2008 Château Lagrange
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Tasting notes
Campfire, charcoal and sweet brioche notes, blackcurrant pasille, still plenty of tannins at 14 years old, with structure and architecture, mint leaf and bitter chocolate as it unrolls. It holds its nerve from start to finish, offering unwavering flavours and excellent persistency. Good quality, ready to drink but no need to hurry. An important year for Lagrange, where the new vat house had double the capacity of the previous one. Although not entirely finished until 2010, the technical parts were ready for the 2008 harvest, allowing for far more precise plot by plot picking, with 102 vats in the cellar for 103 plots in the vineyard, eliminating the need for a 3rd wine. A beautiful late harvest vintage also (after a cool summer), with picking beginning on October 6 through October 23. 40% of production went into the 1st wine, 60% new oak for ageing.
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
The 2008 Lagrange was picked from 6 to 22 October. It has an intense bouquet with blackberry, bilberry and damp earth aromas that are nicely delineated. The palate is detailed and less stocky than I noticed on a bottle a couple of years ago, perhaps finally managing to muster the grace and elegance that I was looking for. The tannins feel fine and there is impressive precision on the tobacco-infused finish. Excellent. Tasted at the Lagrange vertical at the estate.
Tasted blind. Dark crimson. Perfumed and polished on the nose. Very luscious and winning with some fine tannin underneath. Real energy here. A real standout performance by this property. (JR)
Liquorice, aniseed and rhubarb on the nose with some red bramble fruit too – this has easy, open complexity with really fine texture and lovely long fragrance on the finish. A star performer. (RH)