2020 Larcis Ducasse
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Tasting Notes
This is a wine full of contradictions of the best kind. It is both super ripe in its fruit character, while beneath lies a more savoury, chalky, mineral underpinning that brings much needed freshness, leaving the palate balanced and salivating. Initially the tannins feel a little soft but with time in the glass they become more vibrant and structural. Sultanas, dry spice and incense aromas, with even a slightly Port-like brandy note, make up a complex nose. The tannins are very resolved, almost seamless – then the limestone freshness comes through, providing a lovely breadth to the palate. The fruit is sweet black plum with additional clove spice. There are earthy, savoury elements too, adding further flavour complexity.
Critic Scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Great consistency over the past few years at this property but this is really stepping things up a level. With poise and depth of flavour, we are digging down through the layers. Extremely elegant, a wine that is precise and pared back and totally delicious. You can almost feel the points of minerality poking into your tongue, but then they melt into a softer more luxurious whole, with blackberry, cassis and black chocolate. Great stuff. Tasted several times, and every time it shows itself to be something out of the ordinary. A brilliant wine that I thoroughly recommend getting hold of. 50% new oak. A yield of 38.5hl/ha. Owned by Famille Gratiot-Attmane, but with the Nicolas Thienpont team overseeing winemaking.
The 2020 Larcis Ducasse has a ripe, exotic bouquet lavished with blueberries, cassis, touches of date and crushed violets. The aromatics are rich and powerful. The palate is medium-bodied with rounded tannins and a fine bead of acidity, displaying more puppy fat than its peers. The precocious finish offers crushed strawberry, maraschino and faint dark chocolate scents. This is a typical Larcis Ducasse in many ways, perhaps not one for those seeking a more traditional Saint-Émilion, but very sensual and ravishing.
The 2020 Larcis Ducasse captures all the pedigree of the year in its savory, mineral-driven personality. Graphite, dried herbs, lavender, spice and menthol lend striking aromatic intensity. The 2020 is a rich, deep wine, yet it retains the classic midweight sense of structure that is a signature of the estate. The 2020 is quite simply a dazzling Larcis.
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About the producer
Over the last two decades, Nicolas Thienpont and David Suire have forged this estate’s reputation – crafting increasingly impressive wines from its 11 hectares of south-facing slopes on clay-limestone soils.