Winemaker Notes
The 2025 vintage is shaping up to be remarkable, driven by ideal weather conditions combining warmth, sunshine and beneficial rainfall. Thanks to the winter’s water reserves, the vines coped well with the heatwaves, allowing the grapes to reach full ripeness while retaining good levels of acidity.
The whites, harvested from August 26, are flavorful, dense and vibrant, with beautiful aromatics and a saline finish. The reds, picked from September 9 to October 3, benefited from perfect ripening conditions, producing generous, fresh and elegant wines.
This vintage stands out for its impressive balance between concentration, freshness, finesse and gourmandize.
Blend: 73% Sauvignon Blanc, 27% Sémillon
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is so classy, with polish, transparency, a medium body and fresh acidity. Linear and racy, with a bright, icy finish and a steely and lightly bitter character at the end. An outstanding white.
Barrel Sample: 96-97 -
Jeb Dunnuck
A blend of 73% Sauvignon Blanc and 27% Sémillon raised six months on its lees in 50% new barrels with the balance in once-used oak, the 2025 Château Malartic-Lagravière Blanc is a richer yet still fresh, beautifully balanced white. Melon, honeyed mint, and a touch of minerality all define the aromatics, and it's medium-bodied on the palate, with integrated acidity and a clean finish. I love its purity, as well as its length.
Barrel Sample: 94-96 -
Vinous
The 2025 Malartic-Lagravière Blanc has a well-defined nose, but perhaps like the Domaine de Chevalier Blanc, it feels bashful at this early stage. The palate is well balanced, with a peachy entry and, here, it is more expressive, with hints of mango and Clementine, just a little oak guiding the finish. Not quite up there with the outstanding '24, but close. –Neal Martin
Barrel Sample: 92-94 -
Decanter
Freshly picked orchard fruit on the nose – expressive and alive with hints of dried herbs, hay and vanilla. Juicy and softly succulent, this has a nice balance between creamy white fruit and crisp apple fruit. Quite a delicate take for Malartic with the focus on purity and delicacy rather than weight and fullness. Less lively than it can be, but still there’s a soft mouthwatering aspect. It’s sophisticated and round with nice complexity. The cooling element really lingers. No bitterness. A yield of 36hl/ha. 3.3pH.
Barrel Sample: 93
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.