Chateau Lascombes 2000

Jane Anson: "Plum-purple in colour, and once again a controlled freshness is on display, as has been the case in all of these older vintages. Significantly darker than the others tasted so far, just 10 years between this and the 1990 but the colour difference is far greater than between 1970 and 1990. Impressive wine, with plenty of balance, still relatively young, with none of the tertiary characeristics that you find in the older wines. Here instead you get cassis bud, grilled toast, tobacco, blackberry and blackcurrant, with curling edges of campfire and crayon, plenty of Left Bank signature. Lacks a little weight through the mid palate which turns into rigidity on the final moments, but this is enjoyable. 65% new oak (the last year when it sits at around this level until 2017). Bruno le Moine technical director. At this point they had routinely stopped including Cabernet Franc in the blend of the 1st wine."

Weinwisser: "Dunkles Granat mit stark rubinem Rand. Sanft trocknendes Maulbeeren- und Kirschenbouquet, laktischer Touch. Feiner, seidiger Gaumen, süsse Gerbstoffe, geschliffen wirkend, sehr viel Charme, absolut delikates Fruchtfinale mit Himbeer- und Erdbeertouch, auch hier wieder eine laktische Note, carameliger Barrique-Touch, finessenreich. Man hat das Gefühl, einen süssen Spanier zu degustieren. Eine Lascombes-Renaissance?"

The Wine Cellar Insider: "Tasting older than its true age, this medium bodied, black cherry tobacco scented, earthy, soft wine is in its prime time, drinking window. The oak is not obtrusive. This is not a wine for long term again. No hurry to drink it, but I'd finish any bottles over the next 7-10 years."

The Wine Advocate: "The first of a succession of brilliant wines that have emerged from this previously moribund estate over the last decade, the fully mature 2000 Lascombes is an outstanding effort. Notes of cedarwood, roasted herbs, incense, black cherries, and currants emerge from this medium-bodied, evolved Margaux. Consume it over the next 7-8 years."

Falstaff: "Dunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe. Zunächst zart flüchtiger Touch, reife Beerenfrucht, mit zartem Nougat unterlegt. Frische Textur, elegant, tragfähige Tannine, reife Kirschenfrucht, noch etwas hart, Weichselfrucht im Abgang, salzige Mineralik im Rückgeschmack."