Château Larcis Ducasse

The château

Larcis was valued long before anyone classified it. In 1777 the Libourne merchant Pierre Beylot was paying high prices for its wine; in 1841 Lecoutre de Beauvais named it among the best of Saint-Émilion; and William Franck’s Traité sur les vins du Médoc, in its edition of 1853, printed it 2 times among the Saint-Émilion wines of the first marque, under Dubuch at 10 to 12 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels) and under Ducasse at 12 to 15. Pierre Ducasse took a gold medal in Paris in 1867. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, kept the 2 side by side into the 1880s, but by Féret’s survey of Libourne in 1897 they were one estate: Château-Larcis-Ducasse, a first growth of 30 tonneaux under M. Raba, the best of the good growths of Saint-Laurent-des-Combes, in one piece facing due south, where the grapes always ripened and the picking always came early. By 1922 it made 80 tonneaux.

Henry Raba had bought the château in 1893 and rebuilt it, and it has stayed with his descendants: Hélène Gratiot-Alphandéry from 1941, her son Jacques-Olivier Gratiot from 1990, and today Jeanne Attmane and Jacques-Olivier Gratiot. Nicolas Thienpont has managed the estate since 2002, with David Suire as technical director. The classification of 2012 raised it to Premier Grand Cru Classé B, and the list approved in September 2022 confirms it among the 14 Premiers Grands Crus Classés.

The 11.15 hectares cover 3 kinds of soil. One tenth is plateau, on the asteriated limestone. Over half is the south face of the Grande Côte, the Côte Pavie, where the slope reaches 25% and a very thin soil of clay and silt lies straight on the rock. The rest is clay and limestone colluvium at the foot, on molasse and river sand under a sandy clay, where the fall is 2 to 5%. The planting is 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc. Every lot is picked, fermented and aged apart, in the Burgundian manner, part of it in barrels of 500 liters with a light toast. About 38,000 bottles are made, and Murmure de Larcis Ducasse, made since 2010, is the second wine.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Saint-Laurent-des-Combes, on the south face of the Côte Pavie

Classification

Premier Grand Cru Classé B, 2012 and 2022; Michelin Guide, 1 grape (2026)

Owners

The descendants of Henry Raba, since 1893: Jeanne Attmane and Jacques-Olivier Gratiot

Direction

Nicolas Thienpont, since 2002; David Suire, technical director

Vineyard

11.15 hectares

Soil

Asteriated limestone plateau; the south face of the Côte Pavie, at up to 25%; clay and limestone colluvium at the foot Terroir of Saint-Émilion →

Grapes

Merlot 85%, Cabernet Franc 15%

Cellar

Lot by lot, in the Burgundian manner; part in barrels of 500 liters, light toast

Production

About 38,000 bottles

Wines

Château Larcis Ducasse; Murmure de Larcis Ducasse

In history

Among the Saint-Émilion wines of the first marque in 1853; a first growth at 30 tonneaux in 1897