Château Larmande 2021

Château Larmande is made in Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, on the right bank of Bordeaux, an appellation whose classification is reviewed every ten years and holds growers to a continuous quality standard. The wine is led by Merlot with Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, planted on the clay and limestone soils that characterise the plateau. The clay retains moisture and slows ripening, giving Merlot its dark, fleshy fruit, while the limestone underneath keeps the wine fresh and lends a fine tannic line. Larmande is aged in two vessels: eighteen months in oak barrels, where slow oxygen exchange builds structure and adds cedar and spice, and a parallel eighteen months in amphorae, whose neutral clay walls allow gentle micro-oxygenation without wood flavour, preserving the pure fruit and a mineral freshness. Malolactic fermentation rounds the acidity across both. The wine is deep ruby, with aromas of plum, cherry and red berries over cocoa, tobacco and earth. The palate is structured and savoury, the tannins fine, with a long, fresh finish. Serve at 17 to 18 degrees and decant ahead. A match for lamb, beef, game and mushrooms.