Tim's Leoville-Lascases vertical in London

[Comte Flaneur]

Last night 11 of us gathered in Greek Street Soho in London to taste a vertical of a Chateau Leoville-Lascases. Most of the wines were from Tim's collection.

After a champagne reception of Bolly GA 02 (excellent and zippy), Nyetimber BdB 2007 (like battery acid) and DP 90 (very evolved now) we got started (for want of a better yardstick I gave these points):

Flight one: 1955 and 1964

Both in good shape, quite similar, full resolved and drinking well. 

The 1955 was slightly darker of the two with dried herbs and leathery notes. 90

The 1964 was gentle, earthy with autumnal notes. Delightful. 91

1955 was not a renowned vintage - but Lafite ('La Grand Seigneur') is outstanding, while 1964 was difficult on the left bank for the majority that did not pick before the deluge. Like Chateau Palmer, LLC made a delightful fine-boned1964. 
Flight two: 1930s

Known unknown. Mystery wine turned out to be 1934. It had a sweet saline leathery furriness which told you it was the edge. It was drinkable, but not pleasurable in my opinion. This wine divided opinions. 80

Known known, 1934. This was a remarkably fresh bottle of the same vintage and had the trademark austere imprimatur of Lascases. It was elegant and resolved, and remarkably youthful. Blind you might guess this was the 1975. Given its health and vibrancy it was received with rapturous enthusiasm. However there were better wines on the night. 92

The 1937 died a long time ago. NR.

Flight three: 1959 and 1961

The 1959 had a dark colour and an opaque hue. It had a funkiness which some identified as a corkiness. It was alive but lacked delineation. I found notes of furniture polish, but it was fuzzy and not quite right. It would be fun to drink on its own. 85

The 1961 was fully resolved with a contrasting bright translucent hue and a truffle-infused nose that was to die for and beautiful, complex palate and finish. It was simply divine. The sort of wine that levitates you into the stratosphere. 99

Flight four: 1975 and 1981

The 1975 was beautifully resolved, elegant, austere, fined boned with walnut overtones like the 1961. Everything has come together in this wine and there is no sign of the harshness one associates with this vintage. 95

The 1981 was thicker-textured, less focused and fuzzier than the 1975. However it is close to being fully resolved. Again not a perfect bottle. 88

Flight five: 1982 and 1986

Two fabulous wines which continue to exhibit glacial evolution. 

The 1982 is still dark, brooding and mysterious with charcoal and graphite and a wonderful texture and power with wave after wave, nuance after nuance. It is still cocooned and has its best decades ahead of it. It might really start to hit its stride at the age of 50. 98

The 1986, which was double-decanted in the afternoon, is even more backward and powerful and still somewhat primary by comparison. It is dense and structured with minerals and graphite. It is a similar wine to the 1982 only more extreme, and will continue to improve over coming decades. 97

Flight six: 1988 and 1990

Along with the 1985, which would have had a lot to say if it were present, I think the 1988 is one of the best 'cases for current drinking and one of the wines of the vintage. But after the previous flight there was a sense of coming back down to planet earth with the 1988, which is nevertheless an outstanding wine. It is beautifully elegant and complex, but lacks the density and ripeness of the 1982 and 1986, and has a hint of green on the palate. 94

The 1990 does not lack ripeness. If anything it errs in the other direction, and is atypically voluptuous for this estate, with notably low acidity. No doubt it is a fabulous and thrilling wine, but like the 1988 it is not in the same league as the 1982 and 1986. This is a wine to drink now, but it will easily keep for many more years. 94

Flight seven: 1994 and 1995

The 1994 is not dissimilar to the 1975, and a bit leaner than the 1988. Very typical LLC with austerity, power and refinement and none of the hollowness one finds in other 1994s. Clearly one of the wines of the vintage. 93

The 1995 is in a dumb stage and simply is not even close to bring ready. It is dense, brooding and powerful but not expressive. I have an unopened case which I will leave for another decade or more. Potentially a great wine. For now 93++

We finished with two bottles of Sauternes including a delicious and vibrant bottle of Doisy-Daene from Tim. Climens 98 as usual was a reliable foil. 

