France

Ch. Lascombes

Chateau Lascombes 2eme Cru Classe Margaux

Bordeaux

Margaux

As we know from Château Margaux, the 1983 vintage did better in the Margaux appellation than in most other parts of the region, as it was largely spared from the September rains. Retains a deep prune-plum colour, with sweet toasted clove spices on the opening moments along with a strong lick of salty cracker that quickly dissipates to be replaced by blackcurrant jelly, intense dark fruit flavour set against curling woodsmoke, roses and truffles. Melted tannins, this glides through the palate and ends with impressive freshness, crushed mint leaf bringing a blast of fresh air, a cushion between the fruit and the tannins, still expressive and nuanced. It holds in the glass also, with signature opulent character. At this point Lascombes was owned by Bass Charrington with René Vannetelle technical director (coming over from Pol Roger).

Inside Bordeaux

This has elegance, fine tannins, a clear expression of how Cabernet Sauvignon can perform in the vintage, rosebud, peony, slim, savoury, with fine and attractive aromatics, lovely salinity on the finish, nuanced and mouthwatering. Rises above the reputation of the vintage. Axel Heinz director. As of this vintage, only the original 1855 plots are in the wine Harvest 23 September to 9 October. 38 hl/ha yield, Julien Viaud consultant. Tasted twice. 60% new oak for ageing, 38 hl/ha, harvest 23 September to 9 October.

The 2023 Lascombes is deep garnet-purple in color. Scents of freshly crushed blackberries, cassis, and black raspberries leap from the glass, leading to touches of menthol, dark chocolate, licorice, and violets in the background. The medium-bodied palate delivers impressive intensity, with vibrant black and red berry layers and a fine-grained texture lifted by a racy backbone, finishing long and minerally. This represents a real change in style to a classic beauty! The blend is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot.

by Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW

Excellent quality, a delicious wine majoring on blackberry and spiced plum, with the increased Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend pulling its weight in terms of depth of flavour. Brambled fruit dominates, with a hedgerow character that adds welcome freshness and acidity in such an exuberant year, coupled with layers of black chocolate, fennel, liqourice, violet and slate. 60% new oak. The only one in the lineup blended by Axel Heinz, working alongside technical director Delphine Barboux (but the 2023 vintage will be the first one with Heinz present during growing season also). Harvest September 7 to 27 reflective of a hot and dry year. The percentage of 1st wine from the 120ha estate down to 40% in this vintage, reflective of the new direction taken by Lawrence Wine Estates. Julien Viaud consultant.

A blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot, the 2021 Lascombes has a medium to deep garnet-purple color. Scents of black cherries, cassis, and redcurrant jelly slowly emerge from the glass, giving way to nuances of dried lavender, rose oil, and cloves, with a waft of cedar chest. The medium-bodied palate is elegant and soft-spoken, with compelling tension and fine-grained tannins, finishing on a persistent mineral note. Impressive!

The 2020 Lascombes is deep garnet-purple in color. It has a powerful nose of baked plums, boysenberry preserves, and crème de cassis, with hints of iron ore, black olives, and Indian spices. Medium-bodied, the palate is generously fruited, with plush tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing long and spicy.

The Lascombes 2019 has a deep garnet-purple color. It bursts on the scene with flamboyant scents of blueberry pie, blackcurrant pastilles, and kirsch, followed by suggestions of candied violets, crushed rocks, and licorice. The full-bodied palate is dense, rich, and opulent, featuring velvety tannins and oodles of freshness, finishing long and layered.

An exuberant vintage all around, and this is in the zeitgeist of the year, if not the appellation. Trace of heat, and the extraction is pretty charged, which makes things abrupt on the finish but the tannins are chewy and supple, and there are enticing layers of violet, blackberry, cassis, cocoa bean, pomegranate, turmeric, ink, cloves and crayon. Harvest September 21 to October 16, 45hl/h yield, 60% new oak. Delphine Barboux technical director.

Deep colour for a 2017 Margaux, a reflection of the small 25hl/h yield after frost. Enjoyable, skilful winemaking capturing the signature of the estate, more Lascombes than appellation signature in its character, with seductive brambled fruits, clear grilled cocoa bean, liqourice, smoked caramel and blackberry. Harvest September 20 to October 5. New oak reduced at this point to 50%, yield just 25hl/h after frost. Delphine Barboux technical director.

