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  • Country ranking ?

    1 414
  • Producer ranking ?

    20
  • Decanting time

    1h
  • When to drink

    2020-2035
  • Food Pairing

    Beef

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The Story

Château La Lagune is a 3éme Cru Classé property that produces some of the finest wines in the Haut-Médoc AC. La Lagune's history dates back to 1715 when its handsome château was constructed. The vineyards were first planted in 1724. 

La Lagune had hit hard times and fallen into disrepair when Georges Brunet bought it in 1954. He replanted the vineyards and totally renovated the chai. By the time he sold it to the Ayala Champagne firm in 1961, the property had been transformed.

In 1999 the Frey family took over the estate and have worked hard to shift the wine style of Chateau La Lagune to more elegant and refined in style by reducing the use of new oak and focus on enhancing the fruit quality on their vineyards.

The Freys (who also own Paul Jaboulet Aine in the Rhone) have a habit of changing the fortunes of floundering wineries with excellent terroir by focusing on the inherent quality and investing in the winery and vineyard. Caroline Frey has worked for many years to put in place a viticultural process that respects the environment, based on organic and biodynamic agriculture. This natural approach, which is adapted for every single parcel, plays a fundamental role in the quality of the wines.

In the same spirit of excellence as they produce their flagship wine, the property also produces a second wine, called ‘Moulin de La Lagune’, and, since 2004, a third cuvée called ‘Mademoiselle L’. Planted on one of the most perfect gravelly ridges in the region, the La Lagune vineyard covers 80 hectares, where Caroline has been working for many years to establish environmentally friendly viticulture, based on practices from organic and biodynamic agriculture. It is above all a question of preserving the terroirs, soils and vines, but also the health of the winegrowers who work there. The official switch to organic conversion was initiated in 2013, with certification planned for the 2016 harvest. This natural approach, adapted to each plot, plays a fundamental role in the quality of the wines. It allows the fruit to draw from the soil all the complexity and finesse of a terroir, to restore them to us, thanks to patient and precise vinification and aging in barrels using the traditional method.

La Lagune is the first property you pass driving out of Bordeaux on the Route de Vins. It is in fact only 15 kilometres from Bordeaux city. There are 72 hectares of vineyards planted with Cabernet Sauvignon (60%), Merlot (20%), Cabernet Franc (10%), and Petit Verdot (10%). The grapes are fermented in temperature-controlled, stainless steel tanks and the wine is then aged in oak barriques from which 50-80% are new for 15-18 months.

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Vintage 1990

Early, uniform flowering, a hot but unspectacular summer and an exceptionally hot period at the end of August 1990 and the first half of September. It was this heat that allowed the record harvest not only to fully ripen, but also to concentrate the fruit. Harvesting began on September 14 and was completed before the start of heavy rains on October 2. Another reason for the success of the vintage was that most châteaux had invested in their cellars and were able to work with such a large and hot harvest. It was now possible to control fermentation temperatures better than in previous warm vintages, such as 1947. The grapes produced wines with such a high level of natural alcohol that chaptalization became unnecessary. They showed deep color, high and unusually sweet tannin levels and better acidity than expected, as well as great concentration of fruit. The hype was great, particularly thanks to the advent of new wine magazines - this was the vintage that cemented Robert Parker's reputation. Prices rose quickly and haven't looked back since. I remember that all Premiers Crus (including Pétrus) were offered to end consumers for around 50 euros en primeur in 1983.

The scene of the arrival of the 1990 vintage was quite different. There was a surplus of very good to great wine on the market – for the first time, there was talk of three great vintages in succession. This led most châteaux to drop their prices by around 20% from their 1989 prices, even though the quality was exceptional. There had been a steady increase in prices during the 1980s, but they had now more or less returned to the opening prices of the 1982s. This was again a record harvest, but as most châteaux had already introduced a "second wine" and were more selective regarding quality, there was actually less wine bottled under the name "Grand Vin" than in 1982.

We have been following these two vintages since they were young, as they were both precocious and easy to drink from the start. The best wines from both vintages are spectacular, but the overall quality is much higher in 1990. Here, the wines have been equally successful on both sides of the river, and even the small châteaux have produced something special. We always found most Right Bank 1982s to be overly alcoholic and lacking in structure; Indeed, many age quickly.

 

 

 

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Origin

Haut Medoc, Bordeaux
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