Chateau Lafite Rothschild - 1999 Bust

[SteveH]

This was a staggering disappointment because I had last drunk ' 99 Lafite a couple of years ago when the wine offered lead pencil, with precise, though still primary fruit. Last night's bottle was way off, not corked or cooked, but flat and muted without any 1st Growth persona whatsoever.
Could this wine have finally shut down after eight or nine years?
Has anyone else experienced this wine lately?
Very odd, indeed.

[Rieslingfan]

Flat and muted? Sure sounds like it was corked, just not badly enough to smell like a wet New Your Times.

[JimHow]

...the Sunday edition of which went up to six bucks this weekend....

I predict the NYT will be out of business before the Lafite comes out of hibernation in 2-3 years....

[stefan]

We canceled our subscription to the NYT with this latest price increase and are saving for a bottle of Lafite. Should we buy Duhart instead?

stefan

[SteveH]

I hope you're all correct on both accounts because the NYT is way too left for me these days, and I still have four bottles of ' 99 Lafite remaining in the cellar. Maybe it was mildly corked, and those two hefty single malts had blunted my taste buds.

We subscribe only to the Sunday Times edition. She likes the Sunday Styles section and seems fascinated with all the gay wedding photos and stories. When I've repeatedly tried to cancel the Sunday home delivery edition at $28. / month, they immediately offer me 3 three months more at $13./ month. One of these days they'll endorse Iran's quest for 'nuclear power' and I'll just pull the plug once and for all.

[SteveH]

Stefan, go for the Duhart. No crying necessary over a corked bottle.

[Houndsong]

MSM in general is really a drag anymore. Mrs. Hound put on 60 Minutes tonight to see the rerun of Dolly Parton. Does anybody watch that show who a) does not wake up to pee three or four times at night or b) can get it up without pills? JFC!

And sorry about the Lafite. Is that house in the 60 Minutes cohort?

[Chasse-Spleen]

Hound,
I was hoping you'd weigh in here but I must admit I'm somewhat confounded by your comments, although that's not an altogether uncommon occurance...
-Chasse

[AlainB.]

Hi Steve,

Last Friday was my brother's birthday and we experienced 1999 Mouton and 1999 Lafite side by side .
Mouton currently seems quite nice and forward with smooth integrated tannins, though it doesn't really "explode" on the palate. Lafite has layers of complexity and a deeper structure but I comparatively found it closed, woody and difficult to drink at the present moment. To my view on the long run, 99 Lafite has more potential than 99 Mouton. Just a matter of patience..

Cheers,

Alain

[stefan]

>>
99 Lafite has more potential than 99 Mouton. Just a matter of patience..
>>

And no taint or other individual bottle problems. It is expensive as well as annoying to have a bad or even underperforming first growth. I will take your advice, Steve, and go with Duhart. At our current (very slow) rate of drinking first growths, I probably have enough bottles to last the rest of my life.

When should I take delivery of my '02 FGs? Are they are all sound asleep now?

stefan

[Rudi Finkler]

Alain – I agree. We had 1999 Lafite along with 2001 Roc de Cambes a few months ago. Roc de Cambes was better than Lafite, but Lafite indeed was an interesting, multilayered wine with excellent concentration. I, too, think it needs more time...

[Comte Flaneur]

>>
When should I take delivery of my '02 FGs? Are they are all sound asleep now?

stefan

stefan - I have tried Ch Margaux, which is open for business and Mouton, which is an impressive vin de garde but very backward; I should imagine Latour would be impossible...the 1999 Latour is still light years away from being ready...

[jal]

Actually, I thought the 2002 Latour was absolutely awesome two years ago at some tasting or other. It probably is closed shut now, though.

[stefan]

Thanks, Ian & Jacques.

stefan

[SteveH]

We recently drank the last bottle from a case of ' 99 Bon Pasteur. All were delicious. The right bank is probably more successful than the left bank in this vintage, though time will tell.

[Rudi Finkler]

Steve, I'm envious ...but my impression is that the left bank is very successful too. I had a lot of excellent, elegant wines especially from Margaux and the southern Médoc in recent years…D’Agassac, D’Issan, Palmer, Sociando Mallet, Charmail, Clément-Pichon, Clos du Jaugueron, etc…and even Marquis de Terme was very good.

[SteveH]

Greetings Rudi. The ' 99 Bordeaux appears generally underrated, though I haven't had any stellar bottles. Latour would be the usual standout, but I have none in the cellar.

Where is Saarland? I'm thinking; Germany... Austria... South Africa? Just curious.
Cheers.

[hautbrionlover]

Surprised - and sorry - that the '99 Lafite was a disappointment.
I have generally been very pleased with the '99s, which I have been drinking earlier than I would "bigger" vintages. I had the '99 Carruades de Lafite 2-3 years ago and really liked it. Last weekend it was the '99 Kirwan, which was lovely, and the '99 Clos Badon Thunevin, which was also very good (but could use a couple more years).

[Rudi Finkler]

South Africa, why not, Steve... Of course, Saarland is located in the southwestern portion of Germany and is bounded by France, Luxembourg and the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Although the Saar River flows through our beautiful land, we don’t have Saar vineyards here, but Mosel vineyards along the hillsides of the Obermosel. Excellent Weißburgunder and Riesling wines are produced there...

[SteveH]

Rudi, Thanks for your reply.
Now I know... and I enjoy your whole neighborhood of wines!
I'm lucky to have five cases of mixed 2001 Rieslings. When I look more carefully at these labels I see... "Mosel-Saar-Ruwer." These are; Selbach Oster - Graacher Himmelreich Spatlese, Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Kabinett, J.J. Prum - G.H. Spat., Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese, Donnhoff - Schlossbockelheimer Kupfergrube Spat., Darting - Auslese Durkheimer Nonnengarten and several others. (My apologies for any misspelling and missing the overhead accents.)
These are all wonderful wines that are now miraculously transforming from an appealing youth of crisp acid and effervesence to charming and complex wines with considerable depth of fruit. Those who might say simply that these are 'sweet wines,' would rob them of their very distinctive and appealing character. Rieslings rock.

I've chosen the 2001 Dragonstone to accompany boiled lobsters for dinner tonight.

Steve

[Rudi Finkler]

Indeed, there are superb Mosel Rieslings from the steep slate hillsides in Graach, Wehlen, Zeltingen, Bernkastel, etc... I’m a Bordeauxphile, but when it comes to German white wines, I prefer dry Weissburgunder, Grauburgunder, and Auxerrois... but too occasionally off-dry Rieslings that usually have a considerable aging potential. Their fine balance of sweetness, minerals, and acidity as well as their complex tropical fruit flavors are simply irresistible...

Übrigens, 2001 Drachenstein mit Lobster, klingt sehr verführerisch...