Winemaker Notes
#55 James Suckling Top 100 Wines of the World 2025
Blend: 6% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 84% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
What a fabulous young wine from this tiny vineyard of four hectares. Aromas of black cherries, graphite, flint and brambleberries. Hints of fresh herbs such as bay leaves. The palate is medium-bodied, showing a fantastic depth of fruit and racy tannins. The purity and complexity are exceptional. A very minerally, vineyard-driven wine with an abundance of character and subtle power. 84% merlot, 10% cabernet sauvignon, and 6% cabernet franc.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Deep purple-hued, the 2022 Château Croix De Labrie is based on 84% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 6% Cabernet Franc that's from a handful of sites of mostly cooler limestone soils. Cassis, violets, darker chocolate, graphite, and spicy oak all emerge from this pure, concentrated, beautifully balanced and full-bodied 2022. It’s relatively inward and tight at the moment, yet it still blossoms with air and has so much to love.
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Decanter
Blue fruits, vanilla, dark chocolate and plums on the nose. Vibrant and lively on the palate, smooth and really deliciously textured - not too heavy or too light, density is there in the fruit concentration but the balance of acidity and fine tannins is nicely supportive. Cool blue fruits are at the fore as well as tangy strawberries and raspberries, a sense of fun and ease about this with bite and tang to the fine but grippy tannins. Nicely detailed, you feel the edges here and the shape of the wine which has tension and focus. Not so demonstrably layered but generous and easy to enjoy with lovely mouthwatering acidity that is really appealing. Balanced and supremely finessed with a long length and fine tannins.
Barrel Sample: 95
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.