TN: 00 Larrivet Haut Brion 'rouge' [Pessac Leognan]

[AKR]

00 Larrivet Haut Brion 'rouge' [Pessac Leognan] purchased EP, decanted, and served cool over a couple of days, with a beef bourgogne on the first day. 12.5% abv on the label. I thought this was a cru classe, but a quick internet search determined it is not -- still would rather have this over estates like Bouscat. BTW LHB is a neighbor of Haut Bailly and some of LHB's acreage has been sold to H-B. Dark brown/purple and now lightening at the edges. On the first night it was very tight, but opened up after a day or so. On the nose I get car tires and some bell pepper. The fruit is restrained and delicate, and more on the red berry side. The tannins are still there and tilt chalky, once one is not enjoying this with food. If I had this blind I would not have been able to identify this as a Graves, but there's a chance I could have guessed it was Bordeaux. FInish is 20 seconds or so, with some minty herbal notes at the end. (It actually reminded me of a favorite Chilean Graves clone - Cousino Macul's Antiguas Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon) For all my 'efforts' in cellaring this for 15 years, I hoped for more though. It just didn't 'sing' for me. Seems to be a popular wine among enthusiasts and there are tons of positive comments all over the interwebs on this, but maybe I'm jaded, or coming down with a cold, so I'm just not as pumped about this, as others. First bottle of the case so we'll have time to investigate more thoroughly. I'll give it a B, which is a fair bit lower than other folks (assumed) views. It does not hold a candle to the excellent La Tour Haut Brion from the same year.

[AlexR]

Oddly enough, I've usually preferred LHB white to the red.

They've got a great terroir and some serious money behind them.
They have also just changed consultants (was Michel Rolland), so maybe they will do better in the not-too-distant-future.

AR

[robertgoulet]

Prices r creeping up on LHB...I am a fan....it's a new world/old world wine...my favorite '08 to date.

[greatbxfreak]

Larrivet Haut Brion has been in progress since Bruno Lemoine arrived at this property in 2007.

2009, 2010, 2013 (white) and excellent 2014 white and red witnesses the progress. Both red and white are great value for the money.

Bruno Lemoine worked at Ch. Montrose before coming to LHB and he's the guy who made the killer wine at Montrose, 1990 vintage, a legend.

[Tom In DC]

Another fan of the white.

[AKR]

I'd heard there were some improvements afoot, but had not realized there were so many.

I'm guessing I've tried a half dozen vintages of their blanc, but like just about all of white bdx, they leave me unmoved.

Maybe except for Clos Floridene blanc, where I discovered an 2001 in my clutter a few weekends ago, which I purchased in Paris.

Seeing the agony of the headlines in Paris tonite saddens me.

We are planning a trip there as a surprise gift to the kids, but may hold off on telling them the details until later.

[robertgoulet]

Janis scored 2014 LHB as high as the first growths....OMFG...back up the truck

[Roel]

LHB 2001 was a lovely wine, but modern and withouth rough / naughty edges. I had the white(s) too, but I'm also hard to impress re: white Bdx. I do like Laville Haut Brion, though