Chateau Lagrange 2000

I bought a case of this en primeur, so they’ve been in the cellar for twenty years. This is the penultimate bottle, opened to celebrate 600 miles covered in my virtual walk. I have to admit it was opened with some trepidation as the previous (drunk on Boxing Day 2021) was a severe disappointment, written up in my notes as ‘bof’ – or a mere 2 on the Marchbanks scale.

Well, I don’t know what was wrong with either it or me, but this bottle is stupendous! It has a glorious, rich mouth-filling profundity that makes me wonder about my belief that the right bank is the proper place to be in Bordeaux. Cabernet Sauvignon in excelsis. A definite 5 on the scale (‘oh, man!’) – the first this year, I think. Now I’m depressed because I only have one more to go.