The Lagneaux family own eight hectares of land in St Estèphe spread over five plots, the majority of which come from a vineyard abutting Château Haut-Marbuzet. Viticulture and vinification are controlled by Dr Gaëtan Lagneaux who is ably assisted by Pascal Berteau. Unusually, even for a St Estèphe château, Merlot comprises almost 70% of the vineyard area, the rest is planted with Cabernet Sauvignon. This is an invaluable statistic for the Lagneaux family as the early ripening Merlot is often harvested well before the all too frequent Médoc harvest rains. Any unhealthy or poor quality grapes are discarded, whilst the rest are vinified parcel by parcel and then spend a year in oak barrels, half of which are new. Dr Lagneaux’ wines are always well structured and full of plump berry and blackcurrant flavour. However, it is above all their purity and vivacity that make them so striking.