Château Lascombes

"Back to the roots"

Château Lascombes is a Deuxième Grand Cru Classé that is one of the most important wine estates in Margaux. It was long known for a Merlot-dominated wine and passed through the hands of companies. in 2022, it was taken over by the Lawrence family, who landed a real coup with their winemaker and CEO. It is none other than Axel Heinz, formerly responsible for Ornellaia and Masseto.

There is a lot that is unusual about Lascombes. The château is one of the oldest in the Médoc and was inhabited by the Durfort de Duras family from the 12th century until the 17th century. The Château Durfort-Vivens vineyard, which also belonged to the family and to which the Lascombes vineyards once belonged, still bears this name. antoine de Lascombes, who gave the estate its name, became its owner in 1625. At the time the Bordeaux vineyards were valued in 1855, the wines had an excellent reputation and the château was rated accordingly. It changed hands time and again and was the plaything of various investment groups between 1971 and 2022. A great deal has been invested, particularly since the takeover by the French insurance company MACSF. This continues with the acquisition of the winery by Gaylon Lawrence Jr. from Napa Valley in 2022. Since then, Axel Heinz, the former and long-standing director of Ornellaia and Masseto, who has led the wines of the two estates to such great success, has been responsible for the changes at the winery.

The changes that are taking place here are obvious. For the Grand Vin, the focus is on the historical parcels within the 80 hectares, which are unusually distributed across different vineyards and plots, meaning that they do not have the typical Bordeaux chateau character, or only in parts. This is a logistical challenge for the harvest team of around 200 people, but you can be sure that the grapes are harvested and fermented at the perfect time for each parcel. The core parcels are characterised more by Cabernet than Merlot and are located on gravel soils, while the Merlot grows on clay and limestone soils. This variety was the hallmark of Lascombes for decades until 2022: the only Margaux whose largest proportion consisted of Merlot. Today it is again around 60% Cabernet Sauvignon. Instead, a new wine, "La Côte", is being produced from the estate's best Merlot parcel, which is no longer used for the Grand Vin. And who would be surprised that the Masseto artist Axel Heinz is now also producing a single-varietal large Merlot at Lascombes? However, the Grand Vin is once again becoming more typical of the appellation and the goal of the work has already been set: To pick up where it left off in 1855: At the second level in Bordeaux, the 2ième Grand Cru Classé. The chances of achieving this are excellent.