Château Larcis Ducasse 2022

Château Larcis Ducasse is a Saint Émilion Premiere Grand Crus Classés Class B estate that has been described as, “a garden a world apart.”  If one were fortunate enough to visit this stunning and picturesque property with vines graced by laurel and fig trees, one would understand this phrase perfectly.  The grand vin is crafted here with the precision and expertise that many would ascribe to a fine jeweler and the resulting wine is excellent.  With the combination of its impeccable terroir and the craftsmen who tend to it, Château Larcis Ducasse is one of the Right Bank’s treasures.

Château Larcis Ducasse had a long history that dated back to the Roman era.  Even the ancient vignerons were seduced by the promise of the checkerboard of terroirs that give the estate such appeal.  Château Larcis Ducasse received its namesake in 1893 during the modern era when Henri Raba purchased the property at the time.  Henri Raba spent vast sums of his fortune to maintain the striking vineyards and would stop at nothing to ensure the grand vin was of top quality.  After Henri passed, his wife Emilie and her son took control of the estate. The property was largely unknown to most connoisseurs until the family hired Nicolas Thienpont to manage the property with his protégé, David Suire.  Together they made sweeping changes to the vineyards, such as transitioning Château Larcis Ducasse over to 100% Organic Farming methods in 2005.  In 2012, Château Larcis Ducasse received the high honor of earning its Premiere Grand Crus Classés Classification alongside other illustrious châteaux like Château Valandraud, Château Trotte Vieille and many other esteemed properties.  It was a happy ending indeed for an estate with such a long-lived history.

Château Larcis Ducasse hosts 11.3 hectares of vines that are planted with 83% Merlot and 17% Cabernet Franc.  Over the years, more Cabernet Franc has been added.  The property is very close from the legendary producer, Château Pavie.  The terroir is described as a “checkerboard,” of varying terroirs.  One can find a mixture of varying soils like limestone, clay and chalk that the 35 year old vines thrive in.  Nicolas Thienpont ensures that the team over at Château Larcis Ducasse maintains lower yields to ensure higher ripeness levels.  The winery is a gravity flow operation, and they use a lot of Burgundian techniques to create a fresh and soft wine.  After they are vinified, they are subsequently aged in French oak barriques for about 18 to 20 months before bottling. For those who love a rich and mineral Saint-Émilion, Château Larcis Ducasse is a phenomenal, opulently textured wine.  One can absolutely expect the minerality that is so synonymous with that region.  But in addition to that, the wines have a very pleasant, fruity, and ripe quality to them.  It is best to age a bottle of Château Larcis Ducasse for about ten to fifteen years prior to enjoying it.  With all that in mind, younger vintages can be decanted for two to three hours.

"Tasted on multiple occasions and one of the legendary wines in the making from this vintage, the 2022 Château Larcis Ducasse clocks in as 86% Merlot and 14% Cabernet Franc that's still resting in 55% new French oak. A hypothetical blend of the 2005 and 2018, it's a deep, powerful, opulent Saint-Emilion offering an incredible array of black cherries, blackberries, smoked tobacco, chocolate, and graphite-driven aromas and flavors. With a rich, full-bodied, expansive mouthfeel, it has ultra-fine tannins, beautiful symmetry in its tannins, acidity, and fruit, no hard edges, and a killer finish. I was lucky enough to taste this on four separate occasions and I thought it had the potential to be a perfect wine every time." - Jeb Dunnuck, Bordeaux 2022 En Primeur, (05/10/2023), Ratings: 98-100

"The 2022 Larcis Ducasse is a huge, inky wine. A firm backbone of structure lies behind all of that opulence, yielding a wine that is both extravagantly rich and super-classic. That’s a pretty appealing combination in my book. Dark red-toned fruit, spice, leather, tobacco, incense and mocha emerge, but only with great reluctance. The 2022 is packed to the core. I don’t imagine it will be ready to drink anytime soon, but is unquestionably one of the wines of the vintage. The blend is 84% Merlot and 16% Cabernet Franc, a bit more Franc than usual, aging in equal parts 225- and 500-liter barrels. Tasted four times." - Antonio Galloni, Vinous, (05/09/2023), Ratings: 96-98, Drink: 2032-2062

"Smells gorgeous, black fruits, milk chocolate and floral notes. Supple and lively, crystalline and pure, you get both the juicy, fleshiness of the dark and concentrated fruit but with tension and detail and definition. Clarity and bite, this really works and delivers everything you want in terms of tannins, minerality, freshness and density. Clearly powerful, but refined and sophisticated. Compelling and oh so drinkable. Wet stones, the minerality is gorgeous but the weight is too, this will be fantastic." - Georgina Hindle, Decanter, (05/25/2023), Ratings: 97

"The 2022 Larcis Ducasse was picked 13 to 23 September at 34hL/ha. This has quite a rich bouquet with opulent black cherries, boysenberry and blue fruit, vanilla extract and truffle scents. Two samples tasted, the one at the château showing more precision. The palate is medium-bodied with sweet tannins, its flesh belying the structure underneath. Liquorice lingers after the wine has departed. The mineralité floods the finish and articulates its limestone soils with aplomb. This is a seriously fine Larcis Ducasse that exudes panache." - Neal Martin, Vinous, (05/17/2023), Ratings: 95-97

"You feel the fingerprint of the limestone here, from a team that is never afraid of austerity in a young wine is young. It opens to show creamy black and red fruits, with steely acidity that keeps the ripeness in check. 34hl/h yield, 50% new oak and for the rest 500l casks for ageing."-  Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux, (04/10/2023) Ratings: 96, Drink: 2030-2042

"A fleshy, opulent wine, the 2022 Larcis Ducasse bursts with aromas of rich, creamy berry fruit mingled with aromas of licorice, bay leaf and spices. Full-bodied, broad and enveloping, it's a textural, layered wine with a ripe core of fruit, supple tannins and an expansive finish. More dramatic and unabashed than the 2020, this will appeal to readers who place a premium on flamboyant extravagance; but samples tasted later during my visit to Bordeaux exhibited greater freshness and precision." - William Kelley, The Wine Advocate, (04/28/2023), Ratings: 94-95