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Malartic Lagravière 2017

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pessac-Léognan
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyCabernet Sauvignon/Merlot

This Pessac Leognan Chateau has been making excellent wines in recent years under the management of owner Jean-Jacques Bonnie whose family purchased the property in 1997. The 46 hectare vineyard is planted with equal proportions of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot.

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Label

Tasting Notes

This has plenty of rich fruit, in the dark-cherry and cassis zone. The oak is nicely played into earthy accents, too. The tannins are smooth-grained and open out smoothly on the finish, delivering creamy, ripe berries. Drink or hold.

93
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, January 2020

The 2017 red Malartic Lagraviere is medium to deep garnet-purple in color. It opens a little broodily with notes of cedar, tar, and sauteed herbs, over a cassis and black cherries core, plus a waft of black olives. Medium-bodied, the palate is savory and refreshing, delivering lightly chewy tannins and a mineral-laced finish.

90
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, December 2022

A carefully extracted, well constructed palate delivers a sense of finesse and freshness. The fruit is not particularly expressive on the attack - you need to sit down with this for a while and wait, allow those retracting tannins to soften and unwind. Eventually, a gorgeously pure expression of cassis comes curling through, with liquorice and woodsmoke notes rounding things off. Needs time.
Drinking Window 2025 - 2038

93
Jane Anson, Decanter.com, April 2018

Deep crimson. Dark, nicely dusty cassis. Dark chocolate and graphite finesse. Dry, fine tannins with the graphite freshness marked on the finish. Elegant, if not charming at the moment. Attractive restraint.
Drink 2023-2032

16.5
Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2018

Both nose and palate are tight the fruit fresh the tannins obvious. Richer at the back ripe black cherry is backed by cassis the finish lighter fresh a bilberry bramble mix. 2024-37

88/91
Derek Smedley MW, DerekSmedleyMW.co.uk, April 2018

The tannins are a little too fierce and the fruit is a little too timid, but this is a lovely wine and I like the flavour of the fruit and the length. If the tannins calm down, and I have a feeling that they will, this will work out to be a genial, medium-weight and nicely perfumed wine.

16.5+
Matthew Jukes, Matthew Jukes' Blog, April 2018
Read more tasting notes...

A firm and silky wine with a creamy freshness and firm tannins. Dark berries and wet earth. Medium to full body. Linear and tight.

92/93
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, April 2018

Sixty percent of the crop made it into this grand vin this year. The blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, and it was aged in 45% new French oak. Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2017 Malartic Lagraviere features baked blackberries, mulberries, pencil lead and spice cake with hints of chocolate box, menthol and cassis. The medium-bodied palate is plush, soft, juicy and expressive with a spicy finish. Drink: 2020-2033

91+
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (March 2020), March 2020

The tentative blend of the 2017 Malartic Lagraviere is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple colored, it is a little closed, offering hints of tar, tilled black soil and yeast extract over a core of blackberries and warm red plums plus a waft of bay leaves. Medium-bodied with a good amount of elegant red and black fruits plus delicately played chewy tannins and a lively backbone, it finishes on an earthy note.

89/91
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (236), April 2018
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.