2021 Lagrange St Julien
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Tasting notes
The Grand Vin 2021 Château Lagrange is clearly a step up, offering a deeper, richer style that stays firmly planted in the fresher, more elegant style of the vintage. Based on 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, and 2% Petit Verdot, representing a selection of just 39% of the total production, it has terrific mid-palate density as well as classic notes of cassis, darker plums, chocolate, and integrated oak. It's beautifully done and should easily be an outstanding wine that will benefit from just a handful of years in the cellar.
Critic scores
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William Kelley, Wine Advocate
Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux
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The 2021 Lagrange was picked from 12 September to 12 October at just 30hL/ha and matured in 60% new oak. The Grand Vin represents 39% of the crop. It offers light red berry fruit on the nose, with a touch of mint developing over time. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, well-balanced, not a powerful Saint-Julien but it conveys a sense of finesse. Drink this over the next 12-15 years.
The 2021 Lagrange is a blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, and 2% Petit Verdot, with this grand vin representing 39% of production. Deep garnet-purple colored, it delivers pronounced notes of black cherries, redcurrant preserves, and black raspberries, plus suggestions of cracked black pepper, mossy tree bark, and licorice with a waft of tar. The light to medium-bodied palate is elegant and refreshing, featuring a light grip of grainy tannins and seamless freshness to support the red and black fruit layers, finishing on a peppery note. The pH is usually lower than this year's 3.6.
Blackberries, cedar, tobacco, spice and savory herbs on the nose bring you to a soft-textured, supple, round, forward, classical wine with a creamy-textured, dusty, peppery, crunchy, red currant-packed finish. The wine is a blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon and 16% Merlot. It is interesting to note that this is the highest percentage of Cabernet used in the blend in the history of the estate. 13% ABV. Yields were low at only 30 hectoliters per hectare.
About the producer
Now with 118 hectares under vine, Ch. Lagrange is a Third Growth, owned by the Suntory group since 1983. Their investment in the property has paid off, today producing benchmark Saint-Julien.