2018 Croix de Labrie
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Tasting notes
Excellent concentration of ripe fruits, muscular tannins and St Emilion glamour. Give it a good few hours in a carafe, but the raspberry and redcurrant fruits come dancing out of the glass once it opens up. Hubert de Bouard consults. Organic certified. 5ha of clay limestone soils across three plots in Saint-Christophe des Bardes, St Sulpice and the Pavie sector or St Emilion, with Cabernet Sauvignon vines that are over 60 years old.
Critic scores
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James Suckling
Jeb Dunnuck
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The 2018 Croix de Labrie is very high-toned on the nose, just as I found in barrel, though thankfully I do not discern the nail polish scent that I remarked on back then. Still, it does note quite possess the flow of the better Saint-Émilions this vintage, feeling rather constricted. The palate is medium-bodied with a slightly bitter entry, a light charcoal note infusing the black fruit and fine delineation on the finish. Not bad, although I have encountered better vintages from this estate in recent years.
The flagship 2018 Château Croix De Labrie checks in as 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, all brought up in new oak. It's a gorgeous wine as well as the finest I've tasted from the Château. Lots of darker currant fruits, tobacco, chocolate, sweet earth, and cedar pencil give way to a medium to full-bodied, beautifully textured, seamless Saint-Emilion. It has some classic minerality, but it's the quality of tannins as well as the purity of fruit that sets this above the other vintages from winemaker Axelle Courdurié. This will benefit from just short-term cellaring and will keep for 20-25 years.