2018 Lascombes
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Tasting notes
An exuberant vintage all around, and this is in the zeitgeist of the year, if not the appellation. Trace of heat, and the extraction is pretty charged, which makes things abrupt on the finish but the tannins are chewy and supple, and there are enticing layers of violet, blackberry, cassis, cocoa bean, pomegranate, turmeric, ink, cloves and crayon. Harvest September 21 to October 16, 45hl/h yield, 60% new oak. Delphine Barboux technical director.
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
The Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Tasted blind. Quite obvious sweet oak on the nose. Lascombes? Big, bold and beefy with chewy tannins. (JR)
The 2018 Lascombes sports an attractive nose of well-defined black fruit mingling with freshly rolled tobacco and earthy aromas. As I wrote last year, this is more refined and controlled than other vintages of Lascombes. The palate is cohesive and focused, and gentle in terms of grip, with fine salinity toward the finish. There is a Pauillac-like personality here and thankfully it no longer shows any of that baked character on the finish. This is decent Lascombes.
The 2018 Château Lascombes performed brilliantly in my tastings. It's a rich, medium to full-bodied, impressively textured Margaux with loads to love. Lots of jammy currants, blueberries, vanilla bean, flowers, and camphor emerge from the glass, and it has ripe yet present tannins, no hard edges, and just a balanced, classy style. It needs 3-4 years to integrate its oak and will keep for 25 years or more. The blend is 50% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Petit Verdot that was brought up in 60% new French oak.
About the producer
With vines spread across 40 different parcels throughout the appellation, Ch. Lascombes is one of the most fragmented but also largest Médoc estates, with 120 hectares of vines, now owned by the MACSF insurance company.