WTN: 2008 Château Lascombes

2008 Château Lascombes
In general I prefer Bordeaux from cooler vintages, like e.g. from 2008.
Originally I had bought this wine for its convincing fruit, density and length.
The currently open bottle seems to be in a rather difficult intermediate stage: Violet-black color of medium depth. On the nose it is driven by wood and shows Merlot characteristics. The palate is characterized by dark fruits, youthful tannin (from Cabernet Sauvignon?), good density and length. Currently there is clear lack of harmony. However, I think there are good talents, which could come together and integrate in future with prolonged bottle maturity. I'd wait for another 5-10 years. Is it worth the price? Not for now, time will tell, I still have hope. - My subjective rating: 90+/100.

Cheers, Rainer

[David M. Bueker]

Has Lascombes backed off from the super-ripe, ultra-oaky style of 2003, 2004?

Has Lascombes backed off from the super-ripe, ultra-oaky style of 2003, 2004?

Not sure since I have never tasted the 2003, 2004. However I think there is justified hope that 2008 will finally come around as an enjoyable, classy Bordeaux.

[David M. Bueker]

I just had the '64 Lascombes the other night (notes coming soon), and was lamenting what had happened with the 2003 and 2004 which were caricatures of Bordeaux.

Under Alexis Lichine's watch Lascombes remained very much in the classic vein. As he became old and inform, he ceased to care as much and it slipped a bit. When Sasha took over is when the major change began and the ripe-ification of fruit and jam concentrate years happened.

Despite having followed Lascombes for several years, probably with more sampling than any other Bordeaux because of my company's exclusivity arrangement with Alexis Lichine, I lost interest in the brand, and have sampled it only now and then for the last few years.

FWIW, Lascombes has always tended to have a hard edge of tannin to it, slowly evolving. I think it is a characteristic of the estate varietal blend. Many still expect Margaux generalizations as soft and Merlot-nougaty, silky and generous; I've never seen Lascombes that way. Even in the softest years, that hard core of scratchy, stubborn, often green tannin drives the wine.

You might have to wait a while on this one, David.

FWIW, Lascombes has always tended to have a hard edge of tannin to it, slowly evolving. I think it is a characteristic of the estate varietal blend. Many still expect Margaux generalizations as soft and Merlot-nougaty, silky and generous; I've never seen Lascombes that way. Even in the softest years, that hard core of scratchy, stubborn, often green tannin drives the wine.

You might have to wait a while on this one, David.

My dozen of Lascombes 1990 seem to have been an exception to that rule.

1990 Château Lascombes - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (10/5/2015)
Although at the time Lascombes had a mediocre reputation, my purchase in the mid-90s of a dozen 1990 for <€20/bottle was one of my best buys ever. Right from the start the wine drank graciously and there was never a dud bottle. I thought I had consumed my last bottle in 2008 but found this one when moving house. It was still drinking beautifully yesterday. Colour showed discreet amber tints. The nose showed a lovely and still lively Margaux fragrance with hints of violet and raspberry together with some fine leather with just a suspicion of rusty metal hinting that the best days were past. Not a big wine on the palate but harmonious showing beautifully “sweet” and bright fragrance with good depth, structure and a gentle crescendo to a long gracious finish. Very good but drink up if any left.

Posted from CellarTracker

On the other hand, some bottles of 1994 were not good.

Like many, I really disliked the 2003 and 2005 Lascombes on release. I had older vintages when I was younger, stuff mostly from the 1970s, as my dad had a soft spot for this chateau and the lighter, aromatic signature these older vintages showed had been nuked out of existence in the new millennium.

I tried a bottle of the 03 in December 2015, and while it still wasn't my style, it had improved a lot in the intervening years. This past Christmas a bottle of the 2000 was poured and it was quite good. Your note on the 08 is encouraging.

We were in the tasting room of Chateau Prieure-Lichine 1986 with another couple when he came stomping in asking where are the 4 Americans tasting his wines. He invited us into the Chateau to drink some of his older bottles etc. This was a year that there had been some problems with terrorists in Europe. His first question was had all the Americans lost their spines due to a "little trouble" and were afraid to travel to Europe. We sat and chatted and accepted his accolades because we were not afraid to travel in Bordeaux. Hell in those days we had planned the trip for a couple of years and had too much time and MONEY invested to cancel. He was absolutely charming and I've never forgotten that afternoon.
Oh we did encounter some terrorists and fought them at the barricades but that's another story.

[Jenise]

. His first question was had all the Americans lost their spines due to a "little trouble" and were afraid to travel to Europe.

Lou, Bob and I spent a month in Europe, summer of 86. Our families, and many friends, were dumbstruck that we would go. We went anyway, flew in to Frankfurt, drove to Zurich, then Vienna, Venice and around to Paris eventually. We joked about terrorists when we'd see someone shady, and giggle. Nothing in particular happened (we thought) though we saw a lot of police, one day in Paris in particular (trucks pulling up in front of Notre Dame with armed SWAT teams hanging from them--a bit alarming but Europe often looked a little more militarized than the U.S. to my eyes anyway. Never saw or read any news while there.

Then we got on the plane to fly home. Airport was frantic, tons of security like we'd never seen. We settled into our seats with copies of the NYT and found out this: 1) the very plane we had flown into Frankfurt on reloaded with passengers, took off, and was hijacked to Pakistan. Remember when they parked the plane on the tarmac and threw off bodies out every so often? That one. A café in Paris we'd had coffee at had been bombed. And the SWAT teams we saw at Notre Dame? You may remember bombs being planted in the subway under the cathedral that would have murdered tens of thousands had they not been found and detonated. Yup, we were there. Sobering.