The Desert Wine Guy - 2016 Legende de Rothschild Bordeaux

 
   Hello everyone and welcome back once again to my wine blog. Today I will be reviewing the 2016 Legende de Rothschild Bordeaux((http://www.lafite.com/en/). This is a wine that I bought from the Wine Of The Month Club (https://www.wineofthemonthclub.com/) for $9.99 because it sounded interesting. The wine is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon & 40% Merlot. This Bordeaux is billed as "ready to drink" which is said to be unusual for Bordeaux. The line of wine (Légende) was actually started in 2002 however the winemaker in charge of the moderately priced Bordeaux as well as bringing the wine to America is Diane Flamand, Mrs. Flamand took over the program in 2004 and says that she has seen the lineup grow significantly. What a pedigree this wine has but as usual the question that requires answering is, how does the wine taste? Let me get started on answering that question now. To begin this review I want to start at the very appearance of the wine, which means the label.

Diane Flamand

   You guys who follow me know that I am a big label person meaning I believe that a wines label is very important. The label is the very first thing the consumer sees when they go to purchase a wine. I think that the label on this bottle was less then impressive for a wine that is suppose to be representing such a famous Pedigree and region. I was not a lover of the colors used on the label and feel that they weren't thought out very well at all. As for the Font used, I wasn't impressed either and feel that it too could have been thought out better. Overall the label looked rather cartoonish to be honest.
   Moving to how the wine presented itself in my glass the wine had a fairly dark Cherry appearance while looking down the middle of the glass that was appealing to the eyes. On the sides of the glass the wine of course was deeper in color and appeared to be rather serious.
    On the Nose the wine was not impressive at all. Very light (and I do mean very light) notes of an Oak & Black Cherry but when I say very light, I mean it. There was barely any Bouquet to this wine and the little that was there had to be hunted for and even when found it was not impressive at all. Needless to say, I was not impressed.

Chateau Lafite

   So far this wine is not impressing me. Of course in reality a wines label and from what I have discovered, Bouquet, do not make or break a wine however both being impressive would be a great start. Let's move on though and see if the wine can come through where it really matters and that of course is on the Palate.
   Well here we are now looking to see just how the wine came across on the Palate. Folks, I know that the wine supposedly has a pretty prestigious Pedigree and is from a well respected region but........well, I'm getting ahead of myself huh? I think I have to back up a bit and start from the beginning. The very first thing I'll tell you is that the wine first presented on the Palate a note of muddy plum. Yep, muddy plum. The wine just presented a note of.......dirt or dust. Mix this note with a Black Cherry that is lacking any sugar and you will understand what I am getting here to start off with. There is an astringency that presents a peppery bite of green wood and agave, NOT what a Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot should taste like and I don't care where it is from or who the Winemaker is, period. Following these notes up is one of Oak that is superficial at best. Let me elaborate for a second on that Black pepper note that I just mentioned.

Domaines Barons de Rothschild - Lafite

I love when the note of Black Pepper is presented in a red wine, to me it brings a sense of presence or backbone to a wine. There are Tannins and they are smooth and ripe but what good are they if the rest of the wine is deficient in good flavor? The Finish on the wine seemed to be watered down and while the other notes didn't disappear they were subdued to a large extent by that watery type Finish.
   Today was busy especially in the Loft. While I normally come up here with my kids and Max, my German Shepherd the kids will play on their Computers and Max will play with his bone today was a little different as the kids got new Laptops for the holiday ( Hanukkah) and they needed to be set up. A lot of time (2 hours) was spent doing the setup and the wine spent that time getting a chance to open up or develop. Here is what happened to the wine. Beginning at the Bouquet, did it change at all? The short answer is no, it did not. The Palate, did it develop at all? The answer is yes, ever so slightly. How did it develop? The wine began to display slightly more flavor in the sugar area but that flavor did not last for long as it faded quickly. I am now back to a mediocre wine at best. I am just going to move to the closing paragraph and end this review of a rather disappointing wine.

   First thing is first folks, let's set the record straight. A wine is called a "Bordeaux" only because it is grown in the part of France named "Bordeaux". Other then this fact, the word is just that, a word. To say that all Bordeaux's are great or even good is like saying that every wine made in Napa is good or great, it's simply not so. The same thing goes for a Bordeaux. Folks, I am not feeling this wine. Remember this wine is simply a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot, two rather common grapes nothing more, it is not some blend of exotic grapes and despite where it grows or who makes it there is a process and everything in that process must go fairly well in order to make a good or great wine. Somewhere along the line things went not quite so right. Overall here, the wine is okay and that's it. It is a drinkable but a disappointing wine as well. It starts right away in the Mouth rather nicely but almost immediately drops everything it promised and enters the Twilight Zone as far as taste. I really can't say anything good about the wine, I'm sorry guys. From the Label to the Bouquet to the Palate, the wine fails in all categories. There was a song with lyrics that said "don't believe the hype" and it seems as if the song was in reference to this wine. In short, the wine falls flat and in my opinion is a failure.Sauvignon (https://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-desert-wine-guy-2014-awning-estate.html) at Wine Of The Month Club for around $13. No, it doesn't have the word Bordeaux" on the label but it blows this wine away. There it is, plain, simple & straight for you to read. On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale, I give this wine 83 (A wine that is not worth mentioning) points.Yes, it is palatable but certainly not worth wasting your time on especially when you have the 2014 Awning Cabernet

                                                                                                                 The Desert Wine Guy

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