Ch. Lafite 1970 - 1990

[bills]

These are notes from a Ch. Lafite vertical dinner held in Vancouver at Lumiere, spanning the vintages of two decades, the 70s and 80s, from 1970 to 1990. he event was arranged by Albert Givton, the gentleman responsible for many of my most memorable wine moments.

1998 Louis Jadot Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru – a nice way to tune our palates. The wine was showing a fair bit of colour (I should note that Albert keeps his cellar temperature barely above refrigerator level, so there was no question of any accelerated development due to temperature). The nose was showing some caramel notes, another sign of maturity, and it was lovely and smooth in the mouth – soft, lush and long, with the caramel also showing on palate.

Served with artichoke, truffle and lobster terrine with almond cream.

1976 Ch. Climens – another ‘setting up’ exercise, this time with one of my favourite Barsacs, and the perfect choice with the food as I find a sweet Sauternes not nearly as good with this sort of food. The nose was beautiful – light on its feet, Botrytis present but not overwhelming, and a solid hint of lemon and honey. It had excellent length and was that bit drier in the finish that Barsac often is, and that makes it such a great pairing with the food.

Served with seared Quebec foie gras with apple and trockenbeerenauslese reduction.

It was then on to the main event, with the first flight of Lafites, followed by olive oil poached squab breast with pheasant boudin and lobster and pine mushroom risotto. The wines were served blind in this flight, accompanied by a ringer just to keep us attentive.

1970 – never a strong showing for Lafite. Significantly lighter than the rest of the flight though balanced and elegant. It showed a bit of tea in the nose, a sure indicator of advanced age, as well as the lead pencil-cedar signature elements that most of these wines showed in one degree or another. About on par with the last bottle I had and it isn’t getting any better. In contrast to Latour, Palmer and Montrose, my favourites from this vintage, Lafite always lacked weight.

1975 – there are two kinds of 1975 Bordeaux – the ones that have enough fruit to balance the hard characteristic tannins of the vintage, and those that do not. The nose had a seaweedy pong at first that blew off, but even then it wasn’t a classic Lafite nose – too funky. There was fruit, but the levels of tannin left an austere dry astringent impression at the end that robbed the senses of much enjoyment. I could be wrong, but I don’t think this will ever be a ‘good’ 75, unlike, for instance, the Las Cases, which had tannins harder than a tax collector’s heart for decades, but which has finally come around over the last few years and is now quite pleasurable.

1976 – my wine of the flight! Classic cedar and spice nose, with more obvious ripeness than in the other wines in the flight. Still some tannin, and good balance, it finished big, round and sweet.

1978 – the classic high-toned nose was an encouraging start, as was the good colour, but the wine had no almost tannin left (surprising as it was a hard brute when young), was riding on some acidity, and was flat and weak.

1979 – my second best wine of flight and much superior to the 1978. More warmth to the nose, tannins firm, it almost seemed young! I think it still needs time (bottles kept at higher temperatures are probably ready now). I found it on the backward side and a bit coarse, at least for Lafite.

1978 Ch. Pichon Lalande – this ringer was a bit hard to sort out. I found it to have a simple earthy nose with a hint of cocoa, and also a hint of greenness, medium colour, smooth on palate and drinking very well.

We moved on to the next flight, followed by a sous vide saddle of lamb with lamb cheek and orzo ragout (the sous vide method of cooking results in exceptional tenderness and flavour in this case)

1983 – a big weighty style of 83, with typical nose, lots of immediately attractive sweet fruit on palate and good length. Yum.

1985 – not very exciting. Nose a bit odd, with some strange woody notes and while the wine was balanced and soft as would be expected for this friendly vintage, it just didn’t ring any bells for me.

1988 – wow!! My wine of the flight without doubt (the 83 was second). Very interesting and complex nose, with the cedar, and cassis, and a faint hint of almond. Tons of ripe sweet fruit on palate, and although there are lots of soft tannins, one senses that they are continuing to soften and this wine is more approachable than some other 88s I’ve had recently. This is one to hide away in the depths of your cellar to prevent you popping corks too soon, it is that good!

1989 – nice depth and differentiation in the nose, the wine elegant and a bit closed, but some pleasant sweetness showing on palate. It drinks pretty well now, but I would hope for more development in future.

The next flight was followed by a selection of cheeses.

1982 – Oh my! The big hitters for sure! Dark wine with a rather intense nose, with a beam of pure sweet fruit cutting through it. Big enough on palate to rival Latour in some years, a bit out of the norm for the normally elegant Lafite. Notable for the extremely long finish – we were competing at timing how long it was until we could no longer taste it as it slowly faded – then we’d take another sip and do it again! It doesn’t get much better than this.

1986 – another great nose, the cedar to the front and the fruit notes just under it. Also a big bruiser, with huge reserves of fruit, but in this case veiled by still hard tannins. This wine will take years to soften and come around. It is clearly a great Bordeaux, but I do not think that it will surpass the 1982 in the end – they are pretty much twins, with one drinking well now and the other on hold for another decade. Given the choice, I’d drink the 82 for instant gratification, and let others more patient (and perhaps longer lived) cellar the 1986.

1990 – lovely bright colour, lead pencil more than cedar in the nose, still quite tannic, as opposed to many other 1990s, which are starting to drink quite well now. The wine shows excellent balance and length, and in any other company would have me raving about it, but tasted with the Terrible Twins of 1982 and 1986, it showed as an excellent but not a great wine. Almost a shame, in a sense, to open it in such competition.

There was dessert (lemon chiboust), but the final wine eclipsed all though of food for me.

1945 Ch. Lafaurie Peyraguay – this bottle had a low neck fill and the dark amber wine was alive and delicious. It had a nose like liquid butterscotch with hints of coconut, and was clean and intense on palate, with very good length and fairly dry at the end (it would likely have been somewhat sweeter in youth).

What an end to an unforgettable tasting event. Memories to ponder on those long winter evenings.

[Rebel Rose]

What an incredible dinner and wine presentation. I'm getting fat this morning just reading these posts from you and Jim.

Were any of these wines decanted first, and did you have an opportunity to try one of the older vintages after it had some air? I'm just curious because I've had some older vintages that opened up after half and hour, and some that were beautiful when first opened but turning to sawdust when revisited a little later.

[bills]

I believe the wines were all opened at least a half hour before. None of them seemed to change much with air.