1978 La Lagune

[Blanquito]

Along with the 82 and 85, this has long been one of my favorite vintages of an otherwise overrated, washed out, shadow-of-its-former-self chateau, La Lagune. And the ‘78 used to be seriously cheap for the quality not all that long ago, so I loaded up.

Tonight, I enjoy my penultimate bottle to usher in the baby New Year, and what a terrific way to start 2023.

At first, the best part of this wine is the nose, which jumps from the glass from the word go with fresh, zesty scents and lots of pleasant barnyard, mint, sweet scents of vanilla, and red berries. The palate can’t run with the aromas initially, but with food and a little air, the palate comes on strong, showing graphite, tart cranberries, sour orange, notes of cinnamon and clove, and leather with smooth, long-steeped black-tea tannins on the finish. This is leaner than it used to be 6-7 years ago, but terrific now for all its freshness and zest. I am seriously digging the cool menthol vigor here, letting it be at the same time both light and intense, and leaving a long cooling finish.

This sort of bottle is hard to rate, as it scores highly for its complex maturity and individuality above and beyond its stuffing, and it gets bonus points for coming from an increasingly vanished style, but if forced to reduce an experience to a number, I’d happily go to 94 pts for this, which is a very high score in my rubric.

[Comte Flaneur]

The 1978 La Lagune and the 1970 Cantemerle were the first two Bordeaux wines I acquired in the late 1980s. At the time I thought they were ancient. Upon opening both were surly tannic wines. Good to see the 1978 La Lagune still going strong - even though this vastly over-rated estate is churning out industrial quantities of pig’s swill these days.I still have one bottle of the 1975 and 1976.

[stefan]

Yes, if you bought older vintages of La Lagune at release and stored them properly, they can be very good. Those bought at current auctions are almost guaranteed to be swill. My theory is that people are careless storing a wine that carries the humble Haut-Medoc appellation.

[Nicklasss]

Nice note blanquito.

The 1978 red wines from Bordeaux I had, have been all good to me: from memory, Léoville Barton, Ducru Beaucaillou, Haut Brion.

The 1976 La Lagune that Comte Flaneur gave me, and that i opened shortly after being back to Canada, was gorgeous. Better than the 1976 Magdelaine that same Comte Flaneur gave me, to enjoy for MC’s birthday while in London… but the Magdelaine showed very well also.

[AKR]

Thank you for the update on this. Been a long time since this has crossed my lips. I would be skeptical of purchasing this on a backfill basis now though.

[Blanquito]

Thank you for the update on this. Been a long time since this has crossed my lips. I would be skeptical of purchasing this on a backfill basis now though.

Yes, I doubt I would buy anymore either, unless I came across bottles with fills into the neck (my bottle was baseneck or just below). This wine seems fully tertiary now.

Or just see Stefan’s sage advice on the futility of backfilling La Lagune.

[Blanquito]

Nice note blanquito.

The 1978 red wines from Bordeaux I had, have been all good to me: from memory, Léoville Barton, Ducru Beaucaillou, Haut Brion.

The 1976 La Lagune that Comte Flaneur gave me, and that i opened shortly after being back to Canada, was gorgeous. Better than the 1976 Magdelaine that same Comte Flaneur gave me, to enjoy for MC’s birthday while in London… but the Magdelaine showed very well also.

I haven’t had many ‘78 Bordeaux, but I’ve liked them all as far as I recall: Domaine de Chevalier (killer), GPL, Lagune, Haut Brion (magic stuff), Pichon Lalande, Beychevelle, even Lascombes made a tasty long-lived wine in ‘78.

[Racer Chris]

and don't forget '78 Palmer

[JimHow]

I once had a '78 Ducru that was as corked as I've ever seen a wine, which causes me to wonder whether the Ducru taint problems existed long before the 1988-90 period.

[Racer Chris]

‘78 seems to be a good vintage at all levels.
This bottle is drinking very well, 2 1/2 hours after decanting.

[Blanquito]

I read somewhere, probably from the man himself, that Parker made a fuss about the 78 vintage as the best in a good while. But that was when he was still a nobody. The wines turned out well, but I’m not sure it’s better than 79, and I generally prefer 70>78. 71 made a number of sleepers too, but they’re impossible to find now.

[Comte Flaneur]

I once had a '78 Ducru that was as corked as I've ever seen a wine, which causes me to wonder whether the Ducru taint problems existed long before the 1988-90 period.

Me too Jim. I bought a batch of six 1978 Ducru a few years ago, at least three of them were corked. I now steer clear of anything from this estate from the 1980s - and 1990.

[stefan]

I also have had corked Ducru from both 1975 and 1978. Good bottles of Ducru from both vintages have fantastic bouquets.