Chateau Labegorce Margaux Bordeaux, Complete Guide

Learn everything about Chateau Labegorce Margaux with wine tasting notes and wine with food pairing tips. Learn about the 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

Chateau Labegorce History, Overview

Chateau Labegorce, like many chateaus in Bordeaux, takes its name from one of the estate’s early owners, the Grosse family, who held an interest in the land that dates back all the way back to the 14th century. For centuries prior to the French Revolution, Chateau Labegorce was a truly massive estate. In fact, it was one of the bigger properties at the time in the Medoc.

The lands of their Margaux estate were ordered to be divided during the French Revolution. This division created three separate estates. This included Chateau Labegorce, what later became Labegorce Zede, and the tiny property, L’Abbe Grosse de Grosse.

However, the vineyards of Chateau Labegorce remained the largest of the three Margaux properties. The beautiful, classic chateau of Labegorce was constructed in 1821.

Chateau Labegorce The Modern Age

Chateau Labegorce passed through a myriad of owners before it was most recently bought by the Perrodo family in 1989. Hubert Perrodo fell in love with Bordeaux and especially the Margaux appellation.

While wine held a big interest for Hubert Perrodo, his real interest in Bordeaux came after spending time in the appellation enjoying polo matches that were held at neighboring Chateau Giscours, which is also located in Margaux.

Hubert Perrodo set out with the goal to reunite all three vineyards of the original Labegorce estate. He purchased L’Abbe Grosse de Grosse in 2002. However, Hubert Perrodo was only able to buy the chateau and some land. The vineyards were sold to Chateau Margaux. He completed the final piece of the puzzle when he bought Labegorce Zede in 2005.

All three vineyards were once again merged into one large vineyard. Sadly, Hubert Perrodo was killed in a skiing accident the following year after realizing his dream of recreating the original Labegorce vineyard.

2008 was the final vintage of Chateau Labegorce Zede. Today, the Left Bank estate of Chateau Labegorce is owned and managed by the daughter of Hubert Perrodo, Nathalie Perrodo.

Nathalie Perrodo also manages all of the family’s other Medoc Bordeaux properties, which are also located in the Margaux appellation, Chateau Marquis d’Alesme, which is situated across the road from Chateau Lascombes and Chateau tour de Mons. Delphine Kolasa is the director of communications for the property. Marjolaine de Coninck is the technical director for all the Perrodo estates.

Chateau Labegorce Vineyards, Terroir, Grapes, Winemaking

The 65-hectare vineyard of Chateau Labegorce is planted to 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, and 3% Cabernet Franc. This represents a continuing change in the vineyard as the percentage of Merlot has increased. It is also the goal of the estate to continue increasing the amount of Cabernet Franc in the vineyard. It is important to note that the size of the vineyard has also expanded from 36 hectares to 53 planted hectares.

The vines are planted to a density of 9,000 vines per hectare. On average the vines are 30 years of age. However, there are old vines at Chateau Labegorce.

They have old vines. A sizable portion of the vineyard was planted during the 1950s and there is a section of vines that is over 100 years of age! The terroir of Chateau Labegorce is composed of mostly gravel, clay, sand, and some sand mixed with limestone soil. However, as you might expect, it is a bit more complicated here.

Located just north of the Margaux village, you can divide the vineyard into 3 main sections with their best parcel of vines located closest to the chateau, this is where you find their highest elevations and deepest gravel soils. They also have vines on the other side of the D2 highway, as well as vines planted in terroir with higher levels of clay. This is where you find their Merlot.

Chateau Labegorce Winemaking

Vinification of Chateau Labegorce takes place in a combination of cement tanks and stainless steel vats. Malolactic fermentation takes place in tank and vat. The wine is aged in 25-40% new French oak barrels for an average of 15 months.

There is a second wine, Zede de Labegorce. As you can surmise, the name for the second wine took its inspiration from Labegorce Zede. The average annual production of Chateau Labegorce is about 12,000 cases of wine per year. Since 2009, Chateau Labegorce has been showing improvements in their wine, vintage after vintage. 2015 seems to be the best vintage yet for Chateau Labegorce!

The best vintages of Chateau Labegorce are: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2010 and 2009. However, it should be noted that starting with the 2015 vintage, the level of quality at Chateau Labegorce made a huge leap, with the estate now making the best wines in the history of the property.

When to Drink Chateau Labegorce, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time

Chateau Labegorce can be tasted young with decanting. Young vintages can be decanted for an average of 1-3 hours, give or take. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment.

Chateau Labegorce is usually better with at least 7 years of bottle age. Of course, that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage character. Chateau Labegorce offers its best drinking and should reach peak maturity between 8 and 20 years of age after the vintage.

Serving Chateau Labegorce, with Wine, Food, Pairing Tips

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

Chateau Labegorce is best served with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised, and grilled dishes. Chateau Labegorce is a perfect match with Asian dishes, hearty fish courses like tuna, salmon, mushrooms, and pasta as well as cheese.

www.labegorce.com