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Château La Louvière White
Château La Louvière has long been famous for its white wines. In fact, these already highly-prized by Canadian merchants in the 17th century ! A century later, they were to be found on the finest tables in Russia.The very elegant white La Louvière is now among the finest dry white wines in the Graves, and is a fine ambassador for the Pessac-Léognan appellation. Marked by the Sauvignon Blanc varietal character, but not overly so, it can age remarkably well.
Wine style
Elegant and Fruity
Grape blend
Sauvignon blanc 90% / Semillon 10%.
Weather
Spring was very trying, with considerable rainfall leading to fungal diseases of all sorts. This called for very close attention in the vines until the 14th of July, when the weather changed durably for the better.
Tasting Comment
Appareance
The 2012 is quite pale at the present time, with brilliant green highlights.
Nose
The nose is well-defined and mineral. Still very young and quite elegant, this wine has yet to reveal its full complexity. However, its class already comes through in the mineral and floral aromas released when the wine is swirled in the glass.
Mouth
Things are different on the palate, where the wine is already quite impressive: broad-based, generous, and bursting with floral, fruity flavours with rare concentration. Toasty notes gradually come to the fore, reflecting barrel ageing that contributes to very long ageing potential. It will take at least two or three years for this wine to display its unique personality, at which time it will accompany both good, simple dishes like spit-roasted chicken or more elaborate ones like duo of salmon and gilt-head bream with lime and dill. With a few more years of ageing, it will be marvellous with an old Comté cheese or caviar from Aquitaine!
Ratings and reviews
Offering melon and honeysuckle notes with some earth and spice, this medium-bodied wine is rich, pure, and beautifully put together. Anticipated maturity: now-2022. Drink : 2015-2022.
Lots of character, hints of white fruit and musk, lively length, good body, and depth.
Le Guide des vins 2015 - We like the subtle and extremely refined pure fruit aromas of papaya, pineapple, and green coffee beans, with pink verveine nuances. Beautifully balanced and powerful on the palate with a great deal of freshness and a long fine aftertaste.
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2015 Edition - This 2012 is intense, elegant, and typical of its appellation with overtones of tropical fruit, citrus, blackcurrant buds, toast, and vanilla. This wine is attractively smooth and round with a long, fresh aftertaste. It is altogether well-balanced and neither too rich, too acidic, nor too oaky. 2015-2019 / Risotto with prawns.
Pure Sauvignon, this is a tropical-fruit-flavored wine. It's bright and fruity while also showing the dense texture of grapefruit and steely minerality. Drink this intense wine from 2017. (Roger Voss)
Delicate apple and quince aromas and a complex palate of tropical fruit and zippy acidity. Very well expressed with lovely balance. The long finish and mineral edge leaves you wanting another glass.
This is juicy and well-packed, showing notes of singed straw and paraffin, with lots of zippy lemon zest, grapefruit curd, tarragon and quinine accents. Really kicks in on the finish. A rock-solid style that needs a touch of cellaring. Best from 2015 through 2018. (James Molesworth)
Le Guide des vins de France 2014 - Lovely, well-focused fruit and overall style. Slightly salty and has a good aftertaste. Finally, a sample of a finished wine able to be evaluated!
Primeurs - Unquestionably a great Pessac with lemon, vanilla, resin, pithiviers cake, pear and yellow fruit aromas. The wine is deep and vibrant on the palate, though still reserved at this stage. It has delicious, soft, spicy flavours and a fine texture.
This really lovely white wine shows that La Louvière has really undergone a transformation: it is riper and full of rich fruit on both nose and palate, with much less varietal character than recent vintages. Lovely, long aftertaste and more assertive style.
Slightly cloudy, good crisp flavours, light and delicate, fairly floral, 85% sauvignon,15% Semillon in most years. Very little oak influence evident, pretty. Early drinking. Recommended. Drink 2013-2018.
Bordeaux en primeurs - (Matthew Jukes)
Lots of green vegetation and appetising stuff on the nose. Lively and intense. Racy and bone dry. A real appetite encourager – quite different from the rich mode. Nicely done example of this style, but the global competition is fierce! Fades a little fast. Drink 2014-2017.
Barrel sample. With all its fruitiness and full, stylish character, this is a ripe wine with weight, richness, spice, lemon and tropical fruits. Opulent on the palate, it ends with an intensely fruity finish. (Roger Voss)
Juicy, plump style, with lots of meringue, kiwi pulp, grapefruit zest and straw notes that pump along nicely. Big but refreshing finish. (James Molesworth)
Always a well-made Pessac-Leognan, La Louviere’s 2012 shows lemon zest, orange rind, pineapple and smoky wood characteristics. Ripe and medium-bodied, it is best drunk in its first 7-8 years of life.
Consumption period
2014 - 2022
Our suggestions
Starters
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White meats
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Fish and Shellfish
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vegetables
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Cheese |
Salads |
Ground
Surface
15.00 ha
Soil
Deep gravel with fine limestone over small areas at the foot of the slopes.
Winemaking
Grape harvest
By hand in several passes
Others
Graft stock
41B-Fercal
Plant food
Traditional, limited impact
Plant density
6,500 to 8,500 vines per hectare
Wine average age
25 years old
Grape variety
Sauvignon blanc / Sémillon
Pruning type
Sauvignon Blanc : Double guyot / Sémillon : Côts.
Fermentation
After settling, in oak barrels
Fermentation temperature
18 to 23 °C
Malolactic
No
Wine maturing
For 10 months in oak barrels (30% new) on full lees with bâtonnage
Wine montage
Tartaric precipitation by cold treatment
Maturing potential
Very expressive between 3 and 5 years old, can age 10 to 20 years
Cellar master
Oenologist consultant
Denis DUBOURDIEU (Professor at the Institut d'Œnologie of Bordeaux) and Valérie LAVIGNE.
Recipes
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