2017 Lagrange

Lagrange is a huge estate. Located more inland than the likes of say Ducru Beaucaillou or Léoville Las-Cases, they were more vulnerable to frost and so it came to pass. It turned into a game of catch-up. “There is no white wine due to frost although there are just 1,000 bottles for private use,” winemaker Matthieu Bordes told me. “The parcels destroyed were all under 13-metres in altitude. Here the damage was between 5% to 100%, mainly plots for Les Fiefs de Lagrange and also some for Lagrange. There was a five-week delay between the primary and secondary fruit, but the flowering was early and we thought there was a possibility we might be able to wait, if we have another Indian summer. So we marked all the 250,000 vines to indicate those with secondary bunches, so that we could separate them during the harvest. By mi-véraison the delay was reduced to 18 days but unfortunately there was no Indian summer and we could not wait that long, so in the end, all the secondary bunches ended up at the distillery. They were unripe with some rot because of the high level of nitrogen. For the good grapes we produced 55% Grand Vin whereas usually it is 35%, since there is less Les Fiefs de Lagrange. Also the blend is unusual. It is the first time there is more Merlot than Cabernet in Les Fiefs de Lagrange, it is the highest percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon ever for Lagrange. We find the 2017s are very approachable in style. It reminds me of the 2009 and 2012 with a different level of concentration, a wine that doesn’t make you tired. We did a little less extraction than in 2016 with only one déléstage with one pumping over per day. We did not want to extract too much.”

Now this is one of a handful of major château that I feel was hampered by the frost. Despite their wise decision to eschew the second-generation fruit, the barrel sample lacked the usual energy and harmony. Readers will know that I am a fan of Lagrange. They have produced marvelous and lest we forget, well-priced wines in recent years. Even when judged against its close neighbors such as Gruaud Larose and Talbot, the Lagrange feels like the best the team could do under the circumstances, but it lags a couple of paces behind its peers.