Château Malartic-Lagraviere 2018

Located on one of the region's most beautiful gravelly rises, Château Malartic-Lagravière was purchased by the Count of Malartic in the 18th century. It was formerly know as Domaine de la Gravière until 1850, when it was given its current name.

In 1997, the estate was acquired by the Bonnie family, who enthusiastically set to work making outstanding Malartic-Lagravière wines, considered one of the jewels in Bordeaux. Using a combination of intraplot vineyard management, horse-drawn ploughing, and gravity flow, the estate obtained substainable agriculture certification in 2008 and became HEV-certified in 2015, reflecting efforts to fully express the terroir.  The family and their teams are therefore able to produce complex, well-balnced, elegant, and high-quality wines.

(Credit: Château Malartic-Lagravière)

"The 2018 Malartic-Lagravière was tasted in Bordeaux, where I was not happy with the sample bottle that came across perplexingly green. The château sent two bottles so that I could re-taste them at home and these bore none of those traits. It has an intense bouquet with copious red cherry, blackcurrant and blueberry fruit. Monitoring over an hour it evolves attractive floral scents of lavender and iris flowers. The palate is medium-bodied, the new oak quite prominent on the entry though there is sufficient fruit to back it up. This is a more sumptuous Malartic Lagravière, armed with impressive density towards the finish." - Neal Martin, vinous.com, (November, 2019), Ratings: 92-94, Drink: 2023-2045

"This is a blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc, to be aged for 18-22 months in oak barriques, 70% new. Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Malartic Lagraviere gives scents of baked red and black cherries, warm blackcurrants and balsamic with touches of underbrush, moss-covered bark and tobacco. Full-bodied, firm and chewy in the mouth, it packs in the berry preserves with some pepper and spice sparks coming through on the long finish." - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (4/23/2019, Bordeaux 2018 Issue), Ratings: 92-94