2009 Lanessan

2009 Lanessan
Big, lifted bouquet of red cherries, floral incense, cinnamon, and loam, quite ripe for this house. This has a silky attack and mouthfeel already, tasting of ripe yet bright cherries with an earthy, woodsy note telltale for this chateau. A refreshing sour flavor kicks in on the finish, keeping this real. The weight of the wine is pretty pitch perfect for my tastes-- it avoids any heaviness, but shows zero dilution and has sneaky extract and intensity from good acids. There’s a distinct touch of alcohol too, but its well integrated and comes across more medicinal like menthol than boozy. Overall, this is excellent in a heady, rich style for Lanessan, quite true to the vintage, yet eschewing the pitfalls modern winemaking. Drinking great already, I’m really digging this. 92-93 pts.

Update. The wine was popped and poured and I wrote the above straight on opening, but with air the exuberant fruit started to hide as the structure came on and the earthier elements increased. Not sure what that means for its evolution, but I enjoyed it more when the fruit was still out to play.

so from your note… still mostly primary?

Yes, quite primary, but like many 2009s, really enjoyable right now.

Simple: the wine is far too young …

Lanessan and “exuberant fruit.” Somewhere, my friend Alfert is weeping.

Ha, I thought of that! The fruit is exuberant, maybe too much for some, but the profile of the fruit – cherry rather than licorice, firm rather than creamy – is still classic. Plus, there were no evident new oak influences at all. I suspect many 1982 and 1990 claret may have shown as flashy when young, and those developed wonderfully even for old school wine palates.

Personally, I think a wine like Lanessan is a strong choice in ripe vintages like 10, 09 and 03. Whereas I wouldn’t seek out lean vintages like 02 and 04.

The 09 brings some welcome relative ripeness to Lanessan and gives it good balance for my tastes. It’s hardly modern tasting though.

I thought the 03 was ok, but they have had many better years.

I liked the 09 a lot too.

LOL. Though I will say, I think 09 is excellent. Lots of red fruits and acid, but really ripe and sweet, but crisp fruit. One of the better young Lanessans in recent memory, for me.

Lanessan is such a good value. When I last had the 99, it continued to improve until day 3.

This is the succinct version of my note, we definitely tasted the same wine.

I am adding with my note that I think this is drinking well now-- sure, it’s young but it’s not shut down and I’m not really sure it will improve (as opposed to change) with more cellar time. And I usually like my Bordeaux mature.

Only had the 2010 among recent vintages, and it was very restrained fruitwise and very promising.

The 2010 is really nice, too, with fruit just starting to peek out. Was hard as nails on release, especially compared to 09, which was and has been so approachable since day one.

Ok Robert you are the expert on Bordeaux. I am rookie.
How would you treat a 66, 78 and 82 great left bank Chateau prior to enjoying it?
I am hosting a bind tasting B-day dinner
But maybe it is not relevant because first we are drinking 10 bottles of Burgundy which of course will be superior

Can anyone recommend any of the Lanessan vintages since 2010?

Dude, calling me an expert would be the equivalent of saying I look like George Clooney and have Amal on my arm, too. Tom Cruise, perhaps, but not Clooney.

So the Burgs are the palate cleansers before you get to the good stuff, right? Ha.

Like I said, I really am not a huge expert, but with Bordeaux of this age, I prefer to allow the decant to happen in the glass, while I am enjoying them, so that I do not lose the moment. That holds particularly true, IMHO, for something like a '66. A solid 1982 can handle decanting, but I’m currently going to pop and pour at this point with Bordeaux that old.

PS. Sounds like you and I view the 2010 Lanessan both the same. I recently grabbed some more after re-trying it.

Thanks Robert
We will let the wines get time in the glas

I see Neal Martin approves of the changes in Lanessan with the 2015 vintage: 2015 Lanessan, Haut-Médoc - SKU 1253138

That kinda of surprises me.

Personally, I passed. But it’s probably better to just pick up a bottle (of whatever year you’re interested in) and try it over a few nights. The estate is widely available and doesn’t move much in price, so its a good one to confirm for oneself if they like it.