The first great growth going north from Bordeaux, La Lagune is a classic 18th century château in the Haut-Médoc appellation. The vineyards are located on a gentle, well-drained, ten-metre rise consisting of very fine gravel that not only reflects the sunlight, but also stores the heat and releases it slowly at night. The vineyards cover over 80 hectares.

La Lagune suffered something of a decline in the mid-20th century, and had shrunk to reduced to just 4 ha by the time it was bought by Georges Brunet in 1958. Brunet patiently replanted the vineyards and renovated the ancient buildings. The estate was bought by the Ayala champagne house in the 60s, and then by the Frey family (also owners of Jaboulet Aîné in the Rhône region) in 2000. Caroline Frey has been at the helm since 2004, continuing a long female tradition at the domaine going back to Jeanne Boyrie in the 80s. Significant work has been done in the vineyard since 2000 to produce more aromatic, powerful, and structured wines. The vines have been trained upward by approximately 20 centimetres and the distance between them was widened to around 1.20 m. in order to increase the leaf canopy.

The effects of all these improvements were felt almost immediately: the grapes gained in flavor, phenolic quality, and sugar content. Vineyard management was rethought on a plot-by-plot basis and many vines were replanted to match the soil to the best grape variety and root stock. Also, La Lagune stopped using Cabernet-Franc grapes altogether in the grand vin in 2003.

Certified sustainable agricultural methods are used: mechanical weed control (without chemicals), suckering, leaf thinning, and green harvesting are regularly practiced. Each plot has its own dedicated team for the entire growing season. The best grapes are used in the first wine, Château La Lagune, whereas grapes from younger vines go into the second wine. All of the fruit is hand picked. The terroir at La Lagune is conducive to early ripening. The grapes are sorted in the vineyard and then twice at the cellars, on both a conventional and a vibrating table.

La Lagune has a very high tech, massive, 2,000 m² vat room with 72 stainless-steel vats arranged in a semi-circle. The grapes are placed in the vats by a large robotic arm and the wine is run off by gravity flow, with minimal air contact and without the use of pumps.

Alcoholic fermentation lasts for one week at 25-28°C, and maceration between one and two weeks with regular pumping over. Malolactic fermentation takes place in stainless-steel vats, and in barrels for the press wine. The wine is then aged in (50% new) barrels with a medium toast supplied by 6 different French coopers. It is topped up several times a week and racked every three months after the end of malolactic fermentation, after which it is blended and put back into barrel. There is further pumping over after 3 and 6 months, and then fining in vats with egg-white after 12 months. Since 2004, La Lagune has spent an extra few months in vat before bottling.

La Lagune is an elegant, feminine, and very fruity wine. It also has excellent aging potential.

La Lagune, Moulin de La Lagune (second wine), Mademoiselle