2000 Chateau Lagrange Les Fiefs de Lagrange Saint-Julien 750 ml

First-Rate “Second Label” from Saint-Julien

In the spring of 2001, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate published a vintage report that would rock the wine world. As Parker wrote, Bordeaux’s spring of 2000 couldn’t have been less auspicious. One of the worst outbreaks of mildew in memory caused château owners to double up efforts in the vines. We were traveling in France throughout June of 2000, and understand why Parker called the month “schizophrenic.” Some days were cold and wet, others hot and dry.

With heavy cloud cover and frequent showers, July provided little relief. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a high-pressure system settled over Bordeaux on July 29th, not budging before the call to harvest. While the early part of the growing season was wet, August and September were exceedingly dry. Those drought-like conditions made for grapes with thick skins and a touch of desiccation.

It's often said on the great wine trails of France that June makes for quantity, August for style, and September for quality. August was glorious. September featured day after day of turquoise skies, and a couple intense heat spikes. Typically, Septembers in Bordeaux bring 3 inches of rain. In September of 2000, less than 2 inches fell.

As Parker wrote, before others fully understood, “That was never more true than 2000, when August left its stylistic imprint on the wines’ enormous tannic content and richness, and the nearly flawless month of September (the finest since 1990) produced many wines of exhilarating quality.”

Seventeen years after the monumental harvest of 2000, the greatest wines of the vintage continue to put on weight, showing off the intense concentration and age-worthy structure of The Wine Advocate’s 96-point vintage. One in particular, the second label of Grand Cru Classé Third Growth Château Lagrange, the 2000 “Les Fiefs de Lagrange” — a bottle that has yet to hit full stride — remains to us one of the most surprising discoveries. Here’s why.

In 2007, Château Lagrange’s winemaker, Marcel Ducasse, retired after a 23-year run and handed the reigns over to Bruno Eynard, who had worked alongside Ducasse since 1990. The retrospective tastings that ensued brought out numerous back-vintages, and always included tastings of the second label, “Les Fiefs de Lagrange.” In report after report, members of the wine trade were floored by the second label’s power and complexity.

Ducasse and then Eynard maintained such a strict regimen of cleanliness and attention to detail in the cellars, not to mention a focus that’s multiplied tenfold in the vineyards, that this second label came to be recognized as a first-rate powerhouse. The fruit selected for “Les Fiefs” was treated as if intended for the Grand Cru Lagrange, and clearly those meticulous efforts paid off — so much so that the winery introduced a third label, one that is truly supposed to be a “drink now,” while the others lay in slumber.

The 2000 “Les Fiefs de Lagrange” from Saint-Julien, tasted at the château on our visit this past summer, was gorgeous and youthful with impeccable complexity and concentration — liquid nirvana. Deep red color. Heady aromas of black cherry, black currant, licorice, bitter chocolate, tobacco, and leather. Tightly wound on the palate, with dark berry and tobacco flavors. Finishes firm and long with sweetness and opulence supported by structured tannins.  Drink now through 2030.

This is a rare opportunity to stash away a STUNNER from one of Bordeaux’s greatest vintages, after SEVENTEEN years of rest in the château’s dimly lit cellars in St.-Julien. 360 bottles in PRISTINE condition — direct from the château. $56. Shipping included on 4.