Lafleur 79 - lost its mojo unfortunately

[Comte Flaneur]

For my birthday back in Blighty I popped my only bottle of Lafleur 1979, which seemed appropriate aged 30.

The cork was a disaster but the wine wasn't corked

The colour was a healthy deep opaque maroon; shy on nose; tertiary with clay and earthy notes, tart and bitter chocolate, meaty notes, some faint wood and tobacco; did not improve after many hours...the fruit has pretty much faded out, leaving a wine which is going down a blind alley to nowhere. No real pleasure...oh well...I think this wine was deemed to be wine on the vintage...well not on this showing. Oh well...hey ho...I had this wine in my cellar for close to 20 years and it may have been flawed...but I dont think it was really...this wine is just drifting off into oblivion.

Also that night we had:

La Lagune, 1988

This was a wine that I desperately wanted to love...but it was a mean-spirited curmudgeon. It had some alluring sweaty saddle leather and beefy notes, while strong notes of asparagas permeated the palate, which was lean but not short. The greeness of this wine became more attenuated over time. A really austere wines for people who like to sit naked in the snow and beat themselves with a birch.

Comtes Lafon Meursault Clos De Barre, 1993

This was the best white burgundy I have had in a while; full n buttery, multi-layered; lemon curd, lemon zest, lemon meringue, lemon wax, lemon oil; unctuous with fine acidity - pre-pox 1993 white burgs have been a dark little secret but with auction prices rising seems like no longer a secret...

Maison Leroy Pommard Vignots 1981

This rang rings around the Lafleur...bricking with old leathery nose, lovely savoury chocolately, coffee palate; so much going on here

At a dinner on Wednesday included:

Krug 1985 - never dig this, fully mature and a bit tired

Drouhin Beaune Clos De Mouches (blanc) 2002...what a class act, has a lifted zesty acidity, which rumor has it reflects a judicious infusion of pinot blanc

Ch Les Ormes De Pez 1978 - some at the table guffawed when this modest (12% ABV) wine was paraded out by the sommelier. This nine stone weakening in the blue corner was matched up against LLC 1989...the bookies suggested it would be stretchered out in round one. But lovely bricking colour, delightful but restrained tobacco and cedar notes with hints of tar, earth and truffle...this lightweight floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee; slightly rough on the finish but a revelation.

LLC 1989 - as good as you would expect...all the classic LLC traits; darks fruits, brooding with laser like precision, lead pencil and graphite...this knocked the Pez out in round six. This is less austere than the 1982 and 1986, probably on a par with the 1985 but more backward and nearly as good as the 1990 (my fave LLC).

This would be a worthy addition to our 1989 tasting.

Talking of which, some folks over in Blighty did a 1986 Bordeaux horizontal, based off our one with an almost identical line up (I was advising them but could not attend). Unfortunately they chose a place where the room was too hot (over 75F, my worst nightmare). Wines of the night were Lafite, Ducru and (surprisingly) Palmer, which we didn't have (we had Rausan instead).

[DavidG]

Happy Birthday, Ian. Sounds like you made up some time after a slow start wine-wise.

[stefan]

Happy birthday, Ian. At least some of the wines were good.

I don't recognize the '88 La Lagune from your description. It is arguably the 6th best La Lagune from the '80s, although I might rank it 7th.

stefan

[JimHow]

Happy thirtieth birthday. It's all downhill from here.

[Houndsong]

La Lagune, 1988

A really austere wines for people who like to sit naked in the snow and beat themselves with a birch.

Probably Otto would love it. Well, happy birthday I suppose.

[Comte Flaneur]

Happy thirtieth birthday. It's all downhill from here.

That was for the wine Jim
Oh how I wish I was 30 again

[jal]

Happy Birthday Ian, nice way to celebrate. And a night where Burgs kicked some behind!

Stefan, LOL!

[PappaDoc]

Happy Birthday Ian! So how many revolutions around the Sun has it been? We'll have to toast you at Kittle House.

John

[Comte Flaneur]

Sixteen less than you John

The Kittle burg lurv-fest is shaping up nicely!

I might see you on Saturday

[PappaDoc]

By the By Ian, that was a down right comely lass you were trying to hide at the Zachys Burgundy Tasting. She seemed very comfortable and unassuming. A winning combination in a Lady.

I hope she enjoyed the evening although it did get a bit crowded at times.

I too am a fan of Drouhins "Clos Des Mouches" both Rouge and Blanc are fine examples of Beaune wines. I did a mini verticle of the Blanc, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002 some three years ago. The 01 was my favorite, the 00 the biggest scale, with the 02 seeming to have the best potential.

I've drank the the 04 and 05 together and tasted the 06 in the past year. The 04 is very minerally with more of a Puligny edge, the 05 was dominated by vanillin from the new oak, I belive the oak will submerge as there is great debth of fruit and will reward two more years in the cellar. The 06 is Corton Charlemagne like Apple Blossom nose, high volume Meursault like fruit and a limestone/citrus cut of Chablis. It may become similar to the 00 with three more years in btl. The 00 was a broadsword compared the rapier like steel of the 01.

I'm still hemming and hawing between a White Burg or a Red Burg to bring to Jacques little fest at the Kittle House.