1972 Château Lascombes, Margaux, Bordeaux

Château Lascombes, a 2emé Cru Classé property is one of the largest estates in the Médoc and probably the most fragmented, with around 40 or so different parcels of vines spread throughout the Margaux appellation. It was owned between 1951 and 1971 by Alexis Lichine and was owned by Bass until the 2001. Bass Charrington sold Chateau Lascombes to the American company Colony Capital in 2001. Colony Capital have invested heavily in the property and in particular have installed a state-of-the-art, stainless steel cuvier. The blend at Lascombes is made up of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, and the wine is aged in oak barriques (60% new) for 18 months. Lascombes produces elegant, well-balanced clarets, rich in succulent creamy blackcurrant fruits, which gain further complexity and depth with ageing.

If Pauillac is the bastion of ‘traditional’ Red Bordeaux, Margaux represents its other facet in producing wines that are some of the region’s most sensual and alluring. The largest commune in the Médoc, it encompasses the communes of Cantenac, Soussans, Arsac and Labaude, in addition to the village of Margaux itself. Its finest examples are paragons of refinement and subtlety which have few parallels in Bordeaux.