Château Lagrange 2021

Playful, floral nose, with tobacco, herbs, and red and dark berries. Sleek and juicy, crisp fruit, light on its feet, long-lasting finish. Shows finesse.

Menthol, dark chocolate and bramble fruit on the nose. Some cola touches and cool blue fruits too. Supple and agile, nice movement and energy here; I like the weight and the depth. It has good concentration with an enjoyable touch of sweetness at mid-palate, but also cool blue fruit, with a kick and underlying power, yet nothing overdone. Great length—juicy and fruity—with lots of savoury markers of the vintage. Liquorice, dark chocolate, dried herbs, and the Cabernet character of blackcurrant leaf. Very consistent good work from Lagrange.

The nose, with its tobacco, herbs, flowers, red currants, cedar, and spice, pops with little effort. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied, crisp, chewy, and loaded with savory-tinged red fruits, with ample sweetness to the soft, supple cherries on the finish. The wine is a blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, and 2% Petit Verdot. It is interesting to note that this is the highest percentage of Cabernet used in the blend in the history of the estate. Drink from 2025-2045.

Dark ruby garnet colour with purple reflections, subtle ochre rim. Attractive notes of plums, black cherries, a hint of cassis and nougat. Medium complexity, chocolaty touch, delicate fruit sweetness, ripe, harmoniously integrated tannins, already well-developed and accessible.

Showing better from bottle than barrels, the 2021 Château Lagrange has a healthy ruby/purple hue with a gorgeous nose of blackcurrants, violets, chalky minerality, and graphite. It’s rich, medium-bodied, with a concentrated, layered mouthfeel, beautiful tannins, and a great finish. It’s a seriously impressive, layered, concentrated 2021 with tons to love. The blend is 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, and 2% Petit Verdot, aged 21 months in 50% new barrels. Give bottles 2–4 years and enjoy over the following 15+.

Kunz barrel sample 2022: (84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 34.89 hl/ha, 13% vol. alcohol, production 183,000 bottles) Elegant, delicate, fresh bouquet with cassis, blueberries, cedar, light tobacco. Fine, delicately fruity palate with fresh fruit, fine tannins, classic structure, varied, floral aromatics, long, delicate finish. Has room to improve.

(84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 34.89 hl/ha, 13% vol. alcohol, production 183,000 bottles) Elegant, delicate and fresh bouquet, cassis, blueberries, cedar, light tobacco. Fine, delicately fruity palate with fresh fruit, fine tannins, classic structure, varied, floral aromatics, long, refined finish. Can improve further. 17/20 2028 - 2050

Goes long on the savoury cassis bud and lemongrass sculpted minerality that captures 2021, leaning in to St Julien finesse. White pepper and fennel spice, good quality, careful and balanced rather than exuberant, with a hint of sweet fruit through the mid palate. Harvest September 27 through to October 12, with no Cabernet picked until October (a smart choice, as the weight of the berries reduced by 30% in the last week before picking because the weather got so much better). 35hl/ha yield, 50% new oak. Eric Boissenot consultant. Mathieu Bordes director. An upscore since En Primeur (although this score already given at a separate vertical).

The 2021 Lagrange has a medium to deep garnet-purple color. It needs plenty of swirling to awaken notes of fragrant earth, Sichuan pepper, and lavender, giving way to a core of blackcurrant pastilles, kirsch, and crushed rocks. The medium-bodied palate is finely crafted, with approachable, grainy tannins and just enough freshness to support the elegant black and red berry flavors, finishing with a quiet intensity.

A nose of deep, dark red fruit with rich, plum tart notes—utterly indulgent. On the palate, the wine is flavorful and vibrant, full of energy and drive, with lightness and lift.

Linear in character, Lagrange is immediately inviting. Its bouquet, with notes of ripe black fruits and spices, heralds a harmonious wine. Its tannins provide a solid backbone and lend support alongside the acidic structure. A flavorful, mouthwatering wine that can be enjoyed young, yet with thoroughly respectable potential!

Logo on the cork: CB Dark, intense colour. Highly aromatic nose with pure, ripe fruit. Subtle hints of vanilla. Fleshy on entry, rich through the mid-palate, with plenty of flavour and an unprecedented mellowness, the wine unfolds with a caressing texture, savoury, long and even deep. Powerful, enveloping finish. Superb!

The 2021 Lagrange is a strong effort, offering up notes of dark berries, pencil shavings, licorice and loamy soil, followed by a medium- to full-bodied, lively and nicely concentrated palate with lively acids and youthfully structuring tannins that assert themselves on the finish, reflecting the record-high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend. This is one 2021 that will reward a bit of patience.