Freddy R. Troya

9.5

Château Malartic-Lagravière – 2022
Grand Cru Classé – Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France 🇫🇷

Overview
A jewel of Graves, this Grand Cru Classé de Graves estate is owned by the Bonnie family and consistently delivers wines of depth and precision. The 2022 vintage was marked by a hot, dry summer, yet the gravelly soils of Pessac-Léognan preserved freshness, giving balance to the ripeness. This V.22 blend features Cabernet Sauvignon 53%, Merlot 43%, Cabernet Franc 1.5%, and Petit Verdot 2.5%.

Aromas & Flavors
Deep layers of blackcurrant, ripe plum, and blackberry, with notes of graphite, smoke, and cedar. Subtle accents of spice and cocoa add elegance.

Mouthfeel
Multi-layered and structured, with a perfect balance of ripe fruit, freshness, and polished tannins. Full-bodied yet graceful, this wine already shows harmony, but its true depth will unfold with a few years of patience.

Food Pairings
Roast duck with black cherry reduction, grilled ribeye, venison, mushroom and truffle pasta, chargrilled lamb burgers, Comté, aged Cheddar cheese.

Verdict
A serious, cellar-worthy Pessac-Léognan. Concentrated and elegant, it’s very approachable in youth, (had it on Oct 23-2025, it was outstanding!), but destined to hit peak stride around 2027 and beyond as a full extend of its brilliancy, rewarding the wait with even greater complexity. Cheers!

Did You Know?
Château Malartic-Lagravière is one of the few Bordeaux estates classified for both its red and white wines,a rare honor showcasing its exceptional terroir. — 4 days ago

Stuart Pollack

9.2

Lovely white Bordeaux. The Semillon dominated at the beginning, finishing with lemon from the Sauvignon Blanc. Straightforward and nowhere as complex as the Malartic-Lagraviere, but a delicious bottle of wine. The nose had a great citrus and flower aroma. — 3 years ago

Anthony De Blasi

9.2

Terrific nose and start, mid and ending let me a bit down. The previous 2 I had showed better so it might be that my tasting senses were in an off mode 🤔 — 4 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.3

2016 vintage. Decanted (with little sed) and tasted after 1.5 hours and 3 hours. Medium body. In a state of transition currently. Holding back a bit and has lost that tail-wagging exuberance along with some of the supple qualities of youth. Feel like this wine is on a side quest and will return to the fold in the next 3-5 years. 10.11.25. — 16 days ago

Peter van den Besselaar

9.0

Vintage 2014 — 5 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.3

2015 vintage. Some definite swings with this wine. Tasting for the third time in three months. Deep, funky leather earth nose. Medium body (and slightly less than the usual Malescot bod). Oak definitely there but more complimentary vs aggressive. Soft/silky tannins. Plums + herbs. If this were a blind tasting, I'd hafta peg this as a 2014-2018 Malartic Lagravières. Def tastes more Graves than Margaux. Best bottle of the three tasted. Scoring a 92.5 but rounding up with the elegance factor. With so much bottle variation (purchased separately 3x), who knows? This one is lighter for Malescot but delicious. — 4 years ago

Stefan Dolhain

9.3

2020 vintage. More complex and profound than the 2019. — 15 days ago

Stefan Dolhain

9.1

2018 vintage. This is the red. — 15 days ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.2

2019 vintage. Underbrush and certain amount of weediness on the nose. Medium body. Full color. That Graves/Pessac-Léognan milk chocolate texture. Flush and full mouthfeel. Gliding finish. Unexpected balance of fruit and tannins in a pop and pour price range. More oomph (generally) than Malartic Lagravière but less than Chevalier. Drink now? Yes. Drink in 25 years? Probably not. Likely has a end game of 15 years with the sweet spot in the (shocker) 5-8 year range. Picked up at Costco and price was $32 USD. Affordable Graves/P-L not the easiest BDX to source. This was firing from the get go. 7.22.24. — a year ago

Stefan Dolhain

9.1

Second wine of Château Malartic-Lagravière. A blend of 50% cabernet sauvignon, 45% merlot and 5% cabernet franc. This has definitely some of the class of the grand vin and it is still very young at 10 years old. Cassis, cedar wood and Graves spiciness. Tightly structured serious wine with cassis and blueberry fruit in a frame of ripe tannin and very good spicy length. Terrific value at 23 euro for a 10 years old wine in a great vintage. No hurry to drink this, I feel there is still a lot of potential and I suspect it might benefit from another 5 years of cellaring. This is clearly an estate to watch ever since the Bonnie family took over. Abv. 14%. — 5 years ago