Chateau Malartic-Lagraviere

Chateau Malartic-Lagraviere was originally called Domaine de Lagraviere. It was purchased by Pierre de Malartic in 1803, subsequently adding the prefix Malartic to the name in honor of Pierre’s uncle, Comte Anne-Joseph-Hippolyte Maures de Malartic. Maures was an admiral of the French fleet, and later took up a position as governor of today’s Mauritius. He fought against the British and was honored in France, with the town of Malartic named after him.

The estate was passed to Madame Verve Arnaud Ricard in 1850, a successful family of barrel manufacturer and also the proprietor of Domaine de Chevalier. It was Madame Ricard who amended the name of the chateau to honor Maures de Malartic. The estate later came to her granddaughter Angele Ricard in 1901, whose granddaughter Simone Ridoret married the estate manager Jacques Marly.

Jacques Marly earned his fortune through the mirror industry, and he had the label reverse-printed in the vintage of 1962 and 1964 so it could be viewed only through a mirror. Marly also was responsible for the design of the current label, featuring a three-mast sailing ship, which was built in 1846 and sailed by Laurent Ridoret, Simone’s great-grandfather.

The estate was sold to Laurent-Perrier in 1990, with the Champagne house passing on to Michele and Alfred-Alexandre Bonnie in 1996. Alfred is a business of Belgian origin, who spent multi-million investment to revitalize the estate, with new developments in the chateau, and expand the vineyard and chai. The new cellars are now fully equipped with gravity-fed temperature-controlled stainless steel and new oak vats.

The vineyard is expanded with a purchase of 11 ha from neighboring estate Chateau Neuf, and a 7 ha from Marquet, now covering 53 ha in total. Today it is managed by Alfred’s son Jean-Jacques and his wife Severine. They have also made a recent acquisition of Chateau Gazin Rocquencourt.

The soil is typical of the region, with gravel on top of a layer of limestone, peppered with ancient shells and fossils, and a few streaks of clay. The vines are averaging 25 years of age and planted at 10000 vines per ha. Once it was all Sauvignon Blanc but now the white varieties have 80% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Semillon, with the red varieties having an equal proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot at 45% each, with 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot.

Trained in double Guyot system, with minimal use of treatments, the vines are manually harvested, with yield typically of 45 hl/ha. Double sorting is done on the vibrating table, with destemming, followed by transfer to the vat room by gravity. Fermentation is carried out in the newly-equipped chai, on a plot-by-plot basis, using temperature-controlled stainless steel and oak vats.

The white wine is fermented using wood of 30-40% new, without skin contact, remaining in the barrels for up to 12 months. For the red wine, once finished fermentation, it undergoes blending and is decanted into oak barrels, of 60-80% new for up to 22 months, before fining with egg white. The estate produces both red and white wine and both are included in the 1959 Graves Classification.

The grand vin is dominated by Sauvignon Blanc, with a smaller production of only 2000 cases. For the red there are typically 16000 cases, usually having more Cabernet Sauvignon. In general the white is regarded as superior in quality and reputation. There is second wine introduced for both red and white in 1990, of 6500 and 500 cases respectively, now named as La Reserve de Malartic from 2007. Selection is strict with only 60% going to the grand vin, and a rose called Le Rose de Malartic is made from saignee method, mainly with Merlot, of about 3600 cases.

 

I have recently tasted the 2007 red and white, below are my tasting notes for both respectively:

 

Very good quality Pessac-Leognan with deep ruby color, a fairly intense nose of good complexity showing aromas of blackcurrant and blackberry, earth, tobacco and savory, liquorice, cedar and smoke, plus some cream. Medium in acidity, the tannin is ripe and velvety, the wine is fairly full-bodied with reasonably intense flavors of blackcurrant and blackberry, earth, cocoa, liquorice and eucalyptus. Possessing a fairly long finish, the wine shows good development despite its relatively young age, with a firm structure and good balance. Ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 5-8 years.

 

Very good quality Pessac-Leognan white with light lemon color, a fairly intense nose of good complexity, showing aromas of pear and custard apple, lemon, peach and hints of apcicot, cream, melon, straw and vanilla. Fairly high in acidity, it has a high alcohol level and quite warming, with a fairly full-bodied and good intense palate, showing flavors of lime, peach, toasted almond, mango, butterscotch and honey. Having a fairly long finish, the wine is in good balance and impressive on the complexity in both nose and palate. Ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 4-6 years.