1999 Lanessan, Haut-Médoc

This is the bottle of Bordeaux you should take home for dinner tonight! Perfectly aged, medium bodied with soft fruit that is accented with underbrush and tobacco and earth. The tannins are mature and round, the time is right for this bottle.

If you love classic Bordeaux at an affordable price, you need look no farther than Chateau Lannessan! Loads of dark plum on the nose with notes of cacao, tobacco leaf, and cedar. This wine has great texture and a ripe mid palate backed by solid acidity and fine tannins. It will certainly age for another few years, but is great now with an hour of decanting

The 99 Lanessan is a beautifully mature Bordeaux. It is silky on the palate, with well-developed fruit flavors, accented by notes of leather and earth. At $20, it might be one of the best values in the store today - a must-try for any wine lover.

This could be our best value in the store when you consider overall quality and straight-from-the-winery’s-cellar aging. That’s 10-year-old Bordeaux in great condition for only 20 bucks. On the nose: mushroom and earth, which also comes through on the palate with dried black fruit and tobacco. The finish is flush with cassis followed by more tobacco and earth. If you haven’t had an aged Bordeaux and want to experience it without spending too much coin, treat yourself to this wine.

This perfect-for-drinking 11 year old claret will be overlooked by far too many of our customers because of its very low price. Don't be one of those folks! This wine is good enough to be a very recommendable $40 Bordeaux, and is very complete wine. It is quite full bodied without loosing its elegance, and has fantastic, evolved, cassis Cabernet flavor to spare. It also has an intriguing, earthy tobacco note that I found quite appealing. I can't wait to serve it with my next "full English" meal of rare roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, mash potatoes and Brussels sprouts! I will have to remember to buy some extra for the years to come as well, this bottle has more than enough guts to last!

I have long been a fan of this over performing Haut-Médoc estate. Château Lanessan has as storied a history as many classified growths. The current owners, the Delbos-Bouteiller family, can date their ownership of the property back to 1793, and the property itself to 1310. The wines were not included in the Classification of 1855 since the owner at the time, Louis Delbos, neglected to send in samples to the committee. However, it was considered to be the equal of many fifth growths. The property lies just to the south of Château Beychevelle in the commune of Cussac-Fort-Médoc, and has a very St. Julien-like character. This 1999 vintage is surprisingly ripe with firm tannins and impressive dark fruit. With some time in a decanter notes of black currants and cedar emerge on the nose. In the mouth, the fruit is rich and concentrated - blackberry compote and damson plum. 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. For Bordeaux lovers this wine represents a tremendous value at less than $20. Drink now or enjoy over the next 3 to 5 years.