The 1961 was voted wotn, followed by the known 1934, the 1982, the 1986, the 1990 and the 1975. 

What to make of all this? A fabulous snapshot of LLC over sixty years with nothing from the last 20, where this estate has gone from strength to strength and is in my view the King of the Super Seconds making wines of genuinely first growth quality. Several of the wines we had last night were of first growth quality. Thanks again to Tim for his enormous generosity, to make this a memorable night. 

[Claret]

Thanks for the report.

I have an 86 and a couple each from 90 and 94. It sounds like the 90 will be the first to go down.

[DavidG]

Wow, what a great tasting! LLC clearly rewards patience.

[JimHow]

As HWSRN once said about the 96 LLC: Wow! Wow! Wow!

[Nicklasss]

I'm jalous. I had many vintages of LLC over the years (1975, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1994, 1996, 1998 and 2004) and it is ma favorite Left Bank for sure.

I'm impressed how the 1982 and 1986 are still primary. Some of those 1986 are really slow to evolve, Pichon Lalande also come to my mind.

Nic

[Comte Flaneur]

Btw Tim's Doisy Daene was a 1953.

[Comte Flaneur]

[tim]

Fantastic evening, was great catching up with Ian and Maureen!

The 1961 was indeed spectacular. This was one of two bottles that I purchased in the same lot, the other I opened with JimHow, Francois, Danny and Larry in Paris prior to BWE France 2015. Both were equally incredible.

I was stunned by the 1934. This was my WOTN, slightly outdoing the 1961. It had perfect balance, supple, and layers upon layers of complexity. Between the 82 and 86, I had a slight preference for the 86, but that might also be because it was double-decanted and the 82 was not.

Overall a wonderful evening with both old and new friends!

[AKR]

Awesome. Quite the vertical.

[stefan]

Fabulous vertical that you had. The two biggest surprises for me are that the 1961 was fabulous (rather than just being an interesting older wine) and that the 1964 was as good as it was. Neither was very good in the 1970s IIRC. I thought Leoville Barton made much better wine than LLC in the 1960s.

[tim]

The 64 was interesting. I've had this with SFEd when he visited Paris, and it was clear that despite the rained-out vintage, it showed reasonably well. He preferred it to the decent 1964 St Emilion that I served alongside. And 1964 was a right-bank vintage mostly.

Not a blockbuster, but it performed reasonably well considering the challenges of the vintage.

It's important to note, LLC replanted most of their vines in the 40's, and so up until 59 they had weak showings. It was 59 and beyond that they started coming into their own.

[Roel]

Wow! What a tasting... Don't have much experience with LLC (only 88,92,94 and some), but it always delivers-plus. Even in lesser vintages.

[RDD]

Yep that's a vertical.

[AKR]

Tim - do you find that the bottles you find in Europe are better stored on average? or is it about the same.

[tim]

Yes and no. For super-old wines, you have a better chance of finding pristine bottles in Europe. The known-34 had a fill that was almost in the neck. The 24 Latour that I brought to a Francois dinner had a fill in the neck. These are probably impossible to find in the U.S.

But outside of that, for anything post-war, it is probably similar. A lot of bottles in France come from passive cellars, so storage wasn't always optimal. And if you are buying from auction, it is very difficult to know the provenance. At least in France, many wines come from estate sales where the owner died and the family sold off the wines. This is different than in the UK, where a lot of wines are held in bond and sold as investments. These are almost always held in climate-controlled professional storage.

[Blanquito]

Incredible line up and night! I recall how backward the LLC was at the 1986 horizontal at Fabio's in 2008, probably the youngest wine at the table with only chateau Marguax giving it any competition for the most closed.

One vintage I have enjoyed a lot in the last few years is the 1983 LLC, which is ready and charming by LLCs normally austere style.