TN: 1996 Ch. Lagrange, Saint-Julien

TN: 1996 Chateau Lagrange, Saint-Julien

Dare I say it. I will. This wine, at least my bottle, has entered a good drinking phase. It turned my at-home lunch of a supermarket-bought 3-inch ribeye from my expected Engelbert Humperdinck to steak a-la-Tom Jones! I think I’ll be happy drinking my remaining stashed bottles over the next 10 to 25 years. A-

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Thanks for sharing. Love to hear about everyday Bordeaux over performing.

3rd Growth are “everyday” Bordeaux? For me, it’s more like “Bordeaux Superior”!

I had this a few weeks ago, and it was incredible. Definitely an over performer, really nice now and for a long time to come.

Sometimes there seems to be not enough insight …

Lagrange (St.Julien) is well performing on the level of a real 3rd growth (if not better) since the 1986 vintage … fortunately the price hasn´t (quite) made the same developement …

Dude, Carlos is Puerto Rican royalty! He drinks Cheval Blanc for lunch. I don’t even own a Lagrange, can’t say it’s really over-performed for me.

Great news, Ramon.

That bottle of the 1996 Lagrange we shared back in 2008 was so impressive – holding its own against heavy hitters like the 1996 LLC – but bottles tried from 2008-2014 always disappointed. It came across light and weedy.

Then I had a bottle in February 2016, which showed this might be coming back to life:
Just like in 2014, this takes until day 2 to hit its stride. At this point, it showcases classy, sweet cabernet fruit with distinct notes of smoky poblano pepper, mint, and incipient cedar. Beautiful bouquet. Only medium bodied with excellent brightness and grip, the tannins could use a few more years to soften out. This was a bit disappointing on day 1, overly weedy and thin, but day 2 shows what this beautiful northern Medoc wine can do in a strong year. 92-93 pts

Sounds like it has only improved since then, glad I have a few more.

Sorry, I didn´t know I was writing with the upper 10.000s …
neener

Nevertheless, Lagrange is IMHO among the 20 best left-bankers (since 1986) …
I certainly don´t have enough to drink it “everyday” …
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That would be Carlos, I was suggesting I’m too poor for that stuff! I will circle back to try some, it just fell off my radar for top-quality, classic, left bank Bordeaux. Recommended vintage to try?

The 1990 Lagrange is the best I’ve ever had – near great in my opinion and still going strong. I don’t think the '96 will ever get to where the '90 presently is. I was glad to see this updated note on the 1996 because the '96 bottles I have tried (the last in 2013) were herbal, green and very young/tannic which I have been hoping would round out and improve with time. Sounds like they finally have.

It’s very interesting to read these notes. I had a half case. Five bottles between 2005 and 2011 were either very or somewhat disappointing – the tannins a bit too hard, and not enough charm. My last bottle, drunk in late 2014, was better. Guess I should have waited!

The only plus side of having an offsite/remote storage that charges a lot for any inventory pick and delivery … I get to buy and leave my wines for a long time. In this case these 96 Lagrange were purchased at about release stage and, iirc, this is the first that I dipped into the stash.