2023 Château Laroque, St Emilion, Bordeaux

Cask sample

Good colour. Dark-fruit aroma with a fresh, chalky edge. Smooth, well-worked tannins and persistence on the finish. Limestone terroir clearly marked. Perhaps a tad light in fruit weight.

Drink 2028 - 2038

One for the classic Saint-Emilion limestone lovers out there, the 2023 Château Laroque is almost all Merlot there's a splash of Cabernet Franc), and it has a pure, medium-bodied, incredibly elegant profile carrying vibrant raspberry and cassis-driven fruit, some violet and floral notes, remarkable freshness and vibrancy, fine tannins, and outstanding length. It's not massive, but it’s flawlessly balanced and just a beautiful wine in the vintage that readers will love to have in the cellars.

Exhibiting aromas of dark, minty berries, bay leaf, and creamy new oak, the 2023 Laroque is medium to full-bodied. It has a sweet core of fruit, powdery tannins, and a penetrating mineral finish.

99% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc.

This is full and substantial, with firm tannins and a crunchy finish. Lots of blue fruit, blackberry, crushed-stone and mineral character. Very structured.

Tasted two times

The 2023 Laroque might be the best wine David Suire has made since taking over here a few years ago. What I admire most about Laroque is its classicism—there is plenty of that on display here. Bright acids and persistent beams of supporting tannin frame dark-toned fruit, lavender, rose petal, graphite and sweet spice in a Saint-Émilion that impresses with its vibrancy and delineation. Superb.

Drink 2033 - 2053

The 2023 Laroque has an outstanding bouquet that shades many of its peers. It conveys transparency and mineralité at a higher level and leaves you wanting more. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins that frame the pure black cherry and raspberry fruit. There is structure here, and the finish is notably longer than other wines of its class. This is very impressive, and I can imagine is ageing with style.

Drink 2027 - 2050

Really perfumed nose, highly scented with purple flowers and dark ripe fruit - blackcurrant, damson plum and black cherry. Deep aromatics with lots of tobacco and clove spice on the nose. It’s heady, strongly scented and alive. Cool and crisp on the palate, smooth, silky, and effortless in the tannin presentation. It’s juicy and clean, so bright, but not sour or tart, just the right side, so it’s lifted but not overly austere. Once the acidity calms down, the salty mineral base comes, giving lots of liquorice, wet stone, and graphite tones, putting you squarely on limestone. 

The fruit is ripe, and the expression has the softest chew but keeps a relatively sleek frame. It’s a bit minty. I would have thought there was more Cabernet in the blend than there is. It’s not so layered, but it’s certainly finessed and graceful on the palate, with lots of precision and movement from start to finish. One that makes you want another sip straight away. 3.42pH. It’s a great wine from winemaker David Suire. A yield of 46hl/ha. Ageing 50% new oak.

Drink 2029 - 2040

Medium intensity ruby, this is a little reserved at first, in the best way, in that it has the hidden depths that are just so promising during En Primeur, real sense of sapidity, squid ink, violet reflections, extremely vibrant, really like this, blueberry, sage, slate, lift on the finish, delicious. Beaumartin family, David Suire winemaker.

Drink 2028 - 2042