Chateau Prieure Lichine, 1999 Margaux
(approx. $24/bottle US)
This is my all-time favorite wine.
As I am a Bordeaux fan already, it should come as no surprise that a Margaux would be my favorite as they are so close in variety.
While 2000 Bordeaux's were the best, this 1999 is outstanding in flavor, texture and palate.
The story of how I got my first bottle may interest you:
My wife and I were going to Paris, and I knew I was going to see a friend there who collects an incredible amount of wine, I brought with me, a Merlot made here in Connecticut by the Haight Vineyards not far from where I live.
In return, my friend (Hubert) gave me a bottle of this wonderful wine to take home with me.
Well, when I got home, and my wife and I opened this bottle of ambrosia, both of our eyes bugged out! This wine took our breath away it was so good. Thus began my web search for this wine (unbelievably hard to find in the US). In the meantime, we opened a second bottle of the Haight Merlot that we had bought.
It was awful. I felt so bad, that I gave Hubert such an awful wine, and he gave me nectar from the Gods.....
This wine is made up of 34% merlot, 10% petit verdot, 56% cabernet sauvignon and displays red licorice aromas with hints of mocha and spice.
Well, a short time later, I found a place on Manhattan that had 3 cases of this wine. Though it was pretty expensive, my friend Aaron and I drove down there, picked up a case and brought it home.
I made myself a promise, not to drink more than one bottle a year, and so far... I've kept that promise!
This wine, if you can find it (and there is some in the US still available), sells for about $25 per bottle.
A wine taster online says about this wine:
First tasted Mar-00: dark deep purple. Ample black cherry fruit on nose. Quite elegant. Good balance with attractive smoky fruits. Firm structure. A bit fore-square but a pretty wine - pure and classy. (19/25) Tasted again in Nov-03: the nose is more austere than expected with smoky black fruits. Lacks a little vigour. The palate is very sweet with redcurrant and raspberry fruits. Chewy tannins.
More information about Chateau Prieure Lichine Margaux
Keep in mind, the tasting above was done when the wine was extremely young. This is an excellent wine for aging, as it gets better and better with each passing year. At about 20 years old, this wine will reach full maturity.
I hope you get to try some of this someday.. it's my #1 wine.
Here's a great link to information on Chateau Preiure Lichine
posted by Dave | Thursday, September 08, 2005
4 Comments:
Need date and time of tasting. May I bring 20 or 30 friends?
Sheesh, what a grouch!
Great site, Dave! I've always liked that pic of you too.
*HUGS*
Dave, I appreciate the invitation to this blog, but there are very few wines I've tried that I enjoy. Dry wines just make my face pucker, and I've tried some of the "good" ones. I'm a fan of sweet wines served chilled, which I know some folks say is classless. Here's a description of the one wine I enjoy and would buy again:
Niagara: A medium-sweet, white varietal table wine with the fresh fruity flavor and luscious aroma of the famed Niagara grape. Serve well chilled with fish, roasted chicken, or after dinner.
It's from Wiederkehr winery, in my home state of Arkansas.
There's actually an area called Arkansas Wine Country, and the wineries there supposedly put out some good stuff. I'd rather Altus be remembered for that instead of Paris Hilton's stay there during the first Simple Life season.
Hi Dave,
I'm just having a case of this delivered to my house. I bought it from The Wine Society here in the UK back in 1998 before it had even been bottled. It's been with the WS in their cellars ever since. I'm so pleased to have read such a high recommendation of this wine as I read on your blog and am now really looking forward to tasting it. Will certainly raise one to you in the days ahead.
Cheers!
Paul
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