Château Lagrange Vertical, 2016: The Vineyard Today
If you have read one or two of my St Julien profiles you will already be aware that Château Lagrange was once a gigantic estate, covering a huge proportion of the modern-day St Julien appellation. You will also already know that as the estate went into decline during the 20th century, a large part of it was sold off, in piecemeal fashion. I therefore wasn’t surprised to learn from Matthieu Bordes that the vineyard of Château Lagrange had once been the largest of all the cru classé estates. Indeed, at 118 hectares, with 110 hectares in production, it would seem to me (looking at what data I have) that this is still the case, although Matthieu denies this, suggesting that Château La Tour Carnet has a greater expanse. Having said that, this doesn’t seem to fit with my own knowledge of the two estates, or indeed the data published by Bernard Magrez and his team.
Speaking on behalf of Suntory Keiichi Shiina (pictured) explained that when the company purchased the estate there were just 56 hectares of vines, the other 62 hectares have been planted up since. Outlining the three tenets the company has adhered to in what he refers to as “the rebirth of the estate”, Keiichi explained that they first worked to ensure quality, second they took a long-term approach, and third they respected local views and traditions. He feels this approach has been successful.
“The estate had a poor reputation, but we feel this has now been turned around. We are now in the second stage – the estate is reborn, now we must aim to push quality higher”.
Fundamental to this aim has been the completion of a detailed soil survey carried out in 2010. This revealed five major soil types on the domaine; there are three types of gravel which all tend to be located on the higher ground, but there are also parts – particularly on the surrounding slopes – where a sandy-gravel colluvial slip dominates. Finally, in a strip which wraps around the southern part of the vineyard, there is clay and a little limestone.
