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Three more from Château Laulan Ducos

Thanks to Frédéric Ducos of Château Laulan Ducos, which is located in the Médoc commune of Jau-Dignac-Loirac, to the north of the famed left bank communes of St Estèphe, Pauillac and St Julien, I recently had the opportunity to revisit his 2008 vintage and also to get a glimpse of what had been achieved here in 2009.

A notable development here in the 2008 vintage is the Prestige de Laulan Ducos, a cellar selection, essentially a Laulan Ducos 'super-cuvée'. In this vintage it accounts for about 40 000 bottles, alongside approximately 100 000 bottles of the Château Laulan Ducos. This latter wine has been awarded the cru bourgeois accolade for the 2008 vintage and so proprietor Frédéric argues that the prestige bottling, from the best vats, with a slight preponderance of Cabernet Sauvignon and with a higher percentage of new oak, must be "better than cru bourgeois". Nevertheless, both wines show the leaner, crunchy-fruit character of the vintage, a feature which I have found across many wines, in many communes. And the more I taste, the more I scratch my head when I see others discussing the 'greatness' of the 2008 vintage, ranking it alongside 2009, and there is even discussion of a 2008-2009-2010 triumvirate (I will have to taste the 2010s before I can comment on that). There were some great wines in 2008, just as there were in 2006, but a great vintage? No.

Anyway, I digress - now back to Laulan Ducos and the two 2008s tasted here. Unfortunately neither wine relates to the 2008 barrel sample tasted previously, as the selection had not then taken place, and so it isn't possible for me to look back to see how the wines have progressed. Of course, one might ask whether that is that ever really possible with representative barrel samples anyway.

What is perhaps more important, to my mind at any rate, is appropriate recognition of the high quality provided by the 2009 vintage, here seen through the lens of a sample of the 2009 Prestige de Laulan Ducos. Yes, it is only a barrel sample, but this tasting provides us with yet another piece of the 2009 jigsaw, and the picture becomes a little clearer with every taste. There is clearly greatness in this vintage, and wines from the 'lesser' Bordeaux appellations should provide some great-value drinking in coming years. (10/2/11)

Three more from Château Laulan Ducos - Tasting Notes

Tasted in February 2011. All my notes on the wines of Château Laulan Ducos, including those below, are collated under my Laulan Ducos profile. Click to locate stockists.

Prestige de Laulan Ducos (Médoc) 2009: A barrel sample. A gorgeous hue here, vibrant, dark at the core, with a crimson-raspberry tinge to the rim. The nose is just as delicious, all black cherry with more than a hint of charcoal and smoke, the fruit character very sweet and expressive but with an interesting curranty edge to it as well. The palate has a delicious style, full of the richness and texture that the fruit dominance on the nose suggests, with a sweet black cherry character, but the sweetness doesn't actually manifest in the substance of the wine, which is dry and savoury. There is a really nice vein of texture, ripe tannins totally covered by the fruit, and fairly soft acidity, but it is there, with more grippy elements showing in the finish which suddenly turns into a smoky, lip-smacking style. Delightful, and very indicative of the quality of the vintage. 16-17/20

Château Laulan Ducos (Médoc) 2008: This wine has a fairly pale, cherry red hue in the glass. There follows rather restrained and crunchy, sugar-coated fruit on the nose, with a sweet, violet-cherry note. A rather lean style at the start, and this characteristic continues through the midpalate, with a touch of suppleness very lightly applied to the palate. A slightly stern and dusty style of fruit, not very giving in terms of flesh, but with fresh defining acidity and low level tannins. A little rounding-up of darker fruits at the end of the palate, although still steely-crunchy, and with a short finish. Later, although it showed more substance, with notes of cherry and strawberry, there also came greener elements of vegetal fruit, celeriac especially. 13.5/20

Prestige de Laulan Ducos (Médoc) 2008: An attractive, vibrant, cherry red hue. The nose carries a blast of crunchy fruit, just-ripe barely-red blackberry, cranberry and cherry, with lovely fresh and bright character, and a stalky peppercorn edge. A supple entry, very dominated by fresh and crunchy red fruits, tinged with violets. Nicely textured, with a good fresh character, and some good supporting acidity. Lots of life and vigour in the midpalate, showing an attractive composition here, although it has the cool and stony edge that goes with the vintage I think. Plenty of bright fruit flavour, plus some good spice towards the end leading into a short finish. 15/20