Pessac-Léognan: From Larrivet Haut-Brion to hidden gems

There is something supremely poignant about doing a vertical tasting at the moment.

To fully concentrate on how wine estates have responded to the challenges of individual years, no matter what the difficulties involved, somehow means more than ever.

Even more so when you can see how the challenges impacted on different parts of the vineyard, and on the quality of first and second labels of both red and white wines.

Scroll down to see Jane’s Pessac-Léognan vertical tasting notes and scores

Some years it’s clear that the pockets of white wine-producing vines did better, but other times that the reds responded better to the circumstances of the vintage.

Some years allow the second wines to shine in their own right, and in others they were better used as a crutch to hold up the estate’s main output.

This is one of the reasons that I love the appellation of Pessac-Léognan, where many estates make both colours, and also tend to produce first and second wines, conscious of doing all they can to ensure quality.

Here, I am looking at three separate Pessac properties – Haut-Lagrange, Luchey-Halde and Larrivet Haut-Brion – to assess how they have performed across a number of vintages over the past decade.

I was looking at both individual performance and what could be learnt about the wider performance of Pessac-Léognan in this decade.

Right now you might not be able to secure individual wines as easily as usual, but I hope this will give you a good idea of which bottles to open no matter which Pessac-Léognan properties you can get hold of.

Larrivet Haut-Brion: ‘From strength to strength’

First up, Larrivet-Haut-Brion. Although the name suggests that it is close to Haut-Brion itself, it’s in fact very near to Haut-Bailly in the commune of Léognan. A few decades ago, it was gently massaged by a team of lawyers to change its name from Haut-Brion Larrivet to further lessen any confusion.

This tasting completes a vertical that I carried out at the estate two years ago that went up to the 2016 vintage (an actual visit, outside of the house!). Here, I add the more recent years of 2017 and 2018 in their first and second wines, plus a few older vintages.

This is an estate that has gone from strength to strength in recent years, and is – as I have said before – one of those properties that is worth following to understand the sense of dynamism in Bordeaux.

Once again, I was struck by just how good this property is, and how its wider philosophy challenges the idea that Bordeaux doesn’t evolve.

Among the changes worth noting are: a switch from Michel Rolland to Stéphane Derenoncourt as consultant; a reduction of new oak from 100% down to around 65% for ageing; and full de-leafing in the vineyard to careful leaf cover.

The other two properties chosen are both relatively new creations, showing the vibrancy and sense of renewal that is everywhere in Pessac-Léognan.

Haut-Lagrange: ‘One to watch’

Haut-Lagrange is in the commune of Martillac, close to Smith-Haut Lafitte and Rochemorin, and dates back to 1989.

It was created by Francis Boutemy, grandson of château owners who once counted both Haut-Bailly and Larrivet Haut-Brion among their portfolio.

He planted on land that had been pine forest, although vines were there until the early 20^th century, and now has 7.5 hectares(ha) of red and 1ha of white.

His son and winemaker, Ghislain Boutemy, worked at Ata Rangi Vineyard in New Zealand before heading back to Bordeaux, and is making excellent, unfussy wines. They are doing a good job of finessing a style that can be a little difficult in its early years but which softens after around three years bottling. One to watch.

Luchey-Halde: ‘The big surprise of this tasting’

Finally, I tasted the wines of Luchey-Halde in the commune of Mérignac, another estate where vines grew until the early 20^th century before disappearing for more than 80 years.

In this case, replanting came just 21 years ago, in 1999. The property had previously been owned by the French Ministry of Defence, which bought it in 1920 and used it as a military training zone.

Somewhat ironically, this protected the area from being built over as Bordeaux city expanded and slowly but surely ate up dozens of small estates that lay within shouting distance of the city centre.

This long gap no doubt explains why Luchey-Halde is so little-known, but its red wines were honestly the big surprise of the tasting.

It’s owned today by university and research institution Bordeaux Sciences Agro, and is used as a demonstration site for environmentally-responsible viticulture.

The clear precision and skill of its winemaking team is evident in the glass, and it’s a definite tip.

Fact file

Château Larrivet Haut-Brion

Owner: Christine and Philippe Gervoson, run by their daughter Emilie Gervoson.

Size: 60ha

Consultant: Stéphane Derenoncourt consultant

Managing director: Bruno Lemoine

Château Luchey-Halde

Owner: Bordeaux Sciences Agro

Size: 23ha

Consultant: Serge Charitte

Technical director: Pierre Darriet

Château Haut-Lagrange

Owner: Francis Boutemy

Size: 8.5ha

Consultant: Alain Raynaud

Technical director: Ghislain Boutemy

See Jane Anson’s ratings and tasting notes

See also: 

Biodynamic St-Emilion: Tasting a decade of Château Fonplégade wines

Top five Bordeaux vintages ready to drink now

Larrivet Haut-Brion wines from 2010 to 2016