Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
A tightly coiled rich wine that has great acidity as well as a lively structure. Touched by spice from wood aging as well as intense citrus, it is fruity, firm and strongly textured. Drink this impressive still-young wine from 2022.
-
James Suckling
This is really impressive with complex aromas of cream, apples, pears and stones that follow through to a full body, ripe fruit and an intense, zesty aftertaste. Drink now or hold.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Malartic-Lagraviere Blanc fulfils its potential that it showed in barrel. It has a well-defined and mineral-driven bouquet with light granitic aromas, a touch of sunflower seed and citrus peel. The palate is very well balanced with beautiful citrus fruit laced with nectarine, white peach and apricot. It feels very harmonious in the mouth, long and persistent, the aftertaste delivering a dash of spice that will put a smile on your face and leave you reaching for another sip of this excellent Pessac-Léognan Blanc.
-
Decanter
For fans of a fairly crisp style of Pessac white in this particular vintage, this has clean lines and a savoury touch to the stone fruits, with the rounding out of the oak barrels (60% new). Good grip, plenty of drinking pleasure ahead.
-
Wine Spectator
Juicy and friendly in feel, with lemon gelée, star fruit, white peach and honeysuckle notes that pick up a zing of white ginger through the finish. Lots of fun. Drink now through 2019.
Sometimes light and crisp, other times rich and creamy, Bordeaux White Blends typically consist of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Often, a small amount of Muscadelle or Sauvignon Gris is included for added intrigue. Popularized in Bordeaux, the blend is often mimicked throughout the New World. Somm Secret—Sauternes and Barsac are usually reserved for dessert, but they can be served before, during or after a meal. Try these sweet wines as an aperitif with jamón ibérico, oysters with a spicy mignonette or during dinner alongside hearty Alsatian sausage.
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.