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Chateau Lascombes has seen many ups and downs during the last century with the wines being at their zenith in the 1930s when they commanded as much price as a Chateau Margaux. It enjoyed a great reputation in the 50s and 60s in the US because of direct involvement of the well-known vintner, writer, author and wine importer, Alexis Lichine, irreverently known in the US as the ‘Pope of Wine’. However, the 70s saw a decline in the quality after the new British owners took over in 1971.
The turn around towards better quality started again in 2001 when the American investment company, Colony Capital bought it over and brought in Dominique Befve who had worked in Ch. Lafite Rothschild from 1990-2000, as the new General Manager and head of the company. Michel Rolland was also brought in as the winemaker consultant to bring changes into the quality and the results have been showing in the 2003 vintage we tasted at the Rick’s. Bar at Hotel Taj Mahal.
Sébastian Bazin, the president of the company, who is the CEO- Europe of the above investment fund company has also been very good in making investments, says Dominique.
During his first visit to India, Dominique talked about the 84 hA estate and what they had done to improve the quality of the fruit, including making the vine density at 10,000 vines per hA and using revolving barrels for doing the batonage.
Surprisingly the company makes only these two labels, using Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon in almost equal proportion, with around 5% of petit Verdot. Dominique explained, ‘we feel our soil is more suited for Merlot than other parts of Medoc. So we grow slightly more Merlot than the other starred properties of Medoc.’
Explaining the winemaking process he said, ‘the juice from different parcels is fermented separately after cold maceration at 6ºC for 6-8 days to extract full tannins. In November, we decide in consultation with Rolland which wine goes for the chateau wine and which one is consigned to the second wine bottles of which we produce 100,000. The chateau wine is aged in new barriques (225-liter oak barrels) for 20 months while the Chevalier is aged in the 20-month-used barriques.’ A total of around 300,000 bottles are produced every year.
Adds Christophe Orlarei, the newly inducted French General Manager Marketing at Brindco, ‘ with my long experience in gastronomy and hospitality industry in the US, I know Indians would love to have wines like Lascombes by-the-glass and we plan to promote their Chevalier De Lascombes, their second wine in progressive restaurants like the Zest.’
Indeed when I tasted the Chevalier De Lascombes 2005, it was quite aromatic and well-balanced wine with soft and juicy tannins and a minty flavour with a refreshing acidity in the back layer beckoning for the next sip even though the berry flavour persisted on the palate. But when I tasted the Chateau Lascombes, their chateau (first) wine, the influence of Michel was more obvious in the glass. It had exotic nose with spicy background and a touch of roses. The flavour was firm and of ripe berry fruits and chocolate, with a slight peppery shade. The mouthfeel was full, even on the back palate and the taste was lingering.
Befve adds that their wines are drunk best between 10-20 years for the Chateau wine and 5-10 years for the Chevalier. He does not feel the need for decanting but suggests opening the bottle in the morning and serve in the evening. A piece of advice if you order it in a restaurant, he says-tell the waiter to empty the bottle into another bottle and put it back in the original bottle. The touch of air will open up the wine adequately. Of course, the evolution in the glass will always show you the different colours of the rainbow.
One might soon find Lascombes in Delhi at Zest, Taj or Shangri-la, considering a very good price-quality ratio and the wine prices being more affordable than the First Growths and even some of the Second Growths and the wine does offer the elegance and harmony.
Subhash Arora |