TN: 2002 Château Lagrange St. Julien (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien)

[Rick]

• 2002 Château Lagrange St. Julien - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (7/2/2009)
  great nose right out of the bottle, herbs, dark garnet color, decanted and drank over 2 hours on the patio with a neighbor.......herbs, dark fruit, grapefruit at times, a good level of complexity , medium bodied bordeaux with fair amount of mineral and stone undertones. Plenty of tannins to keep this going for years to come (90 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

[JimHow]

I'm so jealous, I drank all my bottles of this delicious wine in their infancy.

[AlexR]

Jim,

People here have a lot of time for Lagrange these days, and I think it has become excellent value for money.

Because Lagrange is undervalued, and because the 2002 vintages is also undervalued, you've had a true wine lover's wine - as opposed to a label drinker's wine!

All the best,
Alec

[Ramon_NYC]

Lagrange is undervalued? Relative to what Bordeaux “label”?

I bought a few of the 2002 Lagrange priced in the mid 20’s after release here in the US. I also bought other classified growth stuff from the same vintage like Leoville Barton, Leoville Poyferre, Pichon Baron, Branaire Ducru and Pontet Canet, all priced in the 20’s, on or about the same time.

Today, at Winesearcher, each of these, including Lagrange, are at about the same prices in NY, hovering around $50. What made the Lagrange “undervalued”?

BTW, thanks for the TN Rick.

[William P]

I too drank my 02 Lagrange way too quick but it was just so enjoyable. I believe I got it for $25 and that may have by my qpr for the year.

It's my recollection the Lagrange always was at least 10/20% cheaper than other 2/3rd growths. It was my go to value wine like ponet canet and grand puy lacoste. Alas, no more.

Is there a value wine in the classified growths anymore or by asking this question do I show my inflexibility by following a system that is far out of step with today's world?

[stefan]

D'Armailhac, for one, is still reasonably priced.

But, more than ever, you have to find special deals to get good QPR. I think my recent purchase of '98 Gazin at < $40 was a decent value. We tried a bottle last night. It is clearly not worth the $100 it commands at retail.

stefan

[JimHow]

2005 d'Armailhac I believe is going consistently over $50, so I don't think that is even a good value any more. And with the situation with the U.S. dollar, I don't see much relief, at least for the '06 and '07 vintages.

[stefan]

Yeah, but the '02 D'Armailhac is only $30. The '06 is around $35.

But now is the time to look for SALES. My local wine merchant took advantage of the same distributor closed out I used in order to feature alternatives to two buck chuck. He is selling '06 Labourie-Roi Vallon d'Or Pouisse Fuisse for $2 in case lot purchases. Lucie and I tried a bottle and I immediately ordered two cases. This wine is worth the $14 or so it commands retail. Sure, it is not a Henri Boillot 1er Cru, but it is a great summertime sippin' white which tastes better the second day.

stefan

[Claret]

There in no influence from RP on this vintage. Many on other boards consider 2002 to be an "off vintage". I wisely followed the advice on this board when Zachy's had a good sale on the vintage and bought some up. The pricing for Classifed Growths was quite reasonable and may not been seen again at those levels for many years to come, if ever again.

Glenn

[SteveH]

Right Glenn. RP missed the boat in 2002. His wife asked him not to attend the barrel tastings out of concern for plane hijackings after 9/11. This is an example of a classic northern Medoc vintage. Lack of RP's barrel notes allowed futures prices to hit bottom. I pounded the BWE table to buy early based upon British tasting notes. We got all the 1st Growths we wanted for under $1,100. / case.

I am not the least bit surprised by Rick's promising note on Lagrange.
Be aware of proper storage if you buy this vintage today.

Steve

[stefan]

I bought 9 cases of the '02s, including half cases of all the first growths other than Mouton. That was the only time in my life that I purchased as many as two cases of first growths as futures. Rick, you tempt me to pull some of the '02s from storage.

stefan