Château Croix de Labrie Saint-Émilion Grand Cru en Primeur 2025

Château Croix de Labrie is a small Saint-Émilion estate in Bordeaux working a patchwork of tiny plots where the soils shift over just a few metres. The wine is a Merlot-led blend rounded out with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, farmed sustainably and tended plot by plot. Saint-Émilion's mix of clay, limestone and sand suits this combination: the cool, water-retentive clay and limestone subsoils feed Merlot and lend freshness and structure, while warmer gravel and sand sites ripen the Cabernets. The grapes are fermented and then matured eighteen months in barrel, where slow oxygen exchange through the wood softens and stabilises the tannins, knits the blend together and adds spice and a cedar frame around the fruit. The colour is deep and youthful. The nose is open and expressive, with ripe black fruit, blackcurrant, tobacco and a savoury hint of cocoa. The palate is structured and elegant, with firm but fine tannin, good acidity and a long, earthy finish that rewards cellaring. Decant young and serve at 17 to 18 degrees. It is built for roast lamb, beef and game.