Inky plum colour, the deepest in the vertical at this point, autumnal fruit and grilled spice come in rich waves on the nose and plump textured blackberry, blueberry, creme de cassis, autumn hedgerow, tobacco, pencil lead, cigar box and grilled spice. 35 days maceration, 70% new oak, inky in colour and expression, this is a delicious wine, full of potential, with decades of ageing ahead. Not quite settled into itself yet, I would definitely give this another 3 or 4 years. Captures the pleasure of Lascombes while holding on to the finesse of the appellation. Delphine Barboux promoted to technical director from this 2016 vintage.

This is one to look out for, with softly extracted brambled fruits, traces of crème de cassis heat from the vintage conditions balanced by mandarin peel, pomegranate, lemongrass even, slate texture, very impressive 2015, with the joyful character that you expect from Lascombes. Maceration heads up to 40 days at this point, and the tannins and grilled sandalwood swamp the fruit a little, but there is plenty to enjoy here. 70% new oak, 42hl/h yield, havest September 17 to October 15.

A vintage that was not as successful in Margaux as in the nothern Médoc, in that they had more rain during harvest, but although this is austere, you'll find plenty of dark fruit flavours, cassis bud, earth and pureed blackberry. Subtle grilled cedar notes, but even as it approaches 10 years old, the tannins remain a little inflexible, giving an abrupt finish that takes away from the finessed typicity of the appellation. 39hl/h yield, 120ha. 90% new oak, harvest September 22 to October 17. Maceration 35 days, malo in barrel. Lascombes was under new ownership again at this point, with Colony Capital selling to MACSF in 2011, still with Dominique Befvre in place as director.

The 2013 Lascombes is medium garnet in color, with a touch of brick. Pronounced cedar notes open out to notions of dried red and black currants, Provence herbs, and cast-iron pan, with a touch of graphite. The medium-bodied palate is thin and hard, with a chewy, stewed tea finish.

The 2012 Lascombes is medium to deep garnet colored. Notions of plum preserves, cedar, and mince pies jump from the nose, followed by hints of pencil lead, wet slate, and a medicinal waft. The medium-bodied palate delivers mouth-filling black fruits, with a fine-grained texture and a long, fragrant finish.

Enjoyable, waves of cloves, iron filings, bay leaf, good deep dark blackberry fruits, creme de cassis, creme caramel, campfire smoke, grilled turmeric, pomegranate and orange peel. Exuberant but staying within the lines, and this is a serious jump up on the 2009. 36hl/h yield, 90% new oak; harvest September 30 to October 20. Maceration extended to 35 days at this point, still with malo in barrel. Dominique Befve director, Alain Raynaud and Michel Rolland consultant winemakers.

Clear sandalwood and smoked almond aromatics, there is oak influence but it is integrated, and thoroughly enjoyable. Not the same depth of fruit as in some of the Margaux 2009s but full of raspberries, pomegranate, wet stones, orange peel, touches of campfire smoke, ready to enjoy.

A challenging vintage, now showing waves of tobacco and soft leather, blackberry and redcurrant, with an understated charm that begs to be shared. Clearly more evolved than the 2005 or even the 2000, this gathers rosebuds and incense as it progresses through the palate, very much ready to drink, on the edge of tertiary but staying on the precipice. Love the charm of this wine, atypical of the lineup. 40.5hl/h yieid, 75% new oak. Dominique Befve director, Alain Raynaud and Michel Rolland consultant winemakers.

Amatør

Dyp rubinrød farge. Aroma av solbær, blåbær, lakris, blyantspiss og skogbunn. Strukturert med tydelig tannin og fin syre. Lang finish. Fremdeles ikke nådd sitt potensial i mine øyne, resten av flaskene får ligge noen år til. Veldig god vin.

WSET 1

Vibrant plum purple colour, an impressive 2004 that has plenty of structure and tannic heft even as it approaches 20 years old, and you can see at this point that a more muscular style of Lascombes was being produced compared to the earlier decades of this vertical. Silky texture, blueberry, pie crust, liqourice root, mint leaf, soot, cocoa bean, with pockets of air that carry you through the palate. An enjoyable example of an often overlooked vintage. 44hl/h yield, harvest October 1 to 25, 85% new oak for ageing, still Oxoline with ageing on the lees. Dominique Befve director, Alain Raynaud and Michel Rolland consultant winemakers.

Deep plum in colour, more concentrated than many 2001 Margaux with bags of charm and still fiirm tannins at 22 years old. Gunsmoke, rose petals, leather, tobacco, and a fresh cushion of mint leaf. The beginning of tertiary character is clear, but no rush to drink. A transformational vintage at Lascombes, as Colony Capital arrived in 2001, as did Dominique Befve as director, current winemaker Delphine Barboux as quality manager and Alain Raynaud consulting winemaker along with Michel Rolland. 84ha vineyard. 100% new oak, 84ha, 30hl/h yield, malolactic fermentation in barrel, with ageing on the lees using the oxoline system, harvest October 1 to 12.

