2008 Château Léoville Las Cases - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (4/28/2013)
Tasted from 2 bottles served at a neighbour’s dinner party. Bottles had been uncorked and left to breathe for ca. 5 hours before serving. I was wary of this at first, assuming that it would be as tough as nails, so I stuck to white wine for the first course. How wrong I was. This was sensational. Dark, crimson colour. Nose showing precise black fruits. Silky, dark fruited palate of blackberries and cedar but with great energy. Indeed, the kind of energy that I normally associate with red burgs given their acidity. I can’t recall a claret with this kind of Burgundian, precise, energetic palate. The tannins were clearly there but were extremely smooth.
At £500/case IB, this would be a great buy. Of course, it’s double that so my note is purely academic, at least in terms of any purchasing interest I might have had!
Posted from CellarTracker
I went pretty long on 08 Bordeaux but this is the first one I’ve tried. If this acidic energy on the palate is a part of the wider vintage profile then I’ll be very happy indeed. Have others noticed anything similar?
Im just getting into trying bordeaux wines and came across the 2008 leoville Barton for $52 and the 08 Lynch Bages for $63 at the local shop. Are these wines approcachable now? Price seemed good for a good vintage compared to those of a great vintage. So far i have recently tried an 06 Fleu Cardinale which i drank over several hours, while enjoyable, not much fruit there. Same story for a 2000 Clos du Marquis. I also grabed some late 80’s to try but havent got there yet, i know its a different style then cali cab and that the wines i tried are value wines but still figuring out if i like bordeaux.
Phil…I suspect that neither are approachable now in terms of their optimal drinking window (for my palate), but I do think trying one now might give you some peak into what they will become. I feel that both Leoville Barton and Lynch Bages are classic backward Bordeaux producers and even in “off” vintages will benefit with time in the bottle. But saying that…I have not had their 08’s.
There are some attractive prices out there for 08’s. I’d buy those if you can. For comparison, a good price is about $125 and $199 respectively on the 2009’s.
I bought and like some '08s. Some decent drinkers there. Not many “wow” wines though.
For gaining an impression of Bordeaux, I think you are better served getting some friends together to have a few tastings that everyone pitches in for, to buy some more mature wines from a riper vintage, say like 2000, 2003 or 1990. Some modest '09s are showing pretty well, too, given the ripeness of the vintage. First impressions are big, so trying to see if you like Bordeaux from a young and just above average vintage is tough, IMHO. I cut my teeth on '89 and '90 and never looked back!
Guys,
Thanks for all the input. i have begun to gather wines like leoville barton, lynch bages, and pavie from 1988, 1989, 1996, 00, 02, 03, and 04. I like the idea of a tasting and will most likely give it a try with some friends, maybe ill sneak in one of the 08’s just to compare.