Château Lagrange 1998

This dark ruby-colored, elegant, attractive effort offers spicy new oak, medium body, excellent concentration as well as depth, surprising softness, and early appeal. As with many Medocs, Lagrange's tannins are much friendlier since bottling. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2015.

Blackberry and fresh tobacco aromas follow through to a medium body, with slightly firm tannins and a medium finish. A little lean, but very pretty. -- '88/'98 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2008). Drink now. 21,665 cases made.

Deep crimson. Very rich and glossy yet with lovely straight-backed gloss. Just a tiny bit severe but lovely gloss and purity. Lots of drive and focus. Sweet and polished. (JR)

Dense, rich purple with violet highlights. Currently closed, with plenty of ripe red berries, compact and profound, underpinned by licorice and fine tar notes. On the palate it is again very dense: cherries, now taking on Amarena-like nuances and showing a jammy aromatic profile without conveying sweetness. Lots of concentration in the extract, still gently dry. If further bottle development allows the slightly rustic tannins to gain more suppleness, the wine can reach 18 points at peak drinking.

99: Dark purple-ruby. The bouquet shows dark mushroom notes, beechwood; very restrained overall, with defensive fruit. On the palate, wonderfully sweet, almost jammy in extract, and then suddenly a lot of fruit in the long finish. A bit simple, yet very gastronomic. (17/20). 18: Maturing, slightly dull and clearly lightening wine-red color. A semi-sweet yet dusty bouquet: milk chocolate, lilac notes (floral). Overall rather simple on the nose, but somehow appealing and expansive. A soft, Burgundy-like palate, with jammy contours reminiscent of redcurrant jam. A very good wine that benefited from the vintage’s overall potential. It delivers a Burgundian Pomerol kind of pleasure. (17/20). 21: An attractive deep red color with virtually no signs of age. The bouquet is aromatic, showing subtly smoky Merlot touches, Bakelite, dark roses, sanguine notes and dark chocolate. Still half-fruity, but also floral, with a discreetly cool expression. On the palate, quite fleshy, with a fine supportive astringency. The flow feels slightly crumbly at first, then grows ever softer, offering good aromatic backbone in the finish. A thoughtful, inward-looking, very classic Pomerol, displaying typical Moueix vinification. These are wines that only really get going with extended aeration and make ideal food companions. (17/20).

Tasted blind, not decanted. Achieving this score for this wine, among its peers, is an incredible success—almost a victory! Dark, fairly intense colour. The nose is discreet at first, then becomes fruity, fresh and aromatic. It also suggests ripe fruit. The palate is smooth and silky, with a fresh, juicy flavour. Slow, sappy tannic development. This wine is hard to spit out. The tannin texture is still a little firm on the finish. Average length.