Chateau Larcis Ducasse Premier Grand Cru Classe B, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2023

The 2023 Larcis Ducasse is one of the most delicate, elegant wines in Saint-Émilion. Silky contours frame a core of dark red/purplish fruit, cloves, new leather, menthol and lavender. As always, Larcis Ducasse is all about finesse and reserve. It remains one of the most under-the-radar wines in all of Bordeaux. Readers with classically leaning palates will adore it. Tasted three times.

This is really classic in character, with a fine tannin structure and medium body. It starts slowly and then accelerates quickly into intense black cherries, currants and a salty note. Savory and subtle. 86% merlot and 14% cabernet franc.

Excellent quality, this is clearly going to age extremely, has depth, intensity and sculpted tannins, fine grained and sappy. Sweet character to the brambled damson and black cherry fruit, sage, rosemary, lavender, a great benchmark wine as ever, with salinity and grip. Tasted three times, once at the estate with owner Jacques-Olivier Gratiot. 43hl/ha yield, Nicolas Thienpont and David Suire celebrating their 22nd vintage together at the estate. 3.55ph, 50% in new barrels for ageing.

A blend of 86% Merlot and 14% Cabernet Franc aged in a mix of barrels, 500-liter, and foudre (roughly 60% new oak), the 2023 Château Larcis Ducasse sports a deep purple hue as well as a great nose of ripe red and black fruits, smoky tobacco, chocolaty herbs, and graphite. This carries to a medium to full-bodied palate that has a round, layered, concentrated mouthfeel, velvety tannins, and a great finish. It's one of the richer, more textured, sexy, opulent wines in the vintage while still staying in the charming, pure, layered style of 2023. It will keep for 30 years or more in a cold cellar but will be shining with just 4-5 years of bottle age. Drink 2029-2055.

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2023 Larcis Ducasse delivers an initial burst of pure, ripe blueberries and crushed blackberries before opening out to hints of fragrant soil, rose oil, black truffle, and a beguiling waft of preserved mandarin peel. The medium to full-bodied palate is tightly wound like a spring, revealing black fruit, floral, and mineral nuances with a taut structure of firm fine-grained tannins and bold freshness, finishing very long and fantastically layered. This is stunning.

The 2023 Larcis Ducasse is another that feels a little closed on the nose, yet there is good weight of fruit here. Clearly, a Saint-Émilion intent on biding its time. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins. Quite peppery in style, fanning out wonderfully toward the finish with hints of bay leaf and white pepper on the aftertaste. It has real character.

A blend of 86% Merlot and 14% Cabernet Franc, the 2023 Larcis Ducasse fully matches expectations formed at the en primeur tastings. Unfurling from the glass with aromas of dark berries, fresh licorice, gentian, smoke and flowers, discreetly accented by oak, it is medium- to full-bodied, suave and velvety, built around a fleshy core of fruit framed by powdery tannins, concluding with a delicately saline finish.