“This wine is almost too good to be true.”- Jeb Dunnuck writing for Wine Advocate
It’s really pretty remarkable what Jean-Marc Lafage has done, and continues to do. Vintage in and vintage out he makes some of the most compelling, character-filled, value-priced juice on the planet. And, while the whole lineup gets pretty serious praise, it has been the Bastide Miraflors bottling that seems to rightfully get the most enthusiastic verbiage and the biggest numbers.
It has been a matter of course that we can open an offer with a zealous endorsement from someone else that is probably more of a sales pitch than anything we might utter. Robert Parker’s note on the 2014, for example, was “He has really hit a home run with this 10,000-case cuvée.” The note on this one above and the 94-point score (the highest in this five-vintage series of 90+ scores starting in 2011), keeps the ‘streak’ alive. Not surprisingly, this is the best effort released thus far but it is from the best vintage among those releases. In short, it is another common achievement for Lafage but definitely an uncommon success for this price level.
There are only a very few in the wine world that can produce as many wines that are loaded with character and reflect the personality of the region for these kinds of prices. But just because the talented and ever resourceful Jean-Marc Lafage keeps pulling down these ‘big-time’ reviews on these ‘little’ wines, it doesn’t mean it isn’t still exciting.
Dunnuck’s words read like a pep talk, and rightly so, “This wine is almost too good to be true. A blend of 70% Syrah and 30% Grenache that was brought up in concrete tanks (Grenache) and demi-muids (Syrah), the 2015 Bastide Miraflors Vieilles Vignes reminded me of a mini Syrah from California's Manfred Krankl (yes I just compared a $14 Syrah to Sine Qua Non). It's a ripe, sexy, heady beauty that exhibits a deep, purple color as well as killer notes of smoked meats, chocolate, blackberry and black raspberries. Deep, unctuous, open knit and layered, it continues to change in the glass, has a seamless and silky profile, and not a hard edge to be found. It's a sensational value that needs to be tasted to be believed. Drink it anytime over the coming 2-4 years.”
Couldn’t have said it better ourselves. We would add that this wine has proven itself quite versatile as well, pairing nicely with everything from a simple burger to a steak to a plate of pasta, at a price low enough that you can enjoy this ‘too-good-to-be-true”, “sensational value” juice on a regular basis. Provided you move quickly that is. Lafage’s Bastide Miraflors usually doesn’t hang around for long and we expect even less ‘shelf time’ for this particular effort.
Good hunting.
Lafage Bastide Miraflors Vieilles Vignes 2015
94 Points! It's a ripe, sexy, heady beauty that exhibits a deep, purple color as well as killer notes of smoked meats, chocolate, blackberry and black raspberries. Deep, unctuous, open knit and layered, it continues to change in the glass, has a seamless and silky profile, and not a hard edge to be found. It's a sensational value that needs to be tasted to be believed. Drink it anytime over the coming 2-4 years. - Jeb Dunnuck, Wine Advocate
