Château Lagrange

The estate

This Lagrange, not to be confused with the Saint-Julien estate of the same name, was born of Trotanoy. By 1898 Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, recorded that 2 crus had been taken out of Trotanoy in family divisions, and 1 of them was the cru Lagrange-Tropchaud of G. de Jaurias, at 12 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels); their English edition of 1899 placed it among the first growths of Pomerol. In Féret’s Saint-Émilion et ses vins of 1908 the Cru Lagrange of de Jaurias is a 1er cru classé of Pomerol at 15 tonneaux, and in 1922 it is still his. Later the 2 were back under a single owner, M. Pécresse, who held both Lagrange and Trotanoy, and in 1953 Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix bought Lagrange from him. The house owns and runs it still.

The 9 hectares lie on the northern border of the plateau and are planted wholly to Merlot, on heavy ground: gravel on clay, and an old, deep blue clay. Once the grapes are ripe the harvest, by hand, takes a few hours. The fruit is sorted by hand and then optically and fermented with a gentle extraction in temperature-controlled concrete and stainless steel vats, and the wine ages 16 to 18 months in French oak barrels, 40% of them new. The house makes it in the lighter style of Pomerol, approachable young.

At a glance

Appellation

Pomerol

Commune

Pomerol, the northern border of the plateau

Classification

No classification

Owner

Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix, since 1953

Vineyard

9 hectares

Ground

Gravel on clay; old, deep blue clay

Grapes

Merlot 100%

Cellar

Picked by hand; hand and optical sorting; concrete and stainless steel vats; 16 to 18 months in French oak barrels, 40% new

Wines

Château Lagrange

Not to be confused with

Château Lagrange, Saint-Julien

In history

Taken out of Trotanoy in a family division by 1898; a 1er cru classé of de Jaurias, 15 tonneaux, in 1908; bought in 1953 from M. Pécresse, owner of Trotanoy

Sources: Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix, Château Lagrange · Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix, Château Lagrange technical sheet · Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix, the vineyards · Syndicat viticole de Pomerol, Château Lagrange