Château Laroque 2022

Château Laroque is the largest estate in Saint-Émilion - coming in at an impressive 61 hectares (approximately, 150 acres).   Yet despite its formidable size, the viticultural team of this Grand Cru Classé property manages to produce excellent vintages on a yearly basis, garnering more critical acclaim with each passing year.  Starting with the 2018 vintage, after being distributed on an exclusive basis for many years, the owners of Château Laroque decided to offer the wine through Bordeaux’s en primeur network.  Akin to the markets in financial assets, Place de Bordeaux is the marketplace where wine trading happens, bridging the gap between producers and buyers.  To sweeten the offer to buyers, Château Laroque priced its wine below where its quality would have fetched.  This not only left a good taste on the palate of the buyers but also profit in their pocket.  Many of our Bordeaux futures customers have seen the value of their Laroque holdings double in less than two years.

Château Laroque has a rich history dating back to the 12th Century when it was a defensive stronghold overlooking the undulating hills of Saint-Émilion.  If one visits the estate today, one will be sure to find remnants of an imposing guard tower that used to be on the grounds.  As far back as the 16th Century, the potential of the incredible terroir at Château Laroque was readily apparent.  The magnificent Château that sits on the grounds today was constructed in the 17th Century by Marquis de Rochefort-Lavie. Château Laroque remained in the same family until the Great Depression in 1929 and the estate temporarily halted wine production because they didn’t have the funds to continue. 

In 1935, Château Laroque was acquired by the Beaumartin family.  They were descendants of the Marquis who built the original château.  In a serendipitous way, the estate returned to them.   Things started to take off for the property around 2015, after an impressive renovation and extensive replanting of the vineyards.  Perhaps one of the most intelligent decisions that were made here was bringing on the talented David Suire to take over managing Château Laroque. For years, David Suire has been the right-hand man of the well-respected Nicolas Thienpont.  The Thienponts have a long history in Bordeaux, owning properties such as Château Le Pin and Vieux Chateau Certan.  Nicolas wasn’t initially interested in entering the Wine Industry, but after University he started managing properties like Château Pavie Macquin and transforming them into Premiere Grand Cru Classé estates.  Nicholas hired David after he graduated from university and mentored him.  The two have been working together ever since.  After honing his winemaking skills next to the Thienponts, David Suire now has a magnificent property to put his insights and skills to work.  Early results already show the great hiring decision the Beaumartins made, as the accolades roll in, and commercial success ensues.

The vines of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon are 40 years old on average and farmed using 100% organic techniques.  They choose not to be certified organic, simply because they want the freedom to make a wider variety of choices.  Château Laroque is also HVE Certified, a rigorous process granted to vineyards that focus on increasing biodiversity, decreasing the negative environmental impact of their vineyards, and improving water management.  The wines at Château Laroque are known for their delicate, mineral-driven nuance. The 2018 vintage was their first entering the en primeur or futures marketplace, as they were previously distributed exclusively through one firm.  At Laguna Cellar, we were one of the first to discover this and leaped at the opportunity to acquire this wine for our customers who were loyal fans of this producer.  Given the excellence of their grand vin, it’s fairly easy to see why.

"Clearly one of the new superstars in the appellation, Château Laroque is located on the cooler, eastern edge of Saint-Emilion and consists of pure, classic upper plateau limestone soils. The estate covers a whopping 54 hectares, which gives director Davie Suire ample flexibility when putting together the Grand Vin. Looking at the 2022 Laroque, it's a blend of 98% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc from healthy yields of 41 hectoliters per hectare, representing just 45% of the total production, and it will spend 16-18 months in 50% new French oak. This deep purple-hued beauty offers a classic Saint-Emilion bouquet of crème de cassis, graphite, tobacco, and a liquid rock-like sense of minerality. It’s medium to full-bodied, has incredible purity, and ultra-fine tannins. It’s unquestionably another beautiful vintage for this chateau that readers will love." - Jeb Dunnuck (5/11/2023), Ratings: 95-97

"Another impressive performance from this estate, the 2022 Laroque offers up aromas of sweet berries, violets, iris and exotic spices, followed by a medium to full-bodied, layered palate with a rich core of fruit that's framed by lively acids, concluding with a taut, chalky finish. Once again, it's the result of a strict selection that sees only 45% of the production released as the grand vin." - William Kelley, The Wine Advocate (4/28/2023), Ratings: 93-95

"A blend of 98% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 2022 Laroque is deep garnet-purple in color. It prances out with showy scents of warm black plums, blueberry compote, and chocolate-covered cherries, giving way to wafts of underbrush, violets, and Sichuan pepper. The full-bodied palate delivers seriously impressive tension, with firm, ripe, rounded tannins and bags of bright black fruits, finishing long and fragrant." - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent (5/15/2023), Ratings: 94-96

"Crushed fruits of the forest, black cherry, a little ripe plum, so pure and precise, so massively intense too; a little spiciness with a touch of cinnamon and a twist of white pepper; cedar; but also that fabulous slight leafiness that underscores the freshness of the fruit and hints at the sapidity to be found on the palate; a most subtle hint of brioche; little purple spring flowers as it opens in the glass; an almost velvety soft nose; cool; complex and subtly evolving as it slowly unfurls. This is both brilliantly bright and fragrant. Another wine that tastes and feels like it comes from a large format, such is the integrity of the tannins (a double magnum perhaps). Incredibly energetic and explosively expressive of the fruit. Raspberry, loganberry, and bramble, blueberry to darken the fruit profile, a subtle hint of toasted brioche, green, and rose peppercorns. A fabulous wine once again from David Suire, Laroque is, as ever, so lithe, so crystalline, so energetic and so dynamic on the palate. There’s a slight but delicate touch of salinity on the finish. The best I have tasted from here, which is saying quite a lot! A brilliant wine as it so often is nowadays with a personality and identity all of its own, but that sings so eloquently of its calcaire." - Colin Hay, The Drinks Business (5/9/2023), Ratings: 96-98

"You just know that this estate is well placed to succeed in the vintage, and this really does walk the line of ripeness and salinity, such gorgeous definition and vivid energetic fruit. Stretches out through the palate also, has a relaxed confidece to it that is quite unusual in such a full--on vintage. Really impressive, Beaumartin family, David Suire director. - Jane Anson, Bordeaux Insider (4/22/2023), Ratings: 97, Drink: 2030-2048