Mosaic de La Garde, 2024
The classified châteaux of Graves (or Pessac-Léognan if you prefer – but they were all in the Graves appellation when the classification was drawn up) soak up the lion’s share of any limelight that reaches the vineyards south of the city of Bordeaux. There are a number of unclassified properties worth seeking out though (there are more than a few notable ‘unclassifieds’ listed in the menu on the left), one of which is Château La Garde.
Located on the outskirts of Martillac, Château La Garde is next-door to one of the region’s best-known classified properties, Château Latour-Martillac. It was once in the same hands as Château Smith Haut Lafitte, and I have heard it said that this explains its absence from the Graves classification; proprietors could only propose one property for the classification, and naturally Château Smith Haut Lafitte was given priority. Château La Garde languished in the shadows of its famous cousin.
In 1990, however, the property’s fortunes changed. Placed on the market for sale, Château La Garde was purchased by Vignobles Dourthe, perhaps best known for their successful tenure of Château Belgrave in the Haut-Medoc appellation, classified in 1855, although they own a number of other properties in a wide variety of appellations. They were seduced by the quality of the terroir, even though the property was far from renowned, hidden from the classification and lacking the best facilities (the previous owner having undertaken much of the winemaking at Château Smith Haut Lafitte).
More than thirty years on from the acquisition the estate has been transformed, most visibly by the recent inauguration of new, state-of-the-art cellars, used for the first time in the 2021 vintage. But the focus remains on that prestigious terroir, and to cast the spotlight back in the direction of the vines in the 2020 vintage the team from Château La Garde created a special one-off project, a range of terroir-specific and variety-specific cuvées from the Château La Garde vineyard. The six cuvées (four Merlot, two Cabernet Sauvignon) allow those fortunate enough to taste them a glimpse behind the Château La Garde blending curtain.
Last November I sat down with some of the team from Vignobles Dourthe to taste these six Mosaic de La Garde cuvées, alongside a selection of vintages of the grand vin, both old and young, from Château La Garde.
