Château Larcis-Ducasse is a Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classé located at the eastern end of the famous Côte Pavie, one of the finest terroirs in Saint-Emilion. The vineyard goes back to Roman times, and wines were produced in "Lucaniac", near Saint-Emilion, in the 4th century AD.

Château Larcis-Ducasse was acquired in 1893 by Henri Raba, whose family had made a fortune in the shipping industry in the 18th century. Seeing as he had no direct heirs, the estate was inherited by his niece, Hélène Gratiot Alphandéry, in 1941 and her son took over in 1990. It has been managed by Nicolas Thienpont (also in charge of Pavie-Macquin) since the 2002 vintage.

Thienpont continues to improve the wine with the help of enologists Stéphane Derenoncourt and Julien Lavenu.

Overlooking the Dordogne Valley and facing due south, the 10.5 hectare slope vineyard is divided into 4 very different parts: 

• layers of quaternary alluvial soil with clay, sand and, to a much lesser extent, limestone
• clay-limestone colluvial soil on a layer of sand corresponding to the former river bed
• Fronsac molasse from the lower Oligocene Epoch – soft, fine-textured limestone rock   with silt and clay 
• A layer about one meter thick of Castillon clay, a type of clay with limestone nodules

In the Bottle

The grape varieties consist of 78% Merlot and 22% Cabernet Franc, and are adapted to each individual plot. The average age of the vines is 35 years.

Château Larcis-Ducasse had a spotty track record before Nicolas Thienpont and his team took over management in 2002. Although the estate proved its mettle in such vintages as the marvelous 1990, it clearly experienced difficulty in making the most of its terroir. However, progress has been spectacular since the 2003 vintage thanks to new production methods, and quality is now clearly above-average for Saint-Emilion. Although it can be be somewhat austere in its youth, recent vintages of Larcis-Ducasse have proved this to be among the best Right Bank wines after 5-10 years in bottle: elegant, and with superb mineral expression. This estate is now well worth following!

Larcis Ducasse