Plum-purple in colour, and once again a controlled freshness is on display, as has been the case in all of these older vintages. Significantly darker than the others tasted so far, just 10 years between this and the 1990 but the colour difference is far greater than between 1970 and 1990. Impressive wine, with plenty of balance, still relatively young, with none of the tertiary characeristics that you find in the older wines. Here instead you get cassis bud, grilled toast, tobacco, blackberry and blackcurrant, with curling edges of campfire and crayon, plenty of Left Bank signature. Lacks a little weight through the mid palate which turns into rigidity on the final moments, but this is enjoyable. 65% new oak (the last year when it sits at around this level until 2017). Bruno le Moine technical director. At this point they had routinely stopped including Cabernet Franc in the blend of the 1st wine.

Meget god vin. Bør drikkes nå. En dem rød frukt, men ikke mye, lær, skifer, tobakk, - noe «grå» men helt innafor. Et klassisk eksempel på en ok lagret ok Bordeaux. Et ok kjøp.

Sommelier

Oyster shell and soy on the opening aromatics, and the colour still has its prune-purple core, softening to dark rose around the outer rim. This is charming and enticing, drawing you in. 1990 was a big vintage in the Médoc, and you can find examples of the vintage that remain more muscular than this - here at Lascombes it feels as if the tannins are finely spun and gently supportive, but very much in their tertiary moment. It means I would suggest drinking now and over the next decade, but its old school charms are delicious, sums up the pleasure of mature Cabernet, with tobacco, cold ash, smoked earth, gentle waves of toasted cumin, crayon and mint leaf, fruit fading a little. Bass Charrington owners, with René Vannetelle technical director.

This definitely gives Giscours 1970 a run for its money in terms of being the sleeper of the Margaux appellation in this particular vintage. Plenty of depth and vibrancy to the colour (barely lighter than the 1990 by the way). Prune colour, darkened rose around the outer edges. Fresh waves of dried flowers aromatics on the nose, this is inviting, begging you to take a sip. Melted and finely layered tannins support blackberry, bracken, autumn hedgerow, tobacco and gentle sweet pureed fruits. Perhaps lacks a little signature generosity of Lascombes, but is one of the standout surprises of this lineup. Alexis Lichine owner at the time, just one year before he sold up to Bass Charrington.

Colour is softened to a russet pink, a little smudged around the edges in terms of losing its pristine clarity, but still with plenty of depth through the core. Tar, marmite, soot, campfire, incense, dried flowers and leather take the lead over softened brambled and sweetened strawberry fruit on the palate. Take your time and lean into the tertiary waves of old books, cigar box, cold ash, curls of woodsmoke, undergrowth, iodine. It picks up pace through the palate, showing points of fresh orange peel acidity. Not at the end of its life but there is of course no need to wait, fully in its drinking window, sliding towards the last few years. Exact blend not recorded (or at least not found). Lascombes had a barrel maker on site at the time, so although the amount of new oak is also not recorded, there was certainly some. As ever with a wine this age, a tasting note and particularly its score can only ever give a part of the picture - Alexis Lichine was the owner of Lascombes in 1961, and we are drinking a true piece of history.

På forespørsel om et par freshe, men modne bordeauxer som Aperitivo kom Bern's utmerkede sommelier opp med Ch Lascombes 1929 og Marquis de Terme 1929. Et strålende valg skulle det vise seg. Begge flaskene fremstod som perfekte med det beste av det man forbinder med appelasjonen Margaux. Ch Lascombes mer klassisk i uttrykket, mens Marquisen markerte seg med mer rødfrukt og litt mer friskhet, som jeg setter pris på. Begge vinene er drikk nå, de blir ikke bedre, men spesielt Marquisen hadde det vært hyggelig å hatt en kasse av for å smådrikke frem mot 2029. Men det er åpenbart at 1929 er en av de store årgangene og Bern's kalde kjeller leverer alltid. Ch Lascombes 1929: 95 poeng 

2024	No priceNot available	Outstanding
2023	No priceNot available	Outstanding
2022	No priceNot available	Outstanding
2021	kr 799,90Not available	Outstanding
2020	No priceNot available	Outstanding

Category	Red wine
Vinmonopolet no.
Producer	Ch. Lascombes
Vintages	1983
Country	France, Bordeaux, Margaux
Bottle	75 cl

Alcohol	%
Acid	%
Sugar	g/l

Packaging
Cork type
Selection
Wholesaler
Carrier