Pungent aromas of flowers, licorice, crushed rocks, oak, dark cocoa, black, red and blue fruits focus your attention. The wine offers a mineral-driven, full-bodied blast of silky, flamboyant, luscious red fruits with salty tannins. The fruit coats your palate, lingers and seamlessly expands, finishing with licorice, sensuously textured red and black fruits, espresso and oyster shell. This is on the way to developing into one of the best vintages ever produced by Larcis Ducasse. 98-100

Perfumed nose, heady and seductive, the aromas shining out of the glass. Full, rich and vibrant tones of blackcurrant and black cherry. Ripe and chewy, the tannins really are present and grippy but have a plushness and a bounce to them, they coat the entire mouth, seriously wide and expansive but are gentle even in their fillingness. A powdery blueberry juiciness with intense liquorice touches walks the line between freshness and power so well. Really a step up in quality, still tight, strong and not exactly charming at this point but there’s no faulting the winemaking here, this is direct, powerful and firm but so long with great acidity. Packed and charged, ripe and rich, yet round and balanced. I adore it. Drinking Window: 2027 - 2056
Tasted by: Georgina Hindle (at Bordeaux, 03 Jan 2023)
Part of Bordeaux 2020 in bottle: overview plus top-scoring wines

The 2020 Larcis Ducasse is a real showstopper. Bright and vertical in feel, the 2020 possesses tremendous energy to match its super-classic build. Beams of tannin and acid give the wine its shape. Dark cherry and pomegranate fruit are pushed forward, with a kick of blood orange acidity that lends freshness. Graphite, dried herbs, menthol, spice and cedar emerge with some coaxing, but the 2020 is very young and very primary. That of course bodes so well for its future. The 2020 is quite simply a thrilling Larcis and one of the very finest values in all of Bordeaux.

Blackberry and asphalt with cool minerals and a hint of mint. It’s full-bodied and chewy with intense flavors and a long, flavorful finish. Lots of chalk and an almost salty undertone.

A wine that’s going to flirt with perfection is the 2020 Château Larcis Ducasse. It’s a Saint-Emilion with an almost Pomerol-like depth and power paired with classic Saint-Emilion aromatics and minerality. Incredibly pure notes of black cherries, blackberries, white flowers, truffle, and leafy herb notes all emerge on the nose and it’s full-bodied, with a layered, multi-dimensional texture, thrilling tannins, and a finish that won’t quit. If you get a chance, buy it. The blend is 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, aging in 55% new French oak.

Drink Date
2026 - 2050

Reviewed by - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

The 2020 Larcis Ducasse has a deep purple-black color, leaping from the glass with bold notions of redcurrant jelly, plum preserves, kirsch and red roses, followed by hints of licorice, fragrant earth and spice cake, with a touch of woodsmoke. The medium to full-bodied palate is laden with fragrant red berries and profound black fruit preserves, supported by ripe, rounded tannins and lovely tension, finishing very long and fantastically layered. Absolutely, stunningly singular.

The 2020 Larcis-Ducasse has closed a little since bottling, though there remains well-defined black fruit laced with rose petal and violets. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, very pure and cohesive. Touches of cedar and tobacco impart a discrete Left Bank allure towards the persistent finish. This is a great Larcis-Ducasse in the making.

(90% M, 10% CF; 38.8hl/ha; 14.5% ABV; 50% new)
Dense, but fine, black-fruit ripe and minerally; full and vigorous, and firm but fairly fine in tannin; deep and vital and ripe in flavor, quite strong, but not coarse, long and juicy and sapid within the overall gentle force, aromatic and minerally behind this, and with fine length. Tasty above all, and probably needing a good decade to soften its sinews. 2030–50+.

Full bottle 1,320 g. Cask sample taken 6 April. 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc.
Dark purplish crimson. Black fruit flavours – mulberries? – on the nose. Rich, sweet and almost buttery in texture. Then a whack of dry tannins kick in. Very youthful with zestiness on the end.