WTN: 1995 Château Lafon-Rochet

• 1995 Château Lafon-Rochet - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (7/10/2006)
  Quiet nose, soft fruits at first but seemed to put on some body with time. Finally blossomed into a lovely cedar soft tannins, black fruits and cinnamon palate. Finish was moderately long and mostly currants and slightly floral. Tannins are soft and there's enough acid to make for a very nice match with grilled leg of lamb.

Posted from CellarTracker

[Jenise]

How was the toast on that one, Howard? I have the 98, and I'm hoping the heavy toast will calm down with age.

How was the toast on that one, Howard? I have the 98, and I'm hoping the heavy toast will calm down with age.

I had not noticed that as a component at all. I'll check again tonight with another glass to be sure. All in all I thought this was a very nice unflawed (although not mind-blowing) food friendly glass of Bordeaux. I'm not sure what was lacking that would have made it spectacular but I liked it well enough.

How was the toast on that one, Howard? I have the 98, and I'm hoping the heavy toast will calm down with age.

Damn. I have a bottle of the 98 but I hate strongly toasty oak. The 2001 also had slight signs of spoof going on though was still on the border that I liked it. But my memories of the 95 were fine also. I hope the 98 isn't a sign that they are slowly going over to the dark side....

[Jenise]

Toasty oak is my new heightened sensitivity, Otto. The #1 go or no go on whether I like a wine. Was a time when I hardly noticed it but one night with a couple of Argentinian cabs turned me into a toastaphobe and now I complain about it all the time. Based on how rarely other people seem to mention it, I'm sure it's me who changed.

Jenise,
I am now home with a glass in my hand. I can say, no no no no, not toasty. Trust me when I say, with our weirdly synchronous palates, you'd like this wine. There is oak, no doubt about it, but judiciously used to augment the wine, not overpower. No toastiness here, just good, bordeaux flavors, a gentle smoothing by aging in oak casks, just enough tannins, and a fine finish, even on the second day.

Based on your description of the 98, I will not be seeking it out. Perhaps the end of an era at CL-R?

Based on how rarely other people seem to mention it, I'm sure it's me who changed.

I've always read that it is namely the toasty oak which turns people off.

[Jenise]

I've always read that it is namely the toasty oak which turns people off.

I don't know. I just read people talking about being oakaphobes, and occasionally complaining about oak in a wine I didn't object to as 'oaky', leading me to conclude that I'm not as oak-sensitive as many. But on the other hand, I also read tasting notes by people whose palates I trust sometimes not mentioning toasted oak in a situation where I think the barrels must have been charred. So, by comparison, I tend to think I'm ultra-sensitive to that. The Argentinian cabs I mentioned? The next day I called the wine guy who'd personally recommended both wines, a very well respected wine seller, and told him the wines had been so toasted I couldn't drink them, never sell me wine like that again. And he said, "What toast?"

But hey, Howard says there's no toast on the 95 so there must not be. His palate mirrors mine better than anyone else's on this planet and if it was there, he'd find it.