Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Balanced and stylish, this wine conveys the elegant side of Saint-Julien. With some firmness, the wine has a fine future, bringing out tannins to balance the blackberry fruits. Drink from 2024.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2017 Château Lagrange is certainly a success in the vintage. Possessing a great nose of crème de cassis, violets, and spicy oak, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a terrific mid-palate, present tannin, but a sexy, forward, charming style that’s already hard to resist. It should keep for two decades or more.
Barrel Sample: 91-93 -
James Suckling
A 2017 with serious depth of fruit and firm tannins. Solid center palate. Fresh and long finish. Should come out nicely.
Barrel Sample: 92-93 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Lagrange strides confidently out of the glass with notes of warm blackberries, black cherry compote and black currant jelly plus nuances of Indian spices, garrigue and lilacs. Medium-bodied, the palate is elegantly played with plush tannins and an impressive intensity of crunchy black fruits, finishing with great length and plenty of depth.
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Wine Spectator
A juicy, forward style, featuring blackberry, blueberry and black currant notes, mixed with dashes of cocoa, singed cedar and sweet tobacco. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2030.
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Decanter
Deep ruby in colour, with spice, blackberry and cloves on the nose and attack. A sense of delicate control to the tannins, they have really done an expert job of handling the challenges of the year (Lagrange was more affected by frost than other St-Julien properties) and there is pleasure to be had, even if less impact than with the 2016 or 2018s.
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.
An icon of balance and tradition, St. Julien boasts the highest proportion of classed growths in the Médoc. What it lacks in any first growths, it makes up in the rest: five amazing second growth chateaux, two superb third growths and four well-reputed fourth growths. While the actual class rankings set in 1855 (first, second, and so on the fifth) today do not necessarily indicate a score of quality, the classification system is important to understand in the context of Bordeaux history. Today rivalry among the classed chateaux only serves to elevate the appellation overall.
One of its best historically, the estate of Leoville, was the largest in the Médoc in the 18th century, before it was divided into the three second growths known today as Chateau Léoville-Las-Cases, Léoville-Poyferré and Léoville-Barton. Located in the north section, these are stone’s throw from Chateau Latour in Pauillac and share much in common with that well-esteemed estate.
The relatively homogeneous gravelly and rocky top soil on top of clay-limestone subsoil is broken only by a narrow strip of bank on either side of the “jalle,” or stream, that bisects the zone and flows into the Gironde.
St. Julien wines are for those wanting subtlety, balance and consistency in their Bordeaux. Rewarding and persistent, the best among these Bordeaux Blends are full of blueberry, blackberry, cassis, plum, tobacco and licorice. They are intense and complex and finish with fine, velvety tannins.