1996 Les Fiefs de Lagrange
Community Tasting Note
Bordeaux_Jon Likes this wine:
Saturday, April 30, 2016 - I'm evaluating this wine to serve at my wedding. I have mixed feelings. The nose is really nice with a good amount of fruit despite the 20 years, along with some oak notes, foresty aspects, and maybe some cigar. It doesn't have the definition of the best of St. Julien but the nose was nonetheless impressive for a second wine and $30.
The palate was not as promising as I'd hoped. I felt that the wine was not particularly complex and a bit thin and disjointed. Still more concerning is that it is a bit overly acidic, which seems to be a potential issue with the underripe 1996 vintage. It's definitely drinkable but I worry if those with California palates might not find this enjoyable. I bet food would help with this wine. Rated 91.
Interestingly, I took the rest of this bottle to a blind tasting on 6/22/2016 with Cabernet and Merlot from 1996 from around the world, with a Caymus, Cantemerle and 4 Duckhorns. I could not pick it out in the tasting, but ranked it 4th out of 9 and 93 points. Others like it a quite a bit less and ranked it 8th.
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2 comments have been posted
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Comment posted by DavidWong168:
8/31/2016 11:42:00 AM - Interesting. How was the bottle stored between 4/30 and 6/22?
Comment posted by Bordeaux_Jon:
9/14/2016 7:46:00 PM - I stored the bottle horizontally in my 55F home wine cooler. Nothing particularly special. I do feel like the Coravin wines sometimes evolve a bit in bottle, but for the Bordeaux wines, it almost always seems to be an improvement.