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Château La Louvière Red
Château La Louvière has many fascinating facets. The sumptuous architecture of the château building dates from the late 18th century, but winegrowing here goes back more than 700 years. The first vines were planted circa 1310, although modern winemaking dates from the 17th century and was handed down by able monks from the Carthusian monastery in Bordeaux, who had acquired considerable talent as viticulturists and winemakers. The people who produce the wine in the 21st century have inherited these time-honoured methods, adding just the right amount of innovation and modernity to make the utmost of the outstanding terroir. La Louvière's red wine has a dark colour and an elegant bouquet with delicate hints of oak...
Wine style
Full and Complex
Grape blend
Cabernet Sauvignon 70% / Merlot 30%
Weather
Winter and spring were very mild, but the summer of 2014 did not live up to our expectations: it rained heavily in July, and August was much cooler than usual. However, starting in September, a miraculous Indian summer with high temperatures, was very favourable to ripening.
Tasting Comment
Appareance
2014 Château La Louvière is very attractive, with a beautiful dark red colour featuring multiple purple highlights.
Nose
The bouquet is already powerful and elegant. It shows roasted and smoky hints at first, going on to reveal overtones of red fruit reminiscent of the very ripe grapes in 2014.
Mouth
Solid tannic structure showing a degree of power rarely seen in recent years at this château. Above all, this 2014 La Louvière reflects precision winemaking to obtain the very best from the grapes. Its freshness contributes to a long aftertaste, as well as excellent ageing potential. The elegance of this wine is best appreciated as an accompaniment to roast game birds with grapes, fillet of beef with duck foie gras, or even a first course of soft-boiled eggs with truffles.
Ratings and reviews
2018 Edition - This wine is still a little closed in and needs aeration to release the bouquet, which blends red-berry fruit (cherries and raspberries) with hints of spices, vanilla, and toast. The initial impression on the palate is rich and soft, leading into full-bodied flavour, backed up by quite dense tannins that make the aftertaste a little austere. 2020 - 2025. 
Steak with cep mushrooms.
From one of the major estates in pessac-Léognan, this is a fine, stylish and tightly structured wine. It has spice and intense acidity to balance the dark tannins and black-current fruit. It is going to need several years to really mature. The estae is owned bu André Lurton who was influential in creating the Pessac-Léognan appellation. Drink from 2024. HP Selections. Editors'Choice. (Roger Voss)
Loads of cassis fruit and a hint of oak on the nose. Generous, dry tannins and good concentration are packed into a fairly sleek frame, making this a classic red Bordeaux. Good aging potential! But already delicious to taste.
2016 Edition - The red and white wines wines from La Louvière are powerful and unfailingly reliable.
En Primeur 2014 - Very fresh bouquet with overtones of red fruit and spice. Silky tannin and liquorice flavours, with a middle palate still somewhat overwhelmed by the oak. Plenty of substance, good potential, and should become more balanced with barrel ageing. (Jacques Dupont)
En Primeur 2014 - Red fruit and slightly herbaceous nose. Fairly tannic on the palate with hints of green sweet pepper along with red fruit flavours. Reasonable concentration. Barrel ageing will do the wine much good. 3-8 years.
Beautiful, dark, intense colour. Fresh ripe fruit on the nose, Smoky nuance. Juicy, fruity, and tasty on the palate, with rich tannin. Aromatic aftertaste of average length.
The Château La Louvière 2014 has a very attractive bouquet with bright blackcurrant and red berry fruit interlaced with polished new oak. The palate is medium-bodied with a silky texture, but there is a nagging green note that blights the finish here. A vat of underripe Merlot perhaps? Hopefully it shows better after bottling and I will reserve judgement for the time being. Drink : N/A. (Neal Martin)
En Primeur 2014 - Category: excellent.
Perfect freshness, good breeding, another pure classic, but with more personality and greater depth than the white. Probably very good value for money.
Attractive leafy perfume. Polished tannins. Definitely not overdone. Though still embryonic. Lighter than most but well balanced and very fresh though not tart. 2021-2032.
Beautiful black fruit with a deep bouquet and elegant oak. Round and full-bodied on the palate, with concentrated, well-structured tannin and no sign of harshness.
The oak toasting is fairly evident on the nose here, get patisserie gourmet flavours, but that turns into a fairly oak-dominated palate that doesn't give the rich black fruit a chance to shine, even though it is clearly there. The oak will soften over ageing, and this should offer enjoyable medium-term drinking, best within 5 to 15 years. (Jane Anson)
En Primeur 2014 - Fresh blackcurrant and wild strawberry aromas; fresh on the palate with a soft aftertaste (a great success for this château). (Antoon Laurent)
Bordeaux 2014 en Primeurs scores -
Really beautiful colour and an expressive aristocratic bouquet showing good balance between fruit and oak. Powerful on the palate with classic firm tannin, body, and length, accompanied by a slightly smoky quality and well-focused fruit on the finish. The majority (70%) of Cabernet Sauvignon clearly dominates the flavour profile. Wine made from Cabernet Sauvignon vines planted in 2006 and 2007 were included for the first time in the grand vin.
Frankly toasted, with a strong ganache edge and a core of plum and blackberry fruit. The finish is a bit woodsy for now. Exercise care here. (James Molesworth)
While the aromas are mainly of wood, the palate shows fruit and a tannic balance. It is dry, with hints of black chocolate and blackberry. The wood, solid and dark, is still integrating with the fruit. (Roger Voss)
A balanced and incredibly powerful wine with wonderful depth and power. Full body, long finish. Could be better than 2012.
Consumption period
2019 - 2031
Our suggestions
White meats
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Cheese |
Red meats
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Game
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Ground
Surface
46.00 ha
Soil
Deep gravel
Winemaking
Grape harvest
By hand with small deep crates
Others
Graft stock
101.14 - Riparia gloire - 3309
Plant food
Traditional, limited impact
Plant density
8,500 vines per hectare
Wine average age
26 years
Grape variety
Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot
Pruning type
Double Guyot with debudding
Fermentation
In stainless-steel temperature-controlled tanks with patented cap-breaking system and concrete tanks with pigeage
Fermentation temperature
28 to 30 °C
Malolactic
Yes
Wine maturing
For 12 months in oak barrels (40-50 % new) with racking
Wine montage
Egg white
Maturing potential
Subject to vintage, expressive between 3 and 5 years, can age 15 to 30 years.
Oenologist consultant
Michel ROLLAND and Mikaël LAIZET.
Recipes
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