Saturday night – Kathy’s Birthday – Part 2

Click here for Part 1

For the main course and as it was a special occasion, we decided to go with a 1999 Château Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac. We were all having steaks or filets so this wine should be a good match with the food.

"6oz Filet with Shrimp"

The Lafite had a lovely nose of truffle, coffee, chocolate, cherry, sweet tobacco, black current and anise. Tasting the wine just made you sigh with pleasure as it had nice fruit on the tongue to start, a smooth mid-palate and an incredible lingering finish. The structure of this wine was perfect; the balance made this wine so smooth and easy drinking it wasn’t funny. The most impressive thing about the wine was the finish as it just lingered for minutes and you could just sit back enjoy this. It was very good with the food.

"The Cork"

The only small compliant I had with the wine was the mouth-feel could have been a touch bigger/chewier. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing; the 1999 Latour we had a few months back had a much more masculine mouth-feel to it, where as this wine was more feminine in its approach. This is more of a personal preference than a criticism.

"The Cork from a more artistic angle"

There was no LCBO listing for a 1999 Lafite Rothschild so here are the Wine Spectator’s comments on the wine –

Château Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac 1999

Complex aromas of blackberries, tobacco, spices and black licorice are alluring in this full-bodied claret, with a solid core of fruit and silky tannins. Long, caressing finish. Superfine, well-structured. Best after 2006. 22,500 cases made. –JS

Score: 95, Release Price: $141 US, Current Auction Price: $327 US.

"The Bottle"

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 95, Mark – 93, Kathy – 94, Amy – 94, Overall – 94

That 94 rating places it second on the Zippy Sauce Top Ten list between the Insignia and the Latour. It is interesting with the top 3 wines that all of them have a quality that stands out; the Insignia had the best taste/mouth-feel, the Latour had best nose and the Lafite had the best finish. If I could find a wine that had all three of those qualities combined…wow! I guess I’ll just have to keep looking!

Cheers!

Mark