Chateau Larrivaux 2023

Noble, blackcurrant, violet; straight, slender, with precision and freshness, elegant, shows bite and balance. Well done.

Lovely floral and ripe red fruit introduce a wine with smooth tannins, not too tight or austere towards the finish and thus more good news for the 2023 vintage. Basile Tesseron, formerly with Château Lafon Rochet in St-Estèphe, has joined his wife and estate owner Bérangère Tesseron for their first vintage together at this estate. Major renovation work is planned this year in the cellars.

The 2023 Larrivaux turned out better than I expected. Deep and resonant in the glass, the 2023 races across the palate with sumptuous dark fruit. Hints of leather, tobacco, incense and dried herbs appear later as the 2023 gains complexity and stature in the glass. Impressively delicious. Tasted two times.

Flowers, tobacco, cherries, and cedar work together to form the perfume and the palate. There is a sweetness to the fruits on the palate that is made even better with the addition of licorice, chocolate, and a refreshing touch of mint that lingers. This is much better in the bottle than it was in the barrel. Give it a year or two before opening a bottle. Drink from 2027-2036.

Delicate bouquet of red and blue berries, fresh blackcurrant nectar, a hint of lilac and blueberry jelly. On the juicy palate, soft in texture, with a tightly knit tannic frame and a sinewy body, becoming finely brittle. The focused, finely aromatic finish shows sloe juice, juniper and a delicately crumbly astringency. Rounded off.

Skilfully handled ageing, putting the emphasis on the floral character of iris and rose petals alongside cassis and blackberry fruits. This is great, really captures the classic balanced potential of the vintage, and is a rare 2 point upgrade. The first vintage where owner Bérangère Tesseron was joined by her husband Basile Tesseron at this estate with five generations of female owners. Ageing in barrel 95%, amphora 5%. A value.

Score: 89–91. A soothing, harmonious nose of ripe fruit, gentle spices and floral notes that lend it a natural character. The palate is soft and caressing, with fleshy substance and a pleasing acidic backbone. A lovely, complete wine.

The nose is supple, aromatic, indulgent and well-directed. It shows notes of boysenberry, pulpy/fleshy wild strawberry and, more lightly, violet, with fine touches of graphite, iodine, a sense of place, and a very discreet hint of star anise/infusion. The palate is fruity and offers suppleness, freshness, tang, energy, good definition, indulgence, an almost chiselled edge, and precision. It reveals notes of bright cherry, violet and, more lightly, juicy/tangy blackcurrant, joined by hints of cornflower and small bright red berries, as well as iodized, camphor, smoky and toasty nuances. The tannins are supple and sapid, with good length and gourmandise. Lovely finish, tangy, sapid, supple and iodized.