We had some good friends over for dinner last night (Saturday) as they were celebrating a recent success at work. Fortunately these particular friends are into their wine, and especially Bordeaux, luckily for us they bought the above beauty along with them for everyone to try. It's what's called a "First Growth", which is the highest designation in the 1855 ranking system for Bordeaux wines. There are five levels or "growths" in the system but only five particular chateaux qualify for first status, Lafite, which is owned by the Rothschild family is one of those five. This means that these wines are among the rarest and most expensive of all Bordeaux wines and regularly go for many hundreds of pounds per bottle and sometimes, in good years, even higher. This bottle (actually a half bottle) was the 2004 vintage which was a relatively good year coming from a large crop in the region, we were eager to try it. Having decanted the wine we let it open out for half an hour or so and then dove in, wow, delicious, blackcurrants, dark fruits, spice and sweet oak. So perfectly balanced, a faultless wine showing off all the typical traits of this famous wine growing region, a delight to try and we savored every last drop. Fortunately, the meal I cooked for everyone, a red wine lovers feast of steak and dauphinoise, turned out pretty decent too, followed by some awesome cheese from Neals Yard in London, an embarrassment of riches consumed over the course of a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
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