Château Lascombes: stylistic changes and differentiated paths

La Côte Lascombes, the first new cuvee to be produced by the Margaux second growth since the estate changed hands in 2022, is being offered in bottle in order to differentiate it from the Grand Vin and give both wines their own path, winemaker Axel Heinz told db.

The 100% Merlot La Côte, which is nearly twice as expensive to buy as the estate wine, was first released on La Place last September with its inaugural vintage (2022), the first new wine created since the estate was purchased by Gaylon Lawrence Jr in November 2022.

Speaking to the drinks business at a tasting earlier this month, Heinz, who was winemaker at Ornellaia and Masseto before joining Lascombe in 2023, told db it had been decided that La Cote would be sold in bottle only, rather than en primeur, in order to give each of the estate’s wines a specific approach.

“It took us a time until we decided that we would launch the cuvee and to decide whether it would have been the very first vintage in which we started to work on it, so it took a little time,” he said. “We also felt it’s a good way to sort of split [them] and give each of the main wines – Lascombe on one hand and La Côte on the other – its own specific name,” he said. “The La Côte  is going to be released later on in the season, and only with already bottled wine.”

Despite Heinz having no intention making a Merlot when he joined Lascombe, he said at the time that he had wanted to “shake things up a bit” and give it its own identity – and the 4.5ha of four contiguous plots of 60-year-old Merlot vines planted on blue marl clay over limestone soil, provided a perfect opportunity.

Stylistic changes

In addition to the new cuvée, Heinz is stylistically reshaping the estate wine. For example, the selection process for the Grand Vin and the second wine (Chevalier de Lascombes) have changed, being more terroir driven and “not produced for the sake of it,” he told db.

“It’s giving each wine its specifically dedicated terroir,” he explained. “In the case of Lascombe, it’s the heart, the most historic part of the estate which is right on the plateau, which corresponds to all areas where we know that we have vineyards as far back as 1855, when Lascombe was classified as a second growth. And all the other areas that are a little bit more varied for the Chevalier de Lascombes.”

This is resulting in more specifically defined terroir for each wine, rather than a more “classical” selection of young vines and a selection process in the testing room during the blending.

“We are breaking away from that and trying to really define which terroir is dedicated to each specific wine – and that will allow also for all of the ones that develop their own personalities,” he said.

The Grand Vin was released last week (21 May) and is available from London merchants priced at£264 per case of six bottles, which is below the current market prices of both the 2023 and 2022 vintages.

 

 

 

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