Community Tasting Note

Julian Marshall Likes this wine:

Sunday, June 4, 2023 - Back in 2011, a certain Robert Parker wrote this about Ferrière 2008:

“Hard, angular, masculine, lean and austere, this is a wine for masochists to consume over the next 6-10 years.”
That was it - quite a useful note - oh and he gave it 83 points.

Well, it gave me a good laugh as I sipped it last night, two years after the end of the “drinking window”. My youngest daughter just looked at me in astonishment and said - masculine? Yuk! Why did he use to be famous?

Anyway, to the wine:

The nose is beguilingly spectacular, a bouquet of red fruit aromas that fill the room - wild strawberries dominate, with red cherries, redcurrants, roses, ripe raspberries and a touch of vanilla. Just writing about it now makes my mouth water, it was that good. In the mouth, it’s very similar - crushed strawberries at first, then red cherries, with a blend midpalate of damson plums and rosehip syrup, moving to the finale where a little blackberry joins a wave of dusty raspberry.

The mouthfeel is soft and juicy, very moreish indeed, with just enough grip to ensure a good future, but as usual with Ferrière, the really dominant characteristic is the wine’s elegance and finesse. Classically made, with perfect balance and precision, nothing excessive nor vulgar. This is what I look for in a Margaux. They don’t taste exactly the same, but there is definitely a resemblance to Clos du Jaugueyron and Bel Air Marquis d’Aligre.

So has Ferrière suddenly “become good”?! Judging by how the recent vintages are greeted by the cognoscenti today, you would think so, but like so many other older vintages that were panned by critics, the 2008 is just an older, more mature version of the recent ones. I’ve tasted the 2016 and the 2019 - they’re both very good, but not significantly better than the 2008. It isn’t the wine that has changed, it’s just that the wheel has turned.

Back in 2011, RMP gave Lascombes 2008 a score of 93 points and recommended buying it by the case. Each to their own.

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