1990 Château Raymond-Lafon

This small estate continues to turn out remarkably rich, unctuously-textured, thick, powerful wines that brilliantly balance power and intensity with elegance and finesse. Now that the 1988, 1989 and 1990 vintages have had some time in the bottle, it appears that the light to medium gold colored 1990 may be the most complete and botrysized among this trio of exceptional wines from Raymond-Lafon. All the wines possess a light to medium gold color, with the 1989 revealing a more evolved, deeper color. All three wines share opulent, full-bodied, exotic, lavishly rich personalities, moderate sweetness (the 1990 is the sweetest), and huge quantities of extract, glycerin, and alcohol in their finishes. All three wines are also extremely young and unevolved. The 1990 appears to be the richest. They can be drunk now, but purchasers are advised to wait until the turn of the century and enjoy them over the following two decades.

The 1990 Raymond-Lafon has a really lovely bouquet with pure botrytised fruit: yellow plum, wax resin, lanolin and light floral scents. Good vigour. The palate is fresh on the entry with palpable energy, a keen line of acidity, tensile from start to finish with a judicious touch of spice on the close. This is excellent and is well worth hunting down.

Lively aromas of pineapple, grapefruit, and smoky, charry oak. Thick and rather backward on the palate, but already shows a graceful balance between the juicy citrus fruit tones and the strong oak spice. Very concentrated, and a bit monolithic today. A big wine that has not yet assumed its adult shape.