Château Laroque 2019

Jeb Dunnuck

I continue to just love this château, which is located in one of the cooler terroirs in the appellation, sitting on pure limestone soils. Director David Suire continues to fine-tune every aspect of the estate and is the driving force behind the incredible quality we're seeing today. The 2019 Château Laroque is as classy as they come, with an incredible level of refinement and elegance. Ripe black cherries, blueberries, violets, white truffle, and cedar pencil all define the aromatics, and it's medium to full-bodied, with incredible tannins, perfect balance, and a great finish. It doesn't quite have the density of, say, Canon or Clos Fourtet, yet it doesn't lose a beat with regard to purity, finesse, and elegance. It's a gorgeous Saint-Emilion that readers will love to have in the cellar. It offers pleasure today yet won't hit the early stages of maturity for another 5-7 years and will have 20-25 years of overall longevity, probably more.

James Suckling

Blackcurrant, cherry and violet aromas follow through to a medium to full body with very well-integrated tannins that give a soft and creamy impression. Long and satisfying already, but needs another three or four years to come together. Try after 2023.

The Wine Independent

Lisa Perrotti-Brown

Jane Anson - Inside Bordeaux

VertdeVin

The nose is fruity and offers finesse, elegance as well as an aerial approach in its power and richness. It reveals notes of Boysenberry, blue plum and slightly lily associated with touches of bright wild strawberry, hints of blueberry, tonka bean, a hint of pepper and a subtle hint. sense of place and chocolate. The palate is fruity, balanced, elegant and offers juiciness, minerality, an acidulous frame, a nice limestone side, complexity, good definition as well as a certain finesse in its richness. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of pulpy / bright cassis, fresh blackberry / blackberry and more slightly of wild strawberry associated with touches of crushed redcurrants, violet / lily as well as fine hints of toasted almond, dark chocolate, toasted hazelnut and a hint of vanilla. Tannins are precise and elegant. Good length.

Falstaff

Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider

Dark chocolate, spice-box, smoke, licorice, espresso and plums carry the nose. The wine is full-bodied, deep, rich, lush and plush on the palate with layers of ripe, supple, silky dark red fruits with intensity, purity, and salty tannins. The wine is hitting all the right notes. And even better, as good as it is now, with some age, this is going to be even better. This is in competition for the highest scoring, well-priced wine in all of Bordeaux . This is a reminder, grab this wine by the case. Eventually, prices will rise. Remember, you heard it here first. Drink from 2023-2045.

Robert Parker Wine Advocate

A terrific effort from an estate that was long one of Saint-Émilion's sleeping giants, the 2019 Laroque unwinds in the glass with aromas of cherries, licorice, loamy soil, rose petals and sweet tobacco. Medium to full-bodied, ample and layered, it's deep and concentrated, with succulent aids, powdery tannins and a seamless, integrated profile. It's well worth seeking out.

David Suire, Nicolas Thienpont's longtime right-hand man at the likes of Pavie Macquin and Larcis-Ducasse, is resurrecting one of Saint-Émilion's sleeping giants in the form of Château Laroque. Some 60 hectares are under vine today, in the commune of Saint-Christophe-des-Bardes, with more to come; but in the early 20th century, the estate was allowed to lie almost entirely fallow (the advantage being that they're largely virus-free). Laroque itself represents less than 50% of the production, permitting exigent selection, and winemaking is thoughtful, with fruit from clay soils matured in classic 225-liter barriques, while blocks from soils richer in limestone are matured in larger barrels, foudres and oak tanks. Much of those clay soils end up in the second wine, Les Tours de Laroque, which is fleshier and more immediate than Laroque itself. With the 2019 vintage, things are really beginning to get interesting at this address, so it's a name to watch.