1986 Chateau La Lagune - Medoc (750ml)

Château La Lagune's history stretches back to 1715, with vineyards first planted in 1724, one of the closest classified growths to Bordeaux city itself. The 1986 vintage followed a hot, torrid summer interrupted by anxious September storms, rain that diluted early-ripening Merlot on the Right Bank but northern drying winds saved the Médoc's thick-skinned Cabernet. John Gilman found a deep color with less bricking than the 1982, a superior nose loaded with wild strawberry, raspberry, and red cherry mingling with tobacco and roasted chestnut. On the palate, deep, full-bodied, and complex, with a lovely core of fruit, fine focus and grip, and a long, moderately tannic, classy finish. Now approaching 40 years of age, this remains a genuinely well-balanced, collectible Haut-Médoc from a Third Growth estate that consistently overdelivers relative to its classification.