Chateau La Lagune 2006

A more complicated vintage than 2005 that needed careful handling in the vineyard and cellar. It opens with welcoming damson and blackberry fruit but struggles to build concentration. It focuses primarily on soft undergrowth and leather, with the fruit a little softer than I might have expected. A lingering, mouthwatering finish is lovely and suggests this wine is not done yet. 50% new oak, yield 30 hl/ha.

This is racy for a 2006, with plenty of tobacco, berries and hints of mushroom. Light, stylish earthy character. Medium to full body, fine tannins and a pretty finish with lovely tension. Drink or hold.

Tasted blind. Dark ruby. Not much nose. Overblown. Not enough focus. Picked too ripe? Aggressively drying tannins. (JR)

The 2006 La Lagune has a deep color. There is very good intensity on the nose for a 2006, quite pure with blackberry, briary notes and some blue fruit emerging with time, the oak nicely integrated and certainly more showy than the 2005. The palate is medium-bodied and, for me, perhaps just a touch over-extracted since I was hoping the finish would show more tension and sophistication. There is a pleasant salinity, but I suspect that ultimately the previous vintage will show more class. Maybe it is trying a bit too hard? Tasted at the La Lagune vertical at the château.

Medium-bodied, fresh, elegant, with sweet red berries, freshly picked flowers, and a polished texture, this wine is close to ready for prime-time drinking. It finishes with a sweet, fresh, elegant cherry note. This is one of the few 2006 wines that is already drinking well. The wine was made from a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot and 10% Petit Verdot.

Dull, dark garnet. A nose like a freshly opened tin of beef bouillon paste, notes of dried fruit, a hint of humus. On the palate, completely raisined, with honey notes, light malt, and a sweetness reminiscent of fig syrup. Here too, an illogical evolution is felt at the core, and the future seems uncertain given the extremely sturdy tannins.

Very dark, dense garnet-purple. Dense, slightly sweaty bouquet, plum tones, but also animal hints, lactic nuances, casein notes. On the palate, very concentrated, with firm-core tannins and a demanding, bourgeois astringency, coming across as unnaturally hard and strict, and likely to struggle to digest its immense masses of tannins. The potential is higher than the score. (16/20). 11: Dull, dark garnet. A nose like a freshly opened jar of beef bouillon paste, dried-fruit notes, a hint of humus. On the palate, completely raisined, honey notes, light malt—showing a strange, unsuitable sweetness reminiscent of fig syrup. Here too, there is an illogical evolution at the core, and the future seems questionable, with extremely firm-core tannins on the tongue.

Sweet, finely jammy, broad bouquet, strawberries, fine woods. Soft, slender palate with firm-core tannins, sweet, light aromatics, zesty acidity, light finish. 16/20 2013 - 2022

Dark, intense color. Fruity, creamy, and refined nose. Lovely, fleshy attack on the palate, and the wine unfolds aromatically, with richness and a touch of restraint mid-palate. Then it returns savory and long. Finish slightly tannic with good length.

Having just had the 2005 La Lagune, which I think is the greatest La Lagune I have ever tasted, the 2006 certainly loses some prestige in comparison, but this is an outstanding wine and further evidence of just how strong this estate’s wines have become. Sweet plum and red and black currant fruit, intermixed with notes of resiny pine forest and forest floor as well as a hint of barrique, are followed by a wine with gorgeous depth, an attractive, medium-bodied texture, a fresh, poised personality, and a moderately long finish. This is another beauty, not weighty, but pure, savory, and capable of lasting 15 or more years, although it is accessible already.