Chateau Lagrange

St.-Julien

 

Classification:

Third-growth in 1855

 

Vineyards (red):

Surface area: 270 acres

Average age of vines: 27 years

Blend: 64.8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27.9% Merlot, 7.3% Petit Verdot

Density of plantation: 8,500 vines per hectare

Average yields (over the last 5 years): 53.35 hectoliters per hectare

Total average annual production: 50,000-55,000 cases

 

Grand Vin (red):

Brand name: Chateau Lagrange

Appellation: St.-Julien

Mean annual production: 23,500 cases

Upbringing: Grapes are hand-picked. Fermentation last 15-25 days, at 28 degrees centigrade, in temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks of 220-hectoliter capacity. Only indigenous yeasts are used. Pumping-overs last 20 minutes twice daily. Wines are transferred to oak barrels, which are renewed by half at each vintage, for about 20 months aging. They are both fined and filtered before bottling.

 

Second Wine:

Brand name: Les Fiefs de Lagrange

Average annual production: 31,000 cases

 

Evaluation of present classification: Since 1983 should be upgraded to a second-growth

Plateau of maturity: 7-20 years following the vintage

 

"In 1983 the huge Japanese company Suntory purchased Lagrange and began an extraordinary renovation of not only the chateau and the chais, but the vineyards as well. No expense has been spared, and such talented people as administrator Marcel Ducasse, and the property's young, enthusiastic penologist, Kenji Suzuta, have begun to make stunning wines in an amazingly short period of time."

 

"If vintages from 1985 on reveal any particular style, it is one that favors an impressive depth of flavor welded to plenty of tannin, toasty new oak, and an underlying succulence and fatness that is no doubt due to a strict selection and the harvesting of very ripe fruit with an element of sur-maturité. Clearly the new proprietors seem intent on producing a wine that can age for 20 or more years yet have appeal when young."

 

Rated "Excellent" Robert M. Parker Jr.

 

Chateau Lagrange
St.-Julien

 

Wine Spectator Review of 1995 Vintage:

"Wonderfully crafted, with mint, blackberry and chocalate aromas. Full-bodied, with loads of berry flavor and velvety tannins. Best after 2001."

WS : 91

 

Wine Advocate Review of 1995 Vintage:

"The 1995 Lagrange is similar to the 1996, but the fruit is sweeter, the acidity lower, and the wine less marked by Cabernet Sauvignon. The color is a deep ruby/purple. The wine boasts a roasted herb, charcoal, black currant, mineral and new oak-scented nose. Medium to full-bodied and ripe, with copious quantities of jammy black cherry and cassis flavors presented in a medium-bodied, low acid, moderately tannic style, this well-endowed, purely made wine requires cellaring. Anticipated maturity : 2003-2020."

RP : 90

 

Wine Spectator Review of 1996 Vintage:

"Enticing aromas of cinnammon and ripe fruit. Medium-to full-bodied, with ripe fruit flavors and a good fruit core. Medium tannins. St.-Julien's Lagrange seldom goes wrong, and this is certainly outstanding for the vintage. Best after 2002. 24,000 cases made."

WS : 90

 

Wine Advocate Review of 1996 Vintage:

"A classic Bordeaux as well as a textbook St.-Julien, the 1996 Lagrange should continue to flesh out and merit an outstanding rating."
RP : 90-91

 

Chateau Lagrange 1993

 

Wine Spectator: “A very good St. Julien from this consistent property, realty caressing your palate in velvety tannins.  Medium body and pretty berry, vanilla toasted oak character.  Better in 1997.” 

 

Rated 89 Wine Spectator

 

Robert Parker: “Readers should be able to find the 1993 Lagrange at a relatively attractive price.   A very good effort in this vintage (which produced a surprising number of good wines considering the difficult conditions), the 1993’s dark ruby/purple color is accompanied by Lagrange’s lavishly wooded, spicy, powerfully extracted, sweet, jammy, blackcurrant-scented bouquet and flavors.  This surprisingly dense, concentrated, medium-bodied wine possesses some tannin in the finish, but to the credit of this estate’s winemaking, the tannin is unobtrusive.  While it serves its structural purpose, it does not contain any astringency or bitterness.  The 1993 Lagrange can be drunk now or cellared for 10+ years.  It is a very good wine from the vintage.”

 

Rated 87 Robert M. Parker Jr.