.” Indeed, 1966 is a good vintage but not great vintage in Bordeaux; with lots of tannin. I could sense just a hint of rusticity creeping, but overall, a real pleasure to drink. WOTF.
Red
1970 Château Montrose
Now this wine showed a sweeter nose, but the palate was less interesting than the Lynch Bages, a bit lacking in corpulence and somewhat edgy. I noted that it started to fade in glass later as well, while the Lynch Bages (there was still some left at the end of the dinner just before I had a coffee with Lavandou owner Florence) stayed quite fine over time.
Flight 4 (3 notes)
Red
1986 Château Certan de May
I loved this wine. With creosote, rather smoke-like nose, and very mineral and tertiary, the palate impressed me most with its precision. I did get some red fruit on the palate but what was so pleasing was the texture of the wine, medium bodied and yet filling, with fine lift on the finish. Perhaps it lacks just a bit of complexity, but overall, a lovely wine.
Red
1998 Château Certan de May
For me, not such a marked difference in style, but it is sweeter than the 1986. Floral, too, and of course more youthful. There is plum and spice on the palate, but this is not a thickly laid out wine. Score high on the elegance scale and that is a scale that matters much to me. WOTF, but with such varied styles, it gets more subjective here.
Red
1998 Château Angélus
Ah, modernity. Now, mind you, I am a fan of Angelus, and this is a style that you get from this estate in a great year for Merlot like 1998: thick, broad and rich. And oak derived. But not excessive, I have to say, because methinks their 2000 is a bit over the top and their 1998 more balanced. But it remains Angelus. A style that can shock your palate, especially after tasting the more floral Certan de May. Give it time, adjust to its style, and soon you’ll be seduced by its appealing brandied plum cake aspect.
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Flight 5 (2 notes)
Red
1996 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
95 points
Oh boy. I am a proud owner of just one bottle of this stuff. Just one. Randy brought a bottle of this a couple of years ago for a Lalande vertical at Lavandou and it was the best. I enjoyed it one week before in New York on 22 January at a double vertical blind with Pichon Baron. As winemaking director Thomas Do Chi Nam (who subsequently went to Margaux) said, the 1996 is their star vintage from the 90s and you better believe it is. Complex aromas of charcoal, cherry, cassis - and I mean crystallized focused fruit flavors - beguile your better wine senses. There is a freshness here that keeps you coming back for more. With a somewhat typical orange lift on the finish that I get a lot from Lalande. Happily, the greener tobacco that one can obtain from Lalande remains tobacco and does not veer to the green pepper variety (as in the 1990 or, to some extent, the 2000). This is a great bottle of wine. Almost wine of the night, but wait... there is more! WOTF and second place for WOTN.
Red
1998 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou
The festival continues with what turned out to be a fine Left Bank 1998. I recall a vertical at the chateau and what the 1998 brings is that elegant Ducru style, which so many winos define as the Lafite Rothschild of St. Julien. Indeed. Discrete cherry/strawberry/red apple aromas and flavors highlight the medium bodied palate, all in finesse and even perhaps soft spoken, but like a sweet whisper, the finish lingers nicely.
Flight 6 - Léoville Las Cases Vertical (5 notes)
Red
1998 Château Léoville Las Cases
What a difference with this wine. Much more substantial than the Ducru, much less "St. Julien". We are reminded that here we have a Pauillac imposter . But it is also sweet, in the sense that you get black cherry and cassis as jam like flavors, without the wine itself being jammy. Am I making sense here? Anyway, lots of chutzpah but also very structured. Another fine 1998 from the Left Bank (I am generally not a fan of Left Bank 1998s).
Red
1996 Château Léoville Las Cases
Another single bottle I own, and the first time I recall ever trying this. A great opportunity because this bottle screams: “Do not open me yet!” A very rich and powerful nose - oddly enough like the Angelus in that sense - but the palate is streamlined and muscular, not thick or broad. In a word: closed. Time in glass, revisiting about one hour later, does open it up a tad, and actually allows you to experience the great depth this wine possesses. But, really, do yourself a favor if you own this wine and wait another 8-10 years before popping that cork.
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Red
1989 Château Léoville Las Cases
A more brambly nose, and the palate is nuanced if somewhat austere. Like the 1996, more on the closed side of the when-to-drink-your-wine fence, but already showing notes of leather and pencil shaving along with cassis - an intermediary stage if you will in its (slow) development. The Pichon Comtesse 1989, for example, is far more open and ready for business. So, in a sense, this wine resembles the Pichon Baron 1989 in that it is more foreboding.
Red
1990 Château Léoville Las Cases
WOTN. Oh my goodness. Like Chris Bublitz, I literally cheered over this wine. Sex and sophistication came to mind, with flavors of lead pencil and cassis but warm and very giving without an ounce of flab or flat. Rich, yet complex, this wine has reached that happy apotheosis reserved only for the greatest wines where depth of flavor, purity of expression and solidity of structure create palate pleasure with a long finish. It also stood up to my pepper steak with - oh no! - acid filled roasted tomatoes. Quite easily, the wine of the night!
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White - Sweet/Dessert
2001 Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey
Now this is of course a fantastic vintage from Sauternes and Lafaurie Peyraguey delivers the goods, with crystalline spiced apple and a hint of white caramel and botrytis spice showing. Very rich yet nuanced with clove and chamomile on the palate, finishing with orange spice on its fine finish. Actually, one of the more open 2001s these days it seems (compared to a more closed Raymond Lafon we recently had tried). WOTF
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