2018: No mas. No mas. Most over the top vintage ever.

[JimHow]

Sampled the 2018 Chateau Lagrange last night.
14.5%...
First off, it is a serious wine. This seems to be a good sign for Chateau Lagrange.
Unfortunately, the 2018 vintage is just too much. No mas. No mas.
I just can't take the extreme sweetness and over the top character of these wines.
Is 2019 like this too?
2018 just beats you down with its heat and alcohol.
No thank you. Too much.

[Chateau Vin]

2019s, generally speaking, supposedly have lower alcohol levels than those of 2018s

[Musigny 151]

Just bought a ton of Palmer 2018, so as I normally do, I opened a bottle I had sitting at home. This is a bit of a freakish wine; thanks to mildew the yields were 11 hl/ha about one third of the average. I opened a bottle yesterday morning with my coffee. Alcohol 14.3%. Absolutely massive, unyielding when I stole a sip just after decanting it, but with the most extraordinary and explosive nose. I can’t recall a wine it’s equal. The fruit is quite dark with shards of bright red, but there is a level of complexity licorice, spice, blueberry and lavender. As one would expect everything is primary.

By 6:30, there was still little movement on the palate, but pouring a couple of glasses seemed to help. The wine almost reluctantly began to unfurl. It is big, it is long, and it is precise, helped by great acidity to keep it fresh and interesting. It is certainly in balance, which given its size and weight is remarkable. Reminds me of a defensive tackle running the 40 yard dash in under 4.4 seconds.

Yes as Neal Martin said, this is going to be an utterly unique wine, and I appreciate it for its power, complexity and balance. And yet, I am not entirely sure I loved it, but I think it is a wine that I will get to love starting two decades from now.

[marcs]

some of the stuff I hear on this sounds kind of reminiscent of the 2009 Cos d'Estournel when it first came out.

[Musigny 151]

Where it differs is that this is fresh and savory and complex while Cos was sweet, one note and there was not enough acidity.

[JimHow]

I actually thought the Lagrange had nice depth to it, which gives me some hope that these recent Lagranges are regaining some of the excellence from 20+ years ago. It's just this 2018 vintage seems to be so, so sweet and hot.

[robert goulet]

Maybe we should be looking at 2017's

[Ambrose]

I’m going in with low expectations now which is helping me enjoy them. Looked at an 18 Labegorce & an 18 Meyney yesterday (out of interest) over an afternoon. Unusually both seemed best straight after the cork came out. You can taste the vintage but at this level both of these weren’t too offensive in terms of heat, alc. Labegorce tasted like proper Bordeaux to me in terms of the characteristic of the fruit. Meyney was a bit funny after oxidation - seemed rather plain / lots of oak. I think it will be a good wine though down the track.

[JimHow]

Interesting observations, Ambrose.
My best experiences with 2018 seem to be from Chasse Spleen, Lafon Rochet, and Cantemerle.

[AKR]

are there some objective metrics to compare it to other years for context? seriously asking, I am not familiar with all this young Bordeaux that BWE is tasting now.

[JimHow]

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything like this AKR.
I’ve seen high alcohol vintages like 2009, 2010, 2015, but for some reason the 14.5% in this vintage is really bugging me. I recall Leve saying not to worry about the 15.2% in the 2015 LMHB, that may or may not be the case, all I know is the 14.5% levels in these 2018s are pretty offensive to my palate. Borderline undrinkable, some of them.

[AKR]

The Germans sometimes measure the ratio of acid/sugar and feel that may capture the way a wine tastes rather than single numbers. Maybe something like degree days vs. IPT or what not would describe how 2018 is an outlier.

Perhaps time will help.

[Nicklasss]

2018 marked all these red Bordeaux wines i guess. It is tough to rely them to another vintage.

Me too i was worried about alcohol and sweetness when i tasted the Capbern, but the Montlandrie gave me some hope. But they are also terribly concentrated. I would say post-Parkerised wines, maybe "Leve"ised wines ? i thought they need minimum 10 years in cold and darkness.

[DavidG]

So 2018 is the Sugar Ray Leonard of vintages?
And Jimmy “LB” How has gone from philanthropist fight promoter to Roberto Duran?

[marcs]

Why mess with a vintage when you don’t like it? There are already plenty to choose from and they’re making new ones every year

[greatbxfreak]

I love the 2018 vintage.

If you guys want something cheap and not overdone, buy some wines from Castillon, Puisseguin St Emilion and Montagne St. Emilion. Fronsacs will do nicely as well.

[Comte Flaneur]

I always said it is an over the top vintage.

Ever since at Tim’s 50th I cycled past Pavie and saw the grapes literally shrivelled up on the vines in late September.

My track record in calling recent vintages is second to none.

[Musigny 151]

I bought Lafite untasted because it was only 13.% alcohol. Friends tasted it calling it modern and jammy and easily mistaken for a Cabernet Cabernet.

[William P]

I love the 2018 vintage.

If you guys want something cheap and not overdone, buy some wines from Castillon, Puisseguin St Emilion and Montagne St. Emilion. Fronsacs will do nicely as well.

the gentleman doth protest too much

[Chateau Vin]

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. I cycled past Pavie and saw the grapes literally shrivelled up on the vines in late September.

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The owner was too busy polishing his PCCA stone, and forgot to pick his grapes on time... What an embarassment...