Updated: May 16, 2024
The 2014 Lascombes is a powerful and modern Margaux wine with an aromatically rich, unique blend of dark fruit, leather, bittersweet chocolate, smoke, liquorice, balsamic, and French oak flavours harmoniously meld together in the glass. The nose is cleanly powerful, while the finish is round. This wine promises a bold, intense experience that intrigues and excites—swirling the wine to more. So you have something to announce each swirl, during which you will find it interesting. 2015 is riper and rounder; 2016 is more accessible and almost ready.
The 2014 Lascombes has not just received praise, but high praise from renowned wine critic James Suckling, who awarded it an impressive 93 points. He describes it as having blueberries, wet earth, and dried flowers, with a whole body, solid core fruit, and a long and juicy finish. This high rating and positive review from a trusted source should instill confidence in the wine's quality and investment potential, making it an excellent choice for wine enthusiasts and investors.
The 2014 Lascombes has been awarded 93 points by Wine Enthusiast, a testament to the winery's significant improvement from its past years of over-making. The wine is now full of black fruits and rich tannins, with a projected ageing potential of another 10+ years with bright fruit. This transformation in the winery's approach and the wine's quality make it a secure and optimistic investment for wine enthusiasts, ensuring a promising future for the 2014 Lascombes.
Wine Spectator describes the 2014 Lascombes as having a core of lightly steeped plum, blackberry, and anise notes with a roasted juniper hint framing it. It delivers a fleshy drive through the finish while maintaining a supple, elegant feel overall. Lascombes, one of the largest estates in Margaux, is now performing well. With this vintage, the heavy over-making of past years has been replaced with a wine full of black fruits as much as rich tannins. There is concentration and, importantly, good ageing potential, ensuring a secure investment for wine enthusiasts.
Updated: Apr 18, 2024
Château La Couspaude is a Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classe that has been part of the Aubert family's heritage since 1750. For this 2002 vintage, the fruit was suppressed, as it was using new oak and extended oak fermentation. The wine has a light and soft texture with ripe orangey, red, and black fruits and an herbal finish on the palate. While it lacks complexity, it still pleases the senses. It exhibits a well-integrated grip with a medium mineral finish. If you aim for stylistics long gone, why not this 2002 vintage?
RP did not score it, but older vintages typically score in the high 80s and low 90s, while current vintages score in the mid-90s, such as the 2018 vintage, which is an RP94. The new wine blends Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon from grapes grown on a 7-hectare vineyard with vines averaging 50 years old. Current vintages use aged oak to surface fruit. Regardless of vintages, the grapes are hand-harvested in small crates and chosen by plot. They undergo a meticulous pre-fermentation maceration at low temperatures, with the cap manually punched. The wine then goes through a malolactic fermentation journey in barrels, followed by an 18-month ageing period. This meticulous process ensures a wine of exceptional quality and character, which reflects the winery's unwavering commitment to quality.
Many thanks to OLivier SUblett of CHateau De Roque. If not for Oliver Sublett's introduction to the Auberts, I would not have been able to taste La Couspaude vintages to that extent.
Critics have consistently recognized the dimensions of d'Issan 2012 for its exceptional characteristics that have remained stable and balanced throughout the ageing process. Parker has highly acclaimed its concentration, while Neal Martin has praised its distinct Margaux aroma and taste. Decanter has emphasized its complexity and structure, and Wine Enthusiast unequivocally states its fruity flavour.
So, d'Issan 2012's being awarded 95RP indicates that it is an outstanding wine: this 2012 Château d'Issan stands out in the vintage, one of the superstars. It boasts an inky purple colour and a stunning nose of spring flowers, blueberry and blackberry fruit, with hints of incense and graphite. The medium to full-bodied and stunningly concentrated wine offers a unique tasting experience. It has some potential, like 5 to 10 years.
Drumming on the Margaux classicism, a term used to describe the wine's adherence to the traditional style of the Margaux region, Neal Martin at Vinous says 2012 d'Issan has an aromatic and expressive bouquet with cheerful blackberry, iodine and cedar scents. It is very focused and classy, with seamlessly integrated new oak. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin and perfect acidity. It is compact at the moment but brimming over with mineralité and tension.
Decanter awarded it 94 points for its impressive complexity. It has high acidity, a characteristic well-balanced with cassis and bilberry fruits, slate, cigar, and pencil lead. The tannins are still firm but were successful in 2011 and 2012, which we tasted recently, proving Issan's consistency. It has been aged in 50% new oak.
Wine Enthusiast emphasized its fruit quality and awarded it 93. it opined that this is a ripe, fruity wine with some chocolate extract and black-currant fruitiness. It is a soft wine with attractive final acidity. The note is old, though.
