TN 2009 Ch. Lyonnat, Lussac-St. Em.

[AlohaArtakaHoundsong]

Had this over two nights, in between which it saw a few days in the freezer.

On night 1 I was not terribly impressed. It was grapey and simple, and although it had decent scale and some acidic cut it didn't seem all that 09. Not very plush or dense, a slightly though not abnormally bitter finish. I opened up alongside it a botlle of the Bdx Superior Ch. Tour d'Auron, which ironically is under the same ownership as Lyonnat. Had that a few times before and it's the "superior" wine now, so to speak, with plushness and some cedary/woodsy and earthy complexity.

On night 2 the Lyonnat is still in the same grapey mold, but it has softened and fleshed out also a bit. My impression would be that the Lyonnat was the more reputed of the two wines, and maybe this will be better in five years or so, but for now I prefer its junior partner, and for $5 less. I would just say that I believe Lyonnat has it's own special cuvee now, and maybe they are siphoning off the best lots for that, to the detriment of this ordinary bottling. I liked the 98 Lyonnat a lot, the 2000 less so though I only had it twice and perhaps the last bottle will be better for the ageing of it.