.jpg?fm=avif&q=30 "Château Lagrange, 3ème Cru Classé, St Julien")
critic reviews
Deep garnet-purple colored. Needs a lot of swirling to coax out notes of juicy blackberries and black raspberries, plus hints of spice box, licorice and bay leaves. The light to medium-bodied palate delivers lightly chewy tannins and just enough freshness to match the delicate black and red berry layers, finishing savory.
The 2024 Lagrange consists of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon (the second highest ever), 10% Merlot (the lowest ever) and the remainder Petit Verdot, with 11% <em>vin de presse</em>. Matured in 55% new oak, this has a tightly-wound bouquet that demands a little more coaxing than the Les Fiefs, though this was on a day when, for some reason, some Saint-Julien samples required it. The palate is medium-bodied and obviously driven by the dominant Cabernet, with grainy tannins and black fruit laced with graphite and cedar. Cohesive on the finish with just the right amount of sapidity, this is obviously not in the league of the benchmark 2022, but it constitutes a successful wine for the vintage.
Classically balanced St Julien, firm cassis and white peppers, enjoyable mid palate texture, slate textured tannins add grip and tension, successful in the vintage.
Notes of minty cassis, blackberries and pencil shavings introduce the 2024 Lagrange, a medium-bodied, dense wine with a sweet core of fruit framed by somewhat firm and assertive tannins.