Chateau Laroze St. Emilion Bordeaux, Complete Guide

Learn everything about Chateau Laroze St. Emilion with wine tasting notes, wine, and food pairing tips, best vintages, a history of the property, information on the vineyards, and winemaking. If you want to read about other important, Bordeaux Chateaux: Links to all Bordeaux Wine Producer Profiles

The Meslin family are the current owners of Chateau Laroze, an obscure, St. Emilion classified growth. The Meslin family are the direct descendants of Georges Gurchy and Nelly Gruchy, the founders and creators of Chateau Laroze. However, the Gruchy family has a long history in St. Emilion that dates all the way back to 1610.

At one point in time, the Grouchy family owned a part of neighboring, Yon Figeac. The Gruchy family purchased the original Saint Emilion vineyards of what would become Chateau Laroze in 1882.

They managed to build the chateau, vat rooms, and cellars a few years later in 1885. Through inheritance and direct descendants, Chateau Laroze remains in the hands of the original founders. Guy Meslin is the current owner and director of the estate.

Chateau Laroze Vineyards, Terroir, Grapes, Winemaking

The 27 hectare Bordeaux vineyard of Chateau Laroze is planted to 68% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Franc and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon. The vineyard is in its own way unusual for Saint Emilion. This is because the entire vineyard is in 1 single, very large parcel plot. The vines are on average 20 years of age.

The vineyard of Chateau Laroze is planted to a vine density that varies from 5,600 vines per hectare to 10,000 vines per hectare. Newer plantings are done at 10,000 vines per hectare.

It is the goal of Chateau Laroze to continue to increase the density of plantings in their St. Emilion vineyard over time so that the entire vineyard is planted at 10,000 vines per hectare. Their closest neighbor is Chateau Grand Mayne, whose vines they abut.

The terroir of Chateau Laroze is sand with chalk and clay sub-soils. Chateau Laroze had been practicing Biodynamic farming from 1991 to 1998, making Larize the first vineyard in Saint Emilion to do so. In time, Chateau Laroze moved to organic farming instead, finding the approach was better suited to the Chateau Laroze vineyards.

This means they do not use any herbicides or chemical fertilizers of any kind because they want to create a self-sustaining vineyard.

The goal of the property is to create healthier soils that would be better for the long-term health of the vines. In 2002, they completed a new drainage system in their vineyards, which meshes perfectly with their organic approach.

To produce the wine of Chateau Laroze, the berries are vinified in a combination of cement vats and stainless steel tanks. The wine is aged in 50% new, French oak barrels for 18 months. During that period, the wine is aged on its lees for between 12 and 14 months depending on the vintage.

There is a second wine, Lafleur Laroze, and starting in 2001, a third wine, Lady Laroze. On average, close to 9,000 cases of their Saint Emilion wine are produced every vintage.

When to Drink Chateau Laroze, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time

Chateau Laroze needs some time before it can be enjoyed. Young vintages can be decanted for an average of 1 hour or more. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment.

Chateau Laroze is usually better with at least 4-6 years of bottle age. Of course, that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage character. Chateau Laroze offers its best drinking and should reach peak maturity between 4-14 years of age after the vintage.

Serving Chateau Laroze with Wine, Food, Pairing Tips

Chateau Laroze is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift.

Chateau Laroze is best paired with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised, and grilled dishes. Chateau Laroze is also good when matched with Asian dishes, hearty fish courses like tuna, mushrooms, and pasta.

Things are continuing to improve at Chateau Laroze since they hired Hubert de Bouard, the owner of Chateau Angelus as their consultant in 2009. It’s an estate to watch.

www.laroze.com