Picked this up for the reasonable price of 13 EU from the supermarket, of all places.
A modern styled (quite international) wine, sweet oak and nice deep cherry and plum, good nose, good length if simple. No aging potential noticable, but a pleasant claret to drink now at a fair price. I shall probably pick up a few bottles.
Anyone else tried this one? I suspect, like many '99 Bordeaux, it's being dumped on the market now...
-E
Hi Emery:
I'm a fan of this wine in the '98 & '00 vintages (haven't tried '99), and didn't find it especially international. More of a classic minerally Graves (ok, Pessac-Leognan). This is a Lurton property, and he is not adamantly in either camp. I wonder if in the somewhat medium-bodied fruity styled '99 vintage he felt some extra oak, etc might help? I know some people have said they thought '99 was a better Merlot vintage than Cabernet, maybe he upped the % of Merlot?
In any case, I usually find the Lurton wines (esp. La Louviere) to offer a lot for the money. Thanks for notes! Dale
Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply
] Hi Emery: ] ] I'm a fan of this wine in the '98 & '00 vintages (haven't tried '99), and ] didn't find it especially international. More of a classic minerally Graves ] (ok, Pessac-Leognan). This is a Lurton property, and he is not adamantly in ] either camp. I wonder if in the somewhat medium-bodied fruity styled '99 ] vintage he felt some extra oak, etc might help? I know some people have said ] they thought '99 was a better Merlot vintage than Cabernet, maybe he upped the ] % of Merlot? ]
Interesting, now that you've mentioned it, I could certainly imagine a higher percentage of merlot than usual in this one. I can't seem to lay me hands on the information, do you recall what the maximum amounts of each cepage authorized are in P.L.?
Odd in that it was not at all that minerally Pessac (OK, Graves) style. I agree that normally La Louviere is not particularly international in style. Normally I wouldn't have guessed '99 as a year to go heavy on the oak, but there you are... and in all fairness, it wasn't really too over balanced.
] In any case, I usually find the Lurton wines (esp. La Louviere) to offer a lot ] for the money. Thanks for notes!
Sometimes, but I've seen La Louviere get a good deal pricier than this bottle! :) Anyway if you run across it (at the price) give it a go and let me know what you think.
-E
You know, I didn't even know that there were limits (I know in some Rhone appelations, for instance, there are, but thought in Bdx if you stuck to the right 5 grapes you had a free hand). But I think that La Louviere is usually quite CS-dominant, so even 30-40% Merlot would probably be a big increase. And I know that's permitted, because the '00 Haut-Brion is 50% Merlot.
My thinking on that was based on an observation I made re some '97 Right Bankers. My usual preference is for the more traditional style. But producers in that style sometimes make somewhat hard, flat wines in a less ripe year. In '97 , I quite liked what some of the more internationally-styled makers (like Barde-Haut, where Rolland consults) did. Some extraction techniques, lots of toasty new oak, led to some nice (if early-drinking) wines. Same techniques in riper years lead to wines I think are overblown.
Will do! Dale
Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply
Hmm, that would explain why I couldn't find any info on the allowed percentages! I guess I just always assumed there were, as in other appellations. But the bordelais have always been allowed to get away with murder. :)
I'll browse around the INAO site when I get a chance, and see if there's any mention.
-E
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