Expressive nose displaying succulent yellow fruit, lemon curd, baked apple, a hint of smoke, light mushroom broth, spicy spices and crushed rock. There is no noticeable Coche matchstick. Exceptional concentration, layers upon layers of succulent yellow fruit, dense and oily, but also very precise and focused, piecing acidity, strong mineral, and a long concentrated dense yellow fruit driven finish with mineral at the end. The concentration, precision and balance are remarkable. Perhaps not the most complex wine, but hedonistic and expressive.

Beautiful dark salmon with a hint of yellow. Gorgeous nose displaying decadent yet delicate red fruit with a hint of yellow, raspberry sorbet, fresh strawberry, rose, honey, smoke, light caramel, sweet spices and limestone. Excellent concentration, finely layered sweet red fruit, generous very fine mousse, opulent yet pure, precise and airy, perfect amount of acidity, strong limestone mineral, and a seamless long decadent yet delicate red fruit driven finish with smoke and rose at the end. I always like DP Rose as it combines the delicate expression of Krug with the generous red fruit of the CDC. This particular bottle is incredibly delicious.

Incredibly energetic nose displaying pure white fruit, pear, apple, white peach, honeysuckle, smoke, beeswax, spicy spices and mineral. Excellent concentration, layers upon layers of pure fresh white fruit, incredible energy, focus and precision, bright acidity, strong limestone mineral, and a long pure white fruit driven finish with honeysuckle and mineral at the end. Obviously youthful but drinking incredibly well. This is almost identical to the 19 Pucelles. Exceptional showing!

Already showing golden color which is worrisome. There is too much caramel already, feels a bit too advanced. Caveat Emptor!

RJ wants to open a red and we asked for a Cabernet based wine. The first impression is a Burgundy but RJ says no. Now Jedi mind trick, the fruit is subdued and red, and there is a noticeable cedar, perhaps a 70s Cab or Bordeaux. Justin thinks a right bank Bordeaux which is an excellent guess as there is no Cabernet expression. It is difficult to make an educated guess as RJ doesn’t have the 70’s wine. It is the 97 DRC GE. Despite being a label whore, this is a letdown. Some red fruit, a hint of stem, strong cedar, smoke, mushroom. a bit of sous bois and earth. Medium concentration, subtle red fruit, slightly lean, medium acidity, earthy mineral, and a medium long subtle red fruit driven finish. Really disappointing but showing RJ’s never-ending generosity.

This is the first Lafon from the post 2008 period that is premoxed.

Expressive nose displaying generous opulent yellow fruit with a hint of white, apple, baked apple, pear, lemon curd, honey, sweet spices and limestone. Excellent concentration, layers upon layers of concentrated yellow fruit with a hint of white, rich and generous but also precise and focused, perfect amount of acidity and limestone mineral, and a long opulent yellow fruit driven finish with honey at the end. The 14 may be the best white vintage going back to the 90, i.e. the 92s were great but very exotic and the 96s were often premixed. This is the best Lafon Clos de la Barre I have had.