Château Labat
In the search for quality and value in the world of left-bank Bordeaux you have to be prepared to leave the well-trodden tracks that run from St Estèphe all the way down to Margaux. Many of the region’s most noteworthy gems reside not here, but in the Haut-Médoc appellation. The strip of vineyards that lie just to the south of the St Julien appellation is a case in point; heading north or south along the D2, rushing from an appointment at one grand cru classé property to the next, it would be easy to completely overlook this corner of Bordeaux. Slow down, and take a turn inland, however, and you will discover some of the region’s best-known and best-value cru bourgeois properties.
On the gravel mounds closest to the estuary is the highly regarded Château Lanessan and its mirror image Château Lachesnaye, the two near-identical châteaux looking as if they were pressed from the same mould. In a way, they were. A little further inland, on the far side of the solitary railway line which snakes its way up the Médoc, we find two more estates that have long been of interest to Bordeaux drinkers seeking out classically styled, Cabernet-dominant, left-bank claret. The first is Château Caronne-Sainte-Gemme. The second is Château Labat.
Both have, over the years, found their way into my cellar, and while the existence of this profile is testament to that, sadly it seems like this practice may now be at an end. In 2022 both properties were sold to Bernard Magrez, proprietor of Château La Tour Carnet, and while at the time of refreshing this profile their fate had not been decided, it seems likely that they would both be absorbed into the vineyard of their more famous, classed-growth neighbour.
Whatever the outcome is, though, this profile still stands, and as is customary I begin by documenting – or at least trying to document – the history of this estate.
