Winemaker Notes
Its color is a deep red, close to ruby, embellished here and there with some purple reflections. When aired, the nose, initially shy, gradually reveals all its complexity, with gourmet notes of black fruits (blackberry, blueberry); all enhanced by a few empyreumatic notes (tar). On the palate, it is a perfectly balanced wine. Everything mixes and blends in harmony: well-integrated tannins, tasty black fruits (blackberry), a touch of chocolate, a nice volume and a beautiful structure. All these qualities should give it serious aging potential.
In order to appreciate all the elegance, taste it with a stuffed guinea fowl, pan-fried mushrooms such as porcini mushrooms or chanterelles, or even Roquefort.
Blend: 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Extremely aromatic and refreshing with lots of bright blackcurrants, raspberries and some orange peel. It’s full, yet reserved, with ultra-fine tannins and a long, energetic finish. Cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Drink after 2025
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Wine Enthusiast
With seven centuries of history behind it, this Lurton family estate has produced a solid wine, firm with dark, smoky tannins. Black-currant fruits and acidity counterpoint to the structure. The wine needs aging. Cellar Selection
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Bottled under Diam 30, the 2019 La Louvière delivers a rich bouquet of ripe black fruits, charcoal, forest floor, black truffle and smoke. Medium to full-bodied, broad and enveloping, it's a fleshy, layered wine with an ample core of fruit, lively acids and plenty of ripe tannin that asserts itself on the finish. With a few years' bottle age, this will make for dramatic drinking.
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Decanter
This was enjoyable in 2018 and continues to be so in this vintage, with fresh red and berry fruits, and a sense of life and vivacity across the palate. The texture could still be developed further but this is a lovely La Louviere with a sense of forward motion and balance, just coming in with a coffee lick on the finish to add interest. 50% new oak, across an array of different sizes. Now under the direction of Jacques Lurton, with new technical director Anne Neuville.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2019 Chateau La Louviere is brisk, lively, and nicely structured. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers aromas and flavors of blackcurrant with shading of oak. Pair with grilled chicken thighs.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Recognized for its superior reds as well as whites, Pessac-Léognan on the Left Bank claims classified growths for both—making it quite unique in comparison to its neighboring Médoc properties.
Pessac’s Chateau Haut-Brion, the only first growth located outside of the Médoc, is said to have been the first to conceptualize fine red wine in Bordeaux back in the late 1600s. The estate, along with its high-esteemed neighbors, La Mission Haut-Brion, Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Pique-Caillou and Chateau Pape-Clément are today all but enveloped by the city of Bordeaux. The rest of the vineyards of Pessac-Léognan are in clearings of heavily forested area or abutting dense suburbs.
Arid sand and gravel on top of clay and limestone make the area unique and conducive to growing Sémillon and Sauvignon blanc as well as the grapes in the usual Left Bank red recipe: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and miniscule percentages of Petit Verdot and Malbec.
The best reds will show great force and finesse with inky blue and black fruit, mushroom, forest, tobacco, iodine and a smooth and intriguing texture.
Its best whites show complexity, longevity and no lack of exotic twists on citrus, tropical and stone fruit with pronounced floral and spice characteristics.