Château Lagrange: Tasting & Drinking
Château Lagrange has demonstrated the success that outside investment can bring to an struggling Bordeaux château. Long gone are the days when the grand families of Bordeaux could afford to maintain both a fine old château and the extensive holding of vineyards that comes with it. There are a few exceptions, I admit, but the majority of the grander Bordeaux châteaux are now in the hands of big business conglomerates or insurance and pension companies, and many are probably the better for it. Suntory have restored this château and vineyard to something resembling its glory days, and now they are pushing quality higher with new investment.
My tasting experience with Château Lagrange stretches back to the early 1980s, but the vintages of the 1990’s and 2000 onwards feature much more prominently. There are many fine wines here, with the 2000 being particularly strong. I was once a little concerned about the 2001 vintage, as in youth it seemed remarkably forward, but a much more recent tasting put any such concerns to bed. At fifteen years of age the wine was showing very well indeed, and on this one tasting occasion it even managed to eclipse the 2000.
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