Chateau Lagrange Saint-Julien Grand Cru 2018 (375ml)

97 Pts, Jeb Dunnuck – 95 Pts, Parker’s Wine Advocate 

This is a very special bottling made by a special winery. Grapes have been grown at Chateau Lagrange in Saint-Julien for over 600 years. They were awarded Grand Cru Classe and named a Third Growth in the Bordeaux Classification of 1855. Stretching over two Gunzian gravel slopes, the vineyard is sprawled out along the highest points of Saint-Julien. The place is absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. Their winemaking facilities are nothing short of immaculate.

In 2018, the Chateau’s flagship wine dazzles — this is one of the best in the Left Bank in 2018, period. It thoroughly WOWed all the expert reviewers who came in its path, seeing nothing lower than a 93-point score from all six who reviewed it! This Left Bank blend consisting of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot is still very young, but is already showing it’s going to be one of the better wines made at this estate in the past few decades. Critics are already comparing the blend to 2009. Super high praise that remains to be seen. What is known for sure is that this is still an infant- but no doubt, a beautifully built monster in the making.

97 points from Jeb Dunnuck who detailed, “a big, rich, full-bodied Saint-Julien, it delivers thrilling purity of fruit, plenty of background oak, ripe, silky tannins, and a great mid-palate”. Parker’s Wine Advocate also went gaga for it giving it a 95-point score and highlighting its, “fantastic vibrancy” and an “explosion from the glass” before wrapping up the review with a, “Nicely done!”.

Half Bottle Bordeaux is super fun to collect. I’d recommend buying at least a handful of this beauty and drinking them every so often to see how they’re progressing. This is one of the stars of the vintage and will remind you of that fact every time you pop one of these open for years and years to come. If I had to take a guess, I’d say this will hit it’s peak from 2025-2033. Enjoy em!