Winemaker Notes
This 2022 vintage is quite simply extraordinary. Balance, rich tannins, aromatic expression (black fruit) and freshness are the watchwords here. Gentle extraction during fermentation was undoubtedly key to revealing the quintessential characteristics of each grape variety.
Blend: 60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Hazelnut-chocolate and cedar to the black cherries and cassis. A touch of paprika and white pepper as well. This is ripe, fleshy and well structured with polished tannins and a long, nicely creamy finish. Give it one more year to let the wood integrate more.
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Wine Enthusiast
The wine, still very young, has spicy, toasty aromas and layers of black fruits. It is going to be a fine wine, rich and full bodied. The acidity will soften as the wine matures. Drink from 2027.
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Wine Spectator
A solid, dark, winey offering, with blackberry and black currant reduction notes cloaked in licorice root and roasted alder. Keeps a fleshy feel, with a twinge of pleasant rusticity through the finish. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best from 2025 through 2035.
Cha^teau Lalande is located at the entrance of the famous St.-Julien appellation. The area is well known for their great wines which are heavily dominated by Grand Cru Classé properties. However, Lalande is unique because is it one of the very few, small, non-classified estates. Their adjoining neighbours are Cha^teau Talbot (4ème Grand Cru Classé), Cha^teau Lagrange (4ème Grand Cru Classé), and Cha^teau Ducru-Beaucaillou (2ème Grand Cru Classé).
Lalande is characterized by its exceptional terroir. This vineyard is in one unbroken, continuous parcel of land that was originally from Château Lagrange (4ème Grand Cru Classé) and Château Saint-Pierre (4ème Grand Cru Classé). It was acquired from Château Lagrange in 1964 by Gabriel Meffre, a Rhône Valley producer who saw the its potential at the time.
The property used to be managed from far away as none of the owners lived on sight. This all changed when 3rd generation Ludovic and Julien Meffre (“The Meffre Brothers”) and trained enologists, moved to the area at the beginning of the 21Châteaust Century. They have given a burst of life to Lalande with the mindset of bringing it to the top.
This started with an ambition renovation of the cellar with a state of the art winemaking facility, stunning aging cellars and a tasting room worthy of a Grand Cru Classé. There also has been improvements in the vineyard such as considerable replantation over the years, implementation of sustainable farming methods, identifying the different plots in the vineyard (“sélection parcellaire”), and even introducing green harvesting. All of this has resulted in dramatic improvements in the quality of the wine, receiving press accolades and high ratings every year.
Today, Lalande is producing an exceptional elegant and refined wine, that is still available at affordable prices for the consumer.
The vineyard is 15.5 hectares (38 acres) in size planted mostly on gravely soil with low yields. After harvest from mid-September to mid-October, the wine is vinified in separate vats and undergoes cold maceration for 5 days to maximize color and to soften the tannins . The alcoholic fermentation lasts for 10 days and 50% of the wine undergoes malolactic fermentation in barrels. Finally, the wine ages 12 months in 40% new French oak before being bottled. Estate grown and bottled. Sustainable practices.
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.