2016 Château Larcis Ducasse, St Emilion, Bordeaux

2016 Château Larcis Ducasse, St Emilion, Bordeaux

Product: 20161012185
 
2016 Château Larcis Ducasse, St Emilion, Bordeaux

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Description

The vines at Ch. Larcis Ducasse are planted on south-facing vineyards with a limestone surface. A big wine with dark fruit, this is full-bodied, structured and fresh on the palate. It finishes long with a saline note and plenty of grip.

Blend: Merlot 87%, Cabernet Franc 13%

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate93-95/100
The 2016 Larcis-Ducasse is a blend of 87% Merlot and 13% Cabernet Franc picked between 12-19 October, matured in 225- and 500-liter barrels. It matured in 50% new oak, which is a lower proportion than you would have found in 2009 or 2010. It has a lively, expressive bouquet with detailed blackberry, briary and cranberry aromas that are neatly embroidered with the new oak, allowing the terroir to show through. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, very well balanced, quite spicy and peppery in the mouth but maintaining satisfying tension from start to finish. This is a very well crafted Larcis-Ducasse although I hope that during the élevage it will just gain more persistence on the aftertaste. One to watch.
Neal Martin - Wine Advocate #230, April 2017 Read more
Jancis Robinson MW17/20
Very floral and sumptuous on the nose. Rich and round and perfumed. Lots of juice and appeal. Interesting! A hint of sweet leather. Grown-up wine. Drink 2025-2040.
Jancis Robinson - 13th April 2017 Read more
James Suckling95-96/100
This is very polished and beautiful with ultra-fine tannins and a long, linear finish. It has a density and beauty that seduces you.
James Suckling - April 2017 Read more
Decanter92/100
This is ripe and well extracted, tight, firm and a little austere, with a note of bitter dark chocolate. It's fresh on the finish, benefitting from its location on the limestone plateau with deeper clay cover in parts of the vineyard, hence the high 95% level of Merlot. This is complemented by 4.5% Cabernet Franc and 0.5% Cabernet Sauvignon with a yield of 48hl/ha, representing 47% of overall production in 2016. Drinking Window 2027 - 2050.
Jane Anson - Decanter, 3rd April 2017 Read more

About this WINE

Chateau Larcis Ducasse

Chateau Larcis Ducasse

Traditionally Ch. Larcis Ducasse, a St Emilion Grand Cru Classé, was regarded as a property with exceptional terrior but a constant underperformer. This has changed, mainly thanks to the talents of a new winemaking team headed up by Nicolas Thienpont (of Ch. Pavie Macquin repute) and Stephane Derenoncourt (the mercurial 'flying wine consultant') who have managed to unlock the potential of this sleeping giant.

The estate is located on one of Bordeaux's finest strips of terroir - the Cote Pavie in St Emilion. Here, this 25-acre property abuts the 1er Grand Cru Classé Ch. Pavie estate. The vines are planted on an eclectic range of soils - alluvial sand deposits, clay, chalk and limestone. The vines, as one would expect for that part of the world, are predominately Merlot (some 75%) Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.

The new winemaking team arrived in 2002 and since then, the wines have gone from strength to strength. Look out especially for the 2005 Ch. Larcis Ducasse (98/100 Parker), 2006 Ch. Larcis Ducasse (91-94 Parker) and 2007 Ch. Larcis Ducasse (92-94 Parker), as these are the manifestation of all the hard work undertaken at the château over recent years.

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St Émilion

St Émilion

St Émilion is one of Bordeaux's largest producing appellations, producing more wine than Listrac, Moulis, St Estèphe, Pauillac, St Julien and Margaux put together. St Emilion has been producing wine for longer than the Médoc but its lack of accessibility to Bordeaux's port and market-restricted exports to mainland Europe meant the region initially did not enjoy the commercial success that funded the great châteaux of the Left Bank. 

St Émilion itself is the prettiest of Bordeaux's wine towns, perched on top of the steep limestone slopes upon which many of the region's finest vineyards are situated. However, more than half of the appellation's vineyards lie on the plain between the town and the Dordogne River on sandy, alluvial soils with a sprinkling of gravel. 

Further diversity is added by a small, complex gravel bed to the north-east of the region on the border with Pomerol.  Atypically for St Émilion, this allows Cabernet Franc and, to a lesser extent, Cabernet Sauvignon to prosper and defines the personality of the great wines such as Ch. Cheval Blanc.  

In the early 1990s there was an explosion of experimentation and evolution, leading to the rise of the garagistes, producers of deeply-concentrated wines made in very small quantities and offered at high prices.  The appellation is also surrounded by four satellite appellations, Montagne, Lussac, Puisseguin and St. Georges, which enjoy a family similarity but not the complexity of the best wines.

St Émilion was first officially classified in 1954, and is the most meritocratic classification system in Bordeaux, as it is regularly amended. The most recent revision of the classification was in 2012

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Merlot

Merlot

The most widely planted grape in Bordeaux and a grape that has been on a relentless expansion drive throughout the world in the last decade. Merlot is adaptable to most soils and is relatively simple to cultivate. It is a vigorous naturally high yielding grape that requires savage pruning - over-cropped Merlot-based wines are dilute and bland. It is also vital to pick at optimum ripeness as Merlot can quickly lose its varietal characteristics if harvested overripe.

In St.Emilion and Pomerol it withstands the moist clay rich soils far better than Cabernet grapes, and at it best produces opulently rich, plummy clarets with succulent fruitcake-like nuances. Le Pin, Pétrus and Clinet are examples of hedonistically rich Merlot wines at their very best. It also plays a key supporting role in filling out the middle palate of the Cabernet-dominated wines of the Médoc and Graves.

Merlot is now grown in virtually all wine growing countries and is particularly successful in California, Chile and Northern Italy.

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