Chateau Larcis Ducasse

The history of Chateau Larcis Ducasse could trace back to 18^th century, with evidence showing existence and ongoing viticulture from 1777. In the 19^th century it was in the ownership of Pigasse of the nearby Pavie for a short period. The wines were highly regarded, earning a gold medal in the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1867, during which the estate was under the Ducasse family.

It subsequently changed hands, coming to Hanri Raba in 1893, who passed to his wife and son Andre in 1925 upon his death. During World War II the estate was passed to Andre’s niece, Helene Gratiot Alphandery, who ran the estate until 1990 with the help of Pharaon Roche, and then her son Jacques Olivier Gratiot took over until today.

Since 2002 it was under the management of Nicolas Thienpont from Pavie-Macquin, with consultation from Stephane Derenoncourt and Julien Lavenu. The 10.8 hectare vineyards are located to the southeast of St-Emilion, east of Chateau Pavie, on the boundary between St-Emilion and St Laurent-des-Combes.

At the bottom of the slope towards the Dordogne the soils are richer in alluvial with deposits of sand, and some chalk and clay. Moving up the slope there is more clay and limestone, soft chalk with silt and clay, and towards the top is mainly chalk, plus some limestone and clay-limestone.

The vines planted are 78% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon with average age of 35 years, planting at a density of 7500 vines per hectare. The vines are managed on sustainable basis, with light ploughing and interplanting with cereals in the winter.

With manual debudding, leaf thinning and green harvesting, the fruit is also harvested by hand before going to sorting tables and then destemmed. The grapes are vinified in temperature-controlled cement tanks and then undergo malolactic in barrel, of which 60% are new each vintage for up to 20 months. The grand vin is Chateau Larcis Ducasse.

I have recently tasted the 2006 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Appearance
Bright and clear, it has deep ruby color, with garnet rims and legs.

Nose

Clean, with medium (+) intensity aromas of ripe black fruit of cassis and blackberry, oak notes of cedar, sweet spice of licorice and cloves, mineral notes of pencil shavings, maturity notes of game. The wine is developing.

Palate

Dry with medium acidity, the wine has medium (+) tannin of ripe and velvety texture, exhibiting medium alcohol and medium (+) body, it has medium intensity flavors of black fruit such as blackberry and plum, oak notes of cedar and vanilla, sweet spice of licorice, mineral notes of earth. The wine has a medium (+) finish.

Conclusion

Good quality St-Emilion with a good intense nose with ripe black fruit dominating, and showing good complexity, the wine has a good structure, in balance and demonstrating typical right bank characters. The flavors are fairly concentrated too, with quite a good length on the finish. It is ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 2-3 years.