Château Lagrange 2019

Juicy and plush, with steeped red and black currant and plum fruit flavors, this shows a generous profile from start to finish. Features notes of tobacco, singed cedar, warm earth and iron throughout, with a seductive hint of incense curling around the tail end of the finish. Its generosity makes it approachable, but there’s no rush to drink this. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Best from 2023 through 2036. 16,000 cases made, 700 cases imported.

A touch more old-school than many of the other super-glossy, rich and concentrated wines, the 2019 Lagrange has loads of floral notes, blackcurrant/menthol character, fine tannins and a cooling, fresh finish. 13.5% alcohol here, yet no shortage of concentration. Only a third of the estate's wine made it into Lagrange, with 80% Cabernet Sauvignon adding almost a Pauillac style to this St-Julien. Remains a relative bargain for the quality level.

Aromas of dark fruit, licorice, toasted oak, chocolate and smoke. Medium-bodied with soft tannins and ripe-fruit character. Rather short, savory finish for now, but it should soften with age. Merlot and cabernets. Try after 2023.

80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot. Barrel sample. Look at all that Cabernet in the blend! Classic graphite and cassis aromas. Deep and quite profound with layered fruit, freshness and a big but polished tannic frame. Long, firm finish. Solid and with staying power. (JL)

Medium-bodied, elegant and fresh, this is fabulous from the get-go. The nose, with its display of cigar box, black currants and cedar, is just great, and the wine is even better on the palate with its soft-textured, vibrant, sweet red fruits that show off their purity and freshness with ease. This is another gem showing much better in the bottle than it did in the barrel. They have really been on a roll here at Lagrange since 2015, and 2019 could be their best vintage yet! Drink from 2028–2055.

Dark ruby garnet with an opaque core, purple reflections and a touch of edge brightening. Sweet, ripe forest berries, a hint of cassis and liquorice, and then hints of nougat and tobacco and some leather – a multi-faceted, inviting bouquet. Complex on the palate, with ripe blackberries and black cherries allied to fine supporting tannins and a lively structure. It's powerful and with length, leading to a mineral-salty finish and certain ageing potential.

Bright inky purple colour. Youthful and nuanced nose offering fine oak, toast, cigar box, crème de cassis, black cherry and violet notes. Very good grip on the palate, ripe and unctuous fruit with grainy young tannin, dark chocolate shavings, fine spices and a well-maintained freshness leading to a long and digest finish.

While I don't think the 2019 Château Lagrange matches the 2018, it's not far off, with a more elegant yet still concentrated style. Beautiful crème de cassis, spicy oak, tobacco, chocolate, and new saddle leather notes all emerge on the nose, and it stays tight, compact, and focused on the palate, with plenty of firm tannins. It opens up beautifully with time in the glass but merits 4–6 years of bottle age, and it should evolve for 20–25 years or more.

Kunz barrel sample 2020: (80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 13.7% vol. alcohol, production 200,000 bottles) Silky, elegant, fresh bouquet of blueberries, blackcurrant, cedar and liquorice. Dense, elegant palate with precise fruit, plenty of fine tannins, a finely muscular structure, delicate aromatics and a long, fresh finish.

(80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 13.7% alc./vol., production 200,000 bottles) Silky, elegant, fresh bouquet of blueberries, cassis, cedar, licorice. Dense, elegant palate with delicate fruit, plenty of fine tannins, a finely muscular structure, subtle aromatics, and a long, fresh finish. 18/20 2025 - 2045

Inky, glass-staining in colour, this is richly textured and intense, easily rivalling the best-ever vintages at the property. Filled with creamy damson and cassis fruit, with a sense of precision and restraint to the frame, held in by fine but plentiful tannins. 30% 1st wine, highest-ever Cabenet Sauvignon, 50% new oak for ageing. An exceptional wine, marking 125 years since the founding of Suntory in Japan. Eric Boissenot consultant.

The robe, a deep purple hue, leads to a nose of blackberry and blueberry pie with a light touch of vanilla. On the palate, there are fresh, crunchy purple fruits with fine intensity. A limpid, fluid wine, with tannins showing toward the finish and plenty of classicism.

Dark, intense, and beautiful color. Very aromatic nose, fine, pure, fruity, subtle, and even floral. Delicate on the attack, supple at mid-palate and particularly flavorful, the wine broadens, juicy, into a long, deep finish with notes of ink and licorice. Perfectly wrapped tannins. It’s rare to see a wine this rich at En Primeur, I said during my first tasting. This is now confirmed. The share of Cabernet Sauvignon is extraordinarily high (80%), Merlot 18%, Petit Verdot 2%. Alcohol: 13.5% – pH: 3.5. Strict selection: 30% for the grand vin. Bravo! Lagrange regains an outsider status in this vintage.

93–95. Barrel Sample. This full-bodied wine is open in style, with lashings of rich black fruits alongside dense tannins. This is a wine for some long-term aging.