CHÂTEAU LARCIS DUCASSE
2015 Grand Cru Classé Saint Emilion
A lovely Larcis! It's got that sense of freshness and finesse that marked some of the wines which really made the name of this estate. Lovely jewel-like clarity and a nice tautening dryness on the finish. A top success in the vintage. Rating: 92-93 L&S (Apr 2016)
* 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 2015 Larcis Ducasse lacks a bit of brightness on the nose compared to its peers. This was sullen on the day of tasting. The palate is stoic and medium-bodied with strict tannins. It's missing some bandwidth and is simplistic on the finish. Another bottle was tasted at the Vinous Icons Bordeaux seminar, which did not deliver the same freshness and precision as its peers. Tasted blind at the 2015 Bordeaux Ten-Year-On tasting at Farr Vintners. Rating: 0 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jun 2025)
The 2015 Larcis Ducasse has a strange nose with oxtail scents, dried blood aromas infusing the black fruit. The palate is rich and opulent with layers of red berry fruit and much more representative of the bottle tasted last year. There is no way I can score this but will taste another bottle. Tasted at the Larcis Ducasse vertical in Bordeaux. Rating: 0 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Oct 2020)
The 2015 Larcis Ducasse is just as compelling from bottle as it was from barrel. Rose petal, lavender, spice and mint give it an attractive upper register that melds seamlessly into a core of inky red and purplish fruit. Dense, powerful and overt, the 2015 also has quite a bit of freshness to liven up the flavors. Silky tannins and soft contours add to the wine's racy, sensual personality. The 2015 is going to be virtually impossible to resist in its youth. Drinking range: 2022 - 2040 Rating: 97 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2018)
The aromas to this are phenomenal with oyster shell, blackberries, iodine and black truffles. Full-bodied, layered and so refined and intense. Love the texture and intensity. Chalky. Amazing. Goes on for minutes. Drinking range: 2023 - Rating: 99 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Feb 2018)
Deep crimson. Rich, dark but withheld on the nose and a lovely rocky dry impression. A little more fragrant with air. Juicy and fresh, finely structured and already in harmony if not (yet) approachable. Elegant length. Drinking range: 2025 - 2040 Rating: 17.5 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Nov 2017)
A Stéphane Derenoncourt wine. 87% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc. The lighter fruit on less clayey soils, about 40%, is aged in 500-litre casks. Intense but mellow nose. Rich and round on the palate with some zest. A light animal note gives this drama. But it's not forced. Just a slight vegy note on the end. Drinking range: 2025 - 2038 Rating: 17 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2016)
Rating: 89 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2016)
87% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc. Maturity of the fruit balanced by the limestone terroir. Ripe, dark fruit aroma and flavour – raisins and blackcurrant. The palate tight and firm with good tension and length. Affirmative in style. Slightly chewy finish. Drinking range: 2023 - 2035 Rating: 93 James Lawther MW, decanter.com (Apr 2016)
Hard to believe this. It has a minerality and intensity like a great white wine with so much chalky character that it gives an oyster shell flavor. Full and racy. Shaking my head in intrigue. Wonderfully silky tannins. Rating: 98-99 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2016)
The 2015 Larcis-Ducasse is a blend of 87% Merlot and 13% Cabernet France, picked between 28 September and 10 October, 7-13 October respectively. Cropped at 37 hl/ha it is being matured in 500-liter barrels. It has an intense nose of raspberry preserve, boysenberries and an almost honeyed-like richness that thankfully retains freshness and delineation, when it could have been over-powering. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannin, a little grainy in texture, very well-balanced and graceful, gently building to a convincing, quite minerally, blackberry and wild strawberry finish. There is superb terroir expression here, an excellent Larcis-Ducasse that should offer 3-4 decades of drinking pleasure. Drinking range: 2022 - 2055 Rating: 94-96 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Apr 2016)
Another wine made by Nicolas Thienpont and David Suire, and under their direction this property was promoted in 2012. In the 2015 vintage the assemblage is dominated by 87% Merlot, picked on September 28th-30th, October 3rd and the 10th. The Cabernet Franc, just 13% of the blend, was picked on October 7th and 12th. The yield was 37 hl/ha. This has dark, quite pure, perfumed black cherry fruit on the nose, with a very confident, plush but defined character. There is a little oaky lactone vanilla lift here, as there is in many wines. A very pretty style, the palate has freshness, tension, a very pure character, with bright floral fruit laced with gingerbread spice, beautifully tense and defined. Lots of oaky lactone here at the end as well though. All the same, fresh, poised, concentrated, with piles of tight tannic grip in the finish. Tasted three times, and not for the first time the sample presented at the château showed best. This is a really impressive Larcis Ducasse, dark and concentrated yet fresh, and surely one of the best vintages I have tasted. Rating: 17.5-18.5/20 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2016)
Lush, with velvety structure that lets the raspberry, plum and cassis fruit glide beautifully through the spice-tinged finish. Still very primal, but has length and fruit for days. Rating: 93—96 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2016)
Château Larcis Ducasse
At the south-eastern extremes of the St Emilion plateau, the steeper hillsides crowned by Château Troplong Mondot are known as the Côte de Pavie and play host to some of St Emilion’s most exciting vineyards. Not least among them are the various Pavie châteaux, but this is also home to Château Larcis Ducasse. The Larcis name seems to have been used for a wider area of vineyard on the Côte, a lot of which is now part of Château Pavie, whilst the Ducasse comes from a one-time owner, one of several Duscasses to have made a mark in Bordeaux. Henri Raba purchased Château Larcis Ducasse in 1893 and the estate is still owned by his descendants today. Since 2002, Larcisse Ducasse has been managed by Nicolas Thienpont, who also manages Pavie-Macquin, and whose family are intimately woven into the fabric of modern St Emilion; he has been notably assisted by another St Emilion superstar Stéphane Derenencourt. The 11ha of vineyard are planted with 78% Merlot and 22% Cabernet Franc, with an average age of 35 years. The on-going success of Château Larcis Ducasse, and the quality of its terroir, was rewarded with the status of Premier Grand Cru Classé (B) status in the 2012 St Emilion Classification.
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.