Château Lascombes has released the second vintage of La Côte, its 100% Merlot cuvée from five hectares of rare limestone and blue clay terroir in Margaux. db's Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay examines the 2023 vintage, the first overseen in its entirety by estate director Axel Heinz.
That the new vision for the 120 hectares under vine at Margaux second growth Château Lascombes would involve a new wine, a monocépage wine, and a monocépage Merlot at that, now seems not just logical but fêted.
Returning to the Médoc directly from Masseto in Tuscany, how else was Axel Heinz likely to mark his arrival? But when the project was first announced, it sent shock waves through the world of fine wine. Two years on, it is only the boldness of the vision and the quality of the wine that shocks.
A new vision for Lascombes
As the press release unveiling this new wine last year already made clear, the grand vin of Lascombes is now refocused on the parcels, largely in front of the château itself, classified in 1855 and currently amounting to around 50 hectares.
That brings the proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend, already at 60-65%, up to levels not seen at Lascombes since ...