Chateau Lascombes 2011
Chateau Lascombes 2011 was named after one of its previous owners who possessed the estate in the 17th century, Antoine, Chevalier de Lascombes. Born in 1625, Lascombes inherited the estate from the Durfort de Duras family. The Durfort de Duras family were well established in Margaux as they had their own eponymous estate, Chateau Durfort, which later became Durfort Vivens.
In the late 1700’s, Comte Jean-Jules Theophile Chaix-d’Est-Ange, the owner of Lascombes purchased Chateau Marquis dAlesme. He wanted to combine both Margaux vineyards to create one large Medoc property. At one point in time, the original Marquis d’Alesme chateau was used as a business office for Chateau Lascombes.
Chateau Lascombes can be enjoyed on the young side with decanting, due to its round forward style. Young vintages can be decanted for an average of 2-3 hours, give or take. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment.
To produce the wine Chateau Lascombes, vinification takes place in a combination of wood and stainless steel vats. Over the past few years, the amount of new oak used to age the wine has been fortunately reduced. The wine is aged in 80% new French oak barrels for 18 months. There is a second wine, Chevalier de Lascombes.
There is also a third wine, which made its debut in 2007, that is produced from 25 hectares of vines located just outside Margaux in the Haut Medoc appellation. The third wine is sold under the name of Le Haut-Medoc de Lascombes. On average, the chateau annually produces 20,000 cases of Chateau Lascombes each year.
Combining power and elegance, smoothness and tannins, Château Lascombes is a wine of great complexity. In its youth, its depth of colour never fails to impress. Finesse and softness on the palate are complemented by stylish, fine-grained tannins. Château Lascombes should be enjoyed as it ages over the years to enable full appreciation of its aromatic complexity and the development of its ever-more suave structure in bottle.