Château Labat: Tasting & Drinking
The wines of Château Labat demonstrate a classic style, structured and fresh with good acidity. In a quartet of vintages from 2004 to 2007 which I tasted quite a few years ago it might come as no surprise that I found the 2005 to be the most convincing, but both the 2004 and 2006 also showed strong suggestions of promise for the future. None, however, were approaching readiness to drink at that time, and so I thought I would look to cellar these wines for at least five or six years from the vintage, and perhaps a little longer specifically for the 2005.
Encounters with more recent vintages have come along with reasonable regularity. The 2010 showed well, although the 2016 vintage is my favourite in recent years. I thought the 2014 punched above its weight, while the 2018 was serviceable. Other vintages, such as 2017 and 2012, were somewhat less intriguing. All the same, this remains a property worth knowing, as it can provide a classically styled left-bank experience combined with good value, and that is not a combination to be sniffed at. (3/3/10, updated 10/11/21)
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