OMG 2000 Larrivet Haut-Brion

[dstgolf]

Had this last night and wow talk about singing. Ready to go right out of the bottle and fully open. I haven't had one in at least 5 years and this has blossomed into a stunner. Classic styled Pessac and personally I'd have trouble telling this from the real deal Haut-Brion. Beautiful balance with perfumed nose wide open with tobacco, leather cassis starting fade with nice peppery notes in the background. Started to decline over 2-3 hrs following dinner suggesting this is at the latter days of its curve but if you have some sitting in your cellar then try it now and I assure you won't be disappointed.

[robertgoulet]

Nice....so far my favorite of the 2008 vintage is the Larrivet..I believe Jancis scored the 2014 near the top of the vintage

[DavidG]

Sounds great Danny, glad it pushed all the right buttons.

[Racer Chris]

Nice!

I enjoyed a bottle of the '09 last year, and have another bottle saved for sometime in the future.
I hope it goes the way the '00 has.
The '12 is on my Total Wine shopping list right now.

[AKR]

I've had a few of these in the last year and stood another up for maybe later this month.

Maybe the next one will be more like yours!

[JimHow]

I thought the 2005 Larrivet Haut Brion was supermarket-level in quality.

[dstgolf]

Bring on the supermarket Jim and I'll load up the truck. I don't care who says what just drink it and let me know if you'll return to the supermarket to pick up some more. This was a real surprise with low expectations from previous bottles but this bottle was singing.

[JimHow]

I'm glad you liked it Danny.
My recollection is that AlexR did not like it either, although I don't recall drinking the 2000.

[Comte Flaneur]

Thanks for the note Danny. Sounds great. I was going to buy some recently but as put off by reports that claimed this wine is bretty. On the basis of your note I regret not pulling the trigger.

[dstgolf]

Ian,

The last bottles I had 2-3 years ago were underwhelming and this was wow! One left and maybe I'll bring it across the pond in the Fall to share some low level treasure. I wouldn't hesitate if you have the opportunity to pull the trigger on this one but my concern is the life it may have ahead the way it dropped off after 2-3hrs. Supermarket wine and all this vintage was superb at the moment.

[JimHow]

Sounds like an astounding deal, Danny, a $30 Pessac rivaling an $800 per bottle Pessac first growth.
Sign me up for two cases!

[dstgolf]

Forget the price differential Jim....drink the wine and stop being such a snob who only drinks 90+point wines because life is too short. Well I assure you this is 95+pts! for Kmart shoppers pricing!!

[JimHow]

Ok Mom, I'll follow whatever advice you give me.
I can only dream of enjoying life some day as much as you.

As I said previously, I'm glad you like it!
Myself, i thought the 2005 was swill, but it sounds like the 2000 is better.

[AKR]

We had one of these 2000 LHB rouge last night, with some grilled chicken + salad. I've had some variability in this wine, but this was a sound example. Lots of earth, ashes, cigars to go with the fruit. Kept getting better, especially with a triple cream brie for dessert. I think I would have liked this more when it was younger though. Day 2 - the last glass is a little cloudy but is a shade richer than yesterday, even just being consumed all by itself in the afternoon.

[AKR]

Just about a year later, another 2000 LHB (r) with all of you on the Zoom chat. And amazingly enough it looks our Canadian comrades popped one too! Like synchonicity if you remember that old Police album from the glorious Reagan era. This was #6 from the case, and quite sound, with a ruby/garnet robe, not much lightening at the edges and a nose of pipe tobacco and oregano. The palate tilts red fruit, with a good bit of acid. Tannins all resolved. As mentioned before, I would have liked this more younger. With perfect hindsight, I find that the under purchased 98 Pessacs to have been better than the 00 comparables.

I couldn't stay on the call longer, and had to take the GSD for a long walk since he was getting antsy on this drizzly day. We've now shifted to a pear tinged 17 Conundrum BdB cali sparkly which is somewhat new to me. It's good though.

[DavidG]

Ha, Synchronicity made me think of another Police song apropos of our times: Don’t Stand So Close To Me.

