Winemaker Notes
Blend: 90% Sauvignon Blanc, 10% Semillon
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Aromas of apricot, passion fruit, lemon pie and custard. Crushed stones, fennel and cloves, too. It’s full-bodied with bright acidity and a layered, creamy texture. Long, rounded and mineral finish. Very tight and structured. Drink or hold.
-
Wine Enthusiast
The white wine from this estate has become a reference point, and this release continues that reputation. It is rich while keeping freshness through crisp acidity. Spice and touches of tropical fruits add richness and complexity to a wine that is sure to age. Drink from 2024. Cellar Selection
-
Decanter
I like the grip here. A little subdued but there is citrus zest and lime juice along with stone-fruit character, and good texture of pear and white peach fruit. Good quality, with the confidence and texture that you want from a classified white. Tasted twice. Drinking Window 2021 - 2032
-
Jeb Dunnuck
Pretty pineapple, honeyed lime, and a touch of minerality emerge from the 2018 Château Malartic Lagraviere Blanc. It's another delicious, nicely textured, medium-bodied white in the vintage that brings lots of fruit as well as vibrancy and freshness. Enjoy bottles any time over the coming 5-7 years.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Malartic Lagraviere 2018 Blanc is a blend of 90% Sauvignon Blanc and 10% Sémillon. It was fermented in oak barrels, 55% new. It opens with alluring scents of fresh pears, Golden Delicious apples and juicy peaches, followed by hints of nutmeg, dill seed and honeysuckle. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers bags of apple and stone fruit flavors with a racy line and oily suggestion to the texture, finishing on a lingering spicy note.
-
Wine Spectator
Racy in feel, with good cut to the mix of lemon pith, tarragon, verbena and thyme notes melding through the finish, where a lemon curd accent checks in. Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. Drink now through 2023.
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.