CHÂTEAU MALARTIC LAGRAVIÈRE
2014 Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan
52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot. Almost too much here, big and bold - not overtly Pessac in character - but certainly impressive stuff. Rich, dark fruit, good spice on for those with bold taste.. Rating: 90 L&S (Mar 2015)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
The 2014 Malartic-Lagravière has a crisp and focused bouquet with precise blackberry and briary scents, a lovely undercurrent of mineralité. The palate is beautifully balanced on the entry with rounded, quite concentrated black fruit. There is a lot of extraction here and I fear that they may have found a touch of under-ripe tannin towards the finish, which is a shame because the nose is so damn gorgeous! Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. Drinking range: 2020 - 2040 Rating: 92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Mar 2018)
Very dark blackish crimson. Rich, buttery nose. Very broad and smooth on the nose but still pretty dry tannins. Wait! But this tastes like one of the more flattering wines of this appellation. Drinking range: 2025 - 2040 Rating: 17 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Feb 2018)
The Château Malartic-Lagravière 2014 is a blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, representing just 42% of the crop. Yields came in at 42 hectoliters per hectare and the wine underwent a 28 cuvaison. Matured in 70% new oak, it has quite a rich bouquet with blackberry and iodine scents, well defined and turning quite floral with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with bold, ripe tannins, good depth of fruit with tarry, structured finish. It is a bold Malartic with a bit of chutzpah, though I suspect that it will mellow and attain more finesse with a few years in bottle. Drinking range: 2020 - 2040 Rating: 91-93 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2015)
Clear breeding and ambition. Damson, pencil lead and wet stone aroma. Full extraction, more than most but without losing vibrancy and grip. An excellent 2014 - the fruit floats above the tannins, one to wait for. 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot. (Highly Recommended Pessac-Léognan, Decanter.) Drinking range: 2023 - 2040 Rating: 93 Steven Spurrier (Apr 2015)
Exotic and powerful to the core, the 2014 Malartic-Lagravière boasts considerable power allied to a real sense of tension. Scents of lavender, mint, herbs, crushed flowers and rose petal lead to a core of super-ripe plums and hard candy as this ample, bold wine shows its compelling personality. Bright floral notes add a little extra aromatic lift to the structured finish. The 2014 is going to need time to fully come together, but is impressive. The blend is 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. Rating: 91-94 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2015)
Particularly dark crimson. Somehow gives the impression that there are lots of hidden depths. But just a little sour with marked acidity. Rigorous and bone dry, with very drying tannins on the end. Some green vegy character towards the end. Drinking range: 2023 - 2036 Rating: 16+ Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2015)
Dense, intense and sumptuously oaked, this is a wine that needs a lot of time to come together. Bold, focused and sweet fruited, it has good supporting acidity and is less figgy than some recent releases. The cooler vintage seems to have suited the château well. Drinking range: 2020 - 2025 Rating: 91 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2015)
This already shows beautiful aromas of blackberries, wet earth, stones and spices. Full-bodied yet polished and refined with a lovely fine tannin texture. Shows wonderful finesse. Rating: 93-94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Mar 2015)
Château Malartic Lagravière
Château Malartic-Lagravière, originally Domaine de Lagravière, is a Bordeaux wine from the Pessac-Léognan appellation, ranked among the Premiers Crus for red and white wine in the Classification of Graves wine of 1953 and 1959. The winery and vineyards are located south of the city of Bordeaux, in the commune of Léognan. The Domaine de Lagravière was bought in 1803 by Pierre de Malartic whose uncle, Comte de Malartic through battles against the British in Canada and Mauritius brought fame to the name and the martime theme which is associated with this estate. The Malartic name was not applied to the estate until after 1850 however. The estate has belonged to the Bonnie family since 1997, with oenologists Michel Rolland and Athanase Fakorellis as consultants. From a property of 47 hectares (120 acres), the vineyard area consists of 41 hectares (100 acres) of the red grape varieties 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, with 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, and 6 hectares (15 acres) of the white grape varieties 80% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Sémillon.[3] The Grand vin, Château Malartic-Lagravière, is annually produced in 16,000 cases of the red wine and 2,500 cases of the dry white. There are also red and white second wines, Sillage de Malartic, and a rosé, Le Rosé de Malartic.
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those of the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do call us, but see the 'practical notes' below.
Ordering
Prices are per case as listed 'in bond London'.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment from you to buy the wines you order on release, subject to the price being below the upper price of the estimated band on our website. You may also set your own upper price limit, lower or higher than ours. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability. Providing this firm commitment to us effectively gives you priority.
Wines listed on the website (after any pre-orders and allocations have been fulfilled) can be ordered in the usual way via the website order form or by email or telephone 020 7221 1982, always subject to stock remaining.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date, apart from pre-orders which are binding if the release price is below the top estimate or other price you have set.
Invoices are raised at the In Bond price, excluding any duty and VAT which will become payable at the prevailing rates on arrival of the wine if required duty paid.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or credit transfer. We reserve the right to charge 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £1000, orders below this total will be charged £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery for 2016 Bordeaux primeurs will probably be completed by October 2019, but we make no guarantee as to specific delivery times, and some of the Sauternes may be later.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes) for immediate payment. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option, but do please note that confirmed orders are still binding as above even if the final invoice has not been issued.
When the wine is shipped, unless previously specified we will assume that delivery is to be to bonded storage with Elephant Storage, but in any case, we will contact you requesting any alternative instructions. If you have another bonded delivery address you would like the wine to go to, please tell us at the time of ordering. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue invoices at the rates prevailing at the time for the excise duty (currently £25.98 per case) and the VAT (currently at 20%) on the total of the wine cost and the duty.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the bottle size you want. Even if a wine is only listed in one size, you can order any bottle or case size you want if the property supplies it, but you must order the case/bottle size you require and check that the correct size has been invoiced.
Additional charges are as follows:-
- +£15 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£15 per case of 6 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£35 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£45 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.