La Lagune 2009

It is not unusual that the 2009 La Lagune is a spectacular effort given the fact that this estate has been making terrific wines over the last decade or more. It boasts a dense purple color as well as a beautiful perfume of blueberries, mulberries, cassis, white chocolate and subtle toasty oak. Notes of Chinese black tea, cedarwood and forest floor also make an appearance in the singular aromatic and flavor profiles. This sumptuous, full-bodied La Lagune possesses low acidity, abundant but ripe, sweet tannin and a long, 45-second finish. Give this beauty 5-7 years of bottle age and drink it over the following three decades.

Tasted at the Medoc UGC. A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 15% Petit Verdot, picked from 18th September (young Merlot vines) until 8th October. The La Lagune has a limpid purple/black colour. The nose is very tight at first, unfurling nicely with aeration to reveal succulent blackberry, bilberry, a fleeting scent of estuary mudflats that segues into more vanillary aromas from the oak. The palate hits all the right buttons: superbly balanced with fine but sturdy tannins, great clarity and focus, the minerality and sense of tension brimming over the finish. Good length. This is an assured, confident La Lagune that will be an absolute pleasure after bottling. Tasted March 2010.

Floral and precise fruit, with blackberry-skin character and mineral undertones. Full-bodied, with superfine tannins and a fresh, clean finish. Long and tight. Racy. Lovely texture. 60 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 25 percent Merlot and 15 percent Petit Verdot. This property is really on a roll now, delivering racy and structured reds; it gives much more freshness and character to the wine.

Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2009 la Lagune opens with a an earthy, Band-Aid and menthol-laced nose with a core of crème de cassis, plum preserves and Provence herbs plus a waft of tree bark. Medium to full-bodied, firm and chewy, with a pleasant earth-laced palate, it has appealing layers and harmony, if it tails off just a little rustic. 2019 - 2029

The greater power and intensity that comes from the 2009 vintage is hugely seductive, lending an extra dimension to a wine that feels similar in shape and feel to the brilliant 2005. Again, it's the brambly blackberry fruits that are so striking, and the unfussy way that it builds through the palate and hangs on. A yield of 45hl/ha. 50% new oak. Drink 2020-2040.

Tasted blind. Blackish-purplish crimson. Heady with a hint of sweet oak. Proper savoury left-bank claret with an overlay of the ripeness of the vintage. This tastes almost like Pichon Lalande! Very well made. Long. Drink 2020-2030.

A popular classed growth situated south of Margaux near Cantemerle. The new owners have invested a great deal of money here in recent years and recently bought Paul Jaboulet Ainé in Hermitage. Not tasted.

The nose is lovely with the fragrance of violets and wood smoke. Black fruits abound, the layers of flavour giving complexity, the ripeness of the tannins ensuring that the mid palate is lush. There is enough structure and bilberry freshness to support the fruit and the depth of flavour enriches the finish. Drink 2020-2040.

The classic southern Médoc elegance of La Lagune is beautifully apparent on the nose and palate here. This is a very complete wine that tastes remarkably polished at such a young age. Well balanced, sensitively oaked and supple, with impressive poise and length. 10+ years.

Purple red, lovely Cabernet cassis nose, already pure and quite forward, silky texture with savoury, almost lush fruit that really enrobes the tannins, fresh and harmonious and will evolve beautifully. Drink 2014-24.