[dstgolf]

Our 2000 LHB was pooped and poured for this afternoons tasting 5 mins before the start...just woke from a nap!! Too cold from the cellar, closed initially and didn't show much in the beginning. By the end this was rolling quite nicely. Leather, tobacco, cherries and black fruits with an acidic finish early on that smoothed out in the end. Certainly would have benefited being opened earlier allow it to open and warm up. A nice late afternoon wine with a great group of people and loved the format without the travel to be able to see everyone and even in the few moments with each it seemed like a nice catch up. Look forward to next time hopefully feeling better and a little more prepared.

[sdr]

Our 2000 LHB was pooped and poured for this afternoons tasting.

Maybe you were influenced by AKR’s dog needing a break.

Stu

[AKR]

Hah! on the longer walks he even pulls a double poop!

[Blanquito]

Your dog poops and pours, like Danny? Cool.

[AKR]

I was making a meat ragu tonight, and needed red wine for the recipe. The first bottle I opened - a 2013 Coppola 'Directors Cut' CS [Alexander Valley] was cloying/gloppy to me after having a glass which was the first really underwhelming bottle in a couple of months. Unfortunately, I'd already added a cup to the sauce before tasting it. Hopefully it won't stick out after the slow cooker finishes its work.

So I opened a 2000 Larrivet Haut Brion [Pessac Leognan] to drink while it bubbles away, since the box is now in an easy to reach location, and there are a few more left. This rouge is zingy, cranberry, charry, medium bodied and a quaint 12.5% abv. It's one of the better bottles from this case, and perhaps it just needed a long time to really develop. The difference between it and the simple/fruity Sonoma cab is striking. Of course there is 7 years of age vs 20 but some of these CA wines just don't really change (in a positive way) with time. Especially when the soil, harvest are all positioned for Day 1 kinds of fruits and flavors. That's ok too, and I wouldn't be using LHB for sauce in any case.

[s*d*r]

Don’t ignore the white either unless you hate white Bordeaux. I’ve been guzzling the 2014 LHB Blanc since release (@$34). It’s at peak and also has a definite resemblance to Haut-Brion Blanc. How do they do that?

Stu

[Musigny 151]

Rolland was the consultant, and the owners did indeed use him for every part of the process from the sugar level when the grapes are harvested to vat selection etc. And the wines for my palate are very ripe, at the expense of terroir. Last time I had the 2000, it showed a lot better than previous vintages, but still very definitely with Rolland signature.

[Nicklasss]

I have never been a fan of LHB. Go figure why, as normally I like red wines from that area.

Nic

[AKR]

Decanted, but still quite cloudy and sedimented

A friend and I had a bike ride down the river parkway and threw back some wine afterwards. We decanted a bottle of the 2000 L-H-B rouge while we glugged an ok Provencal rose to start.

2019 Ch. Sainte Roseline 'Le Cloitre' [Cotes de Provence]

This is 13.5% abv, which seems high for a rose, and its fairly innocuous/harmless. It has an ok reputation, and WineAccess vouched for it, claiming they have been making wine here since maybe 1000 or 1300 or so. I am not sure this exact bottling is actually for sale in France, as I don't see anything on the producers website, and export only bottlings make me suspicious. The producer makes a lot of stuff. In any case, it was ok. I have another bottle of their (higher end) rose too. It's time to finish up any/all 2019 rose that may still be lingering in racks. I'd give this 2019 Ch. Sainte Roseline 'Le Cloitre' [Cotes de Provence] a B-. Too much hype for rose. I find it hard for any of them to really be flavorful.

pumpernickel, Wisconsin cheddar, and a couple types of ham

I've had a lot of the 2000 Larrivet rouge over the years, and bottles have been quite variable. This one is extremely sedimented despite having been stood up for a day prior to decanting, and is really charry/smoky/tobacco laden. In a blind tasting, these would be fairly obvious as a Pessac. This bottle gets a B-. Overall, I'd much rather have a red Graves like Chantegrive than this.