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Singapore, April 13, 2012 The e-mail I received on March 16 from Karine Barbier, public relations manager of Chateau Lascombes (where Dominique Befve is the general manager) read: "Mr Dominique Befve would like to invite you to the event enclosed. There will be a Lascombes dinner with the 'Commanderie de Bordeaux' in SingaporeÂ…". I had not seen Dominique since visiting him at the newly renovated Chateau Lascombes some 10 years ago, and was pleased to be able to meet him again. Invitation promptly accepted! Chateau Lascombes's history goes all the way back to the 17th century. A Second Growth in the Bordeaux 1855 Classification, it had been at its peak in the late 1960s, but for a long time after that it failed to live up to its status as Second Growth. Owned for a short period by a group led by Alexis Lichine, it was then acquired by the Bass Charrington group in 1971. Lascombes's wines during much of the ownership of Bass did not quite do justice to its second-growth classification, and it was not till 1985 with the appointment of Rene Vannetelle as Director of the Chateau that the wines began to show improvement. In 2001 Lascombes changed hands again, being acquired by Colony Capital. Dominique was brought in as director and came with impeccable credentials having worked at Lafite and L'Evangile. Alan Reynaud was the first consultant but was swiftly replaced by Michel Rolland after the 2001 vintage which had proved to be quite controversial. Improvements under the management of Dominique and Michel brought great improvement in quality although some concern has been expressed concerning over-extraction. I visited Dominique at Lascombes in the spring of 2004 and found the improvements impressive, with Lascombes looking once more the Second Growth it is. Lascombes changed hands again in July 2011, and the new owners were a French insurance company MACSF. Chevalier Lascombes 2008 Second wine of Lascombes, contains a higher proportion of Merlot than the Grand Vin. Merlot 50 per cent, Cabernet Sauvignon 46 per cent, Petit Verdot 5 per cent. Dark red colour showing light tints of brown. Bouquet very Medoc in character, a delicious sweet cedary cassis nose. Good weight and density with very good ripeness, black coffee, chocolate and liquorice. A very tasty wine, very good for the vintage too. Chateau Lascombes Cepage: 50 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, 45 per cent Merlot, 5 per cent Petit Verdot. 2004 Very deep red colour with brown tints. A lovely nose, very attractive Medoc aroma, with lots of cedar and tobacco, cassis and blackcurrant. Soft full entry on the palate, liquorice, and black coffee, very concentrated and intense, finishing very long. Far from ready. Worth watching - and buying to lay down. 17/20 2001 Dominique's first vintage: Same colour as the 2004 but more itense. Lovely perfume on the nose, very Margaux, cedary and blackcurrant. Rich, dense and very concentrated, very fresh, sweet cassis and cedary, good minerality and length. Has the softness and delicacy of a Margaux. 18/20 2005 Brilliant deep garnet red, very ripe full bouquet very similar to 2001, very cedary. On the palate very sweet but still quite tannic, finishing long but with a slightly bitter finish. Has the basics, but the bitter finish is worrying. Need to see again in three to four years. Could be good, following the example of the 2001. Currently 16/20 2000 The last vintage under the Bass Charrington ownership. Same colour as the 2001. Good but lacks the backbone of the 2001, as well as the freshness and minerality. Disappointing for a 2000. Overall the 2004 was the most impressive that evening, far from ready, and quite surprising for a vintage generally regarded as average. The 2005 was a disappointment after the 2004. As for the 2001, there has been interesting controversy over this vintage. Clive Coates in his book The Wines of Bordeaux (2004) wrote "Reynaud's first vintage 2001 was a disaster: over-extracted and clumsy." Stephen Brook in his monograph The Complete Bordeaux (2007) quoted his tasting notes about 2001 from a blind tasting in 2005 "rich new oak, powerful, imposing; very rich and concentrated, dense, powerful tannins, has real weight of fruit, not very Margaux but impressive, complex and long." Two diametrically opposed views. At this tasting, for me the 2001 showed best and was a good representative of Margaux's wines - perfumed bouquet, softly complex, often described as feminine but for me it is to Bordeaux what Chambolle Musigny is to Burgundy. So we have three notes about the 2001 - Coates in 2004, Brook in 2007, mine in 2012. I believe that what we are seeing in Lascombes 2001 is the eventual assertion of terroir over all other factors. There have been wine press comments regarding some degree of over-extraction but the overall improvement has been impressive. I used to find the history of the Chateaux laborious and even boring but that was a mistake. If you really want to know and understand the wine, then the history is as important as the terroir. The catchword today in wine-speak is "terroir". Wine lovers are urged to focus on the terroir, that is to become "terroirists"! But terroir without the right human management and oversight cannot succeed. This is so well exemplified in the modern story of Lascombes, now taking its rightful place as a Second Growth. And the opening prices too have gone up - the 2000 vintage opened at 22 euro, 2009 at 60 euro, and 2010 at 72 euro! A substantial increase but quality cannot come cheap.
