.jpg?fm=avif&q=30 "Château Lagrange, 3ème Cru Classé, St Julien")
critic reviews
The 2022 Lagrange has an intense nose with hoisin and blackcurrant scents, a little VA perhaps, though it calms down in the glass with touches of pencil box emerging. The palate is medium-bodied with soft tannins, though the acidity keeps this fresh and focused. Not the most powerful Saint-Julien but certainly one of the more elegant. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.
The blend is 86% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Merlot, with a 2% dash of Petit Verdot. Lovely classicism and freshness on the nose here, dark and brooding, yet perfumed as well, with fragrant red cherry, blackberry, olive and toast, nuanced with white peach and mint, and a perfumed streak of sandalwood oak and crushed chalk. This is delightful, and the palate continues in the same vein, with a lightly grained structure which underpins the dark veins of fruit, accompanied by fresh acidity. A lovely sense of vigour here, good drive too. This is one of the best examples of Lagrange I have tasted in recent years, a wine with great drive, energy, vitality and length. Tasted twice. The alcohol on the label is 13.5%.
Continuing a run of exceptional vintages where everything seems to be going right at this property. High Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend, and it comes across in the sleek black fruits and peony character, very much floral and finessed. Good stuff, this is impressive, enjoyable, very St Julien and very good. 50% new oak for ageing, Eric Boissenot consultant, Mathieu Bordes director since 2013.
The 2022 Lagrange is brilliant, ranking alongside the 2020, 2019 and 2016 as one of this over-performing estate's finest recent vintages. Revealing aromas of dark cherries, cassis, violets and pencil shavings, it's medium to full-bodied, velvety and layered, with a deep core of fruit, beautifully refined but youthfully assertive tannins and a long, mouthwatering finish. It's a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot with a very healthy pH of 3.63.