Malcolm Thwaites was my co-conspirator. We decided from the outset to apply strict criteria for qualifying: the La-Las had to be pre-1990: no ifs, no buts: not whys, no wherefores. A lot of decent folk came a knockin’ with considerably younger La-Las and reluctantly we had to turn them away. Anyway, after a couple of false starts… and a fair bit of humming and harring…we settled on a date: 11th May.
Jonathan Points brought the fizz. A Vilmart Creation 1999. And what a creation it was! It was in the perfect spot. A mature colour and the fizziness had receded. It had vivid, vibrant, high quality fruit and a sunny and joyous personality. I enjoyed this more than the more pious 2002 Cristal last time I dined at La T a few weeks ago, and Howard Ripley loved it. I would give this 95 pts
Next up we had Malcom’s Guigal (white) Hermitage ex-Voto 2017. This was absolutely delicious. Rich, gourmand, honeyed and not over the top, but neither was it a shrinking violet (neither was anything else that followed for that matter)….94
Now on to the main event
Flight one:
1976 La Mouline
Expressive nose of … brown sugar… (“how come you taste so good?”)…fully mature, perfectly resolved with melted tannins. Ripe and ‘sweet’ (a theme echoed through the evening), this was tweeting, twittering, cheapin’ and cherpin’ with lovely spicey and peppery notes and some meatiness too. Just adorable. By the end of the evening it was starting to fade, a glorious aged La-La. 96
1982 La Landonne
Ironically I drank this wine on New Year’s Eve - can’t quite recall which year but I think 2018 or perhaps 19 - in the same space less than two metres from where we were sitting last night, nearer to the window. This Landonne is the ‘no bullshit’ La La. No pfaffing around with additions of Viognier: 100% Syrah, straight up. This wine is rugged and muscles up to you like Jason Statham, but plenty of exciting moving parts here of bloody beefiness and other more herbal nuances, a super thrilling mature La-La. 94
1989 La Mouline
This feels more dialled up and more luxurious than its flight mates. I get quite a bit of the trademark smokey bacon which not everyone agrees with but more overtly oaky, ripe, powerful and persistent wood. For me while it is a great wine it pushes the boundaries, and more than any wine last night it was made in the winery: it is more about the producer than the vineyard or the producer. I suspect 1989/90 was the stepping point where La-Las went from incredibly brilliant wines to more freaky and monstrous creations? I digress for this 96.
Next flight…
1985 La Turque
Some 15-20 years ago this was a clinical cyborg which famously terminated a 1981 Grange at my house in Highbury, N5. Now it is has mellowed into what is a complete wine. It has the sweetness and the power, but with the acidity and balance but retains its exotic kinky overtones. It was the most complete wine last night, the group wotn but not perhaps the best -97-98
1985 La Landonne
This would have been the wine of the night if it wasn’t for a persistent corky note on the nose; the palate and fruit and structure were spectacular. I could not help but drink my pours. Howard maintains it was not corked. I tend to agree but whatever it was that taint didn’t quite blow off, but this was the wine of the the night which we couldn’t vote for: 93-99
1985 La Mouline
A wine that has been drinking spectacularly well since the mid-1990s; a quintessentially La-La led into the cacaohony by the that pied piper with smoky/ crispy bacon entry and an absolute pleasure dome - but the Landonne had more focus, and the Turque too, but we are taking superlatives here - 97-98
Do I like these wines more than Ch. Lafite? No. DRC? No. I would rather have Lafite and DRC. Why? Because La Las are more made in the cellar than the vineyard and they literally take the stuffing out of you. I felt physically exhausted walking out of La T last night. But these pre-90 La Las are epic and thrilling. We all went home grinning broadly. As Christopher Pravin noted these wines are more about the producer than the vintage or the vineyard.
While the 1989 La Mouline is a thrilling wine it is close to crossing the rubicon. Younger vintages seem to have crossed the line. We felt vindicated by the strict entry criteria because younger wines may have sullied the pitch.
It was a great pleasure to visit La T on a spring evening and be greeted by our ever so welcoming friends - friends to many of us now - and ordering a la carte. And especially to Donald, who shared in our La La rollercoaster.
I didn’t take notes but Malcolm’s 2010 Chapoutier VdP was also an absolute delight.
