Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
The nose is really glorious with strawberry, wet-earth, blackberry and dark-mushroom character. Full body, a solid core of fruit and beautiful tannins. It’s polished and velvety. Better in 2022 but gorgeous.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2014 Château Larcis-Ducasse is another elegant wine from this estate. Incorporating slightly more Cabernet Franc (15%) and the balance Merlot, this medium to full-bodied 2014 gives up a pretty, elegant, supple texture as well as a beautiful perfume of sweet strawberries, red and black currants, bouquet garni, tobacco, dried flowers and beautiful minerality. While it shows the hallmark purity and classic style of the 2014 vintage, it has more texture and depth than most. It’s going to offer pleasure for two decades.
-
Wine Spectator
This sports some dark fig and boysenberry confiture fruit, laced with a mulling spice hint. Waves of tobacco start to fill in on the back end before the fruit reemerges with a purer edge. A substantial chalky spine pulls everything together. Best from 2022 through 2032.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Larcis-Ducasse has a lovely bouquet: quite complex compared to its Saint Emilion peers, adorned with rose petal notes complementing the cranberry and wild strawberry fruit, the oak neatly integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with a succulent entry, brown spices and leather fusing with the red berries that segue into an atypically structured and classically styled finish that shows good length. This is an excellent Larcis-Ducasse that should give 20 years of drinking pleasure, possibly more.
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.
Marked by its historic fortified village—perhaps the prettiest in all of Bordeaux, the St-Émilion appellation, along with its neighboring village of Pomerol, are leaders in quality on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. These Merlot-dominant red wines (complemented by various amounts of Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon) remain some of the most admired and collected wines of the world.
St-Émilion has the longest history in wine production in Bordeaux—longer than the Left Bank—dating back to an 8th century monk named Saint Émilion who became a hermit in one of the many limestone caves scattered throughout the area.
Today St-Émilion is made up of hundreds of independent farmers dedicated to the same thing: growing Merlot and Cabernet Franc (and tiny amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon). While always roughly the same blend, the wines of St-Émilion vary considerably depending on the soil upon which they are grown—and the soils do vary considerably throughout the region.
The chateaux with the highest classification (Premier Grand Cru Classés) are on gravel-rich soils or steep, clay-limestone hillsides. There are only four given the highest rank, called Premier Grand Cru Classés A (Chateau Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Angélus, Pavie) and 14 are Premier Grand Cru Classés B. Much of the rest of the vineyards in the appellation are on flatter land where the soils are a mix of gravel, sand and alluvial matter.
Great wines from St-Émilion will be deep in color, and might have characteristics of blackberry liqueur, black raspberry, licorice, chocolate, grilled meat, earth or truffles. They will be bold, layered and lush.