Château Larmande

The château

Larmande appears in the archives of Saint-Émilion in 1585, and a stone in the house is dated 1640. Charles Cocks, in Bordeaux, ses environs et ses vins of 1850, the book that grew into the reference guide of the Bordeaux trade, put it in the 2nd class of the Haut-Saint-Émilion, under Pion de Case, at 12 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels). The Saint-Genis family held it from 1868 to 1908 and it rose under them: in 1886 the guide of Cocks and Édouard Féret noted that it adjoined Cadet and was planted with the best grapes of the Saint-Émilionnais, and by 1908 Féret had it among the deuxièmes premiers crus, at 20 tonneaux. Early in the 20th century Alice Capdemourlin and Fernand Meneret received it as a wedding gift, and their family held it for 3 generations.

AG2R La Mondiale, the insurance group that also owns Château Soutard, bought Larmande in 1990. It had been a Grand Cru Classé in the first classification of 1955 and has held the rank at every revision since, through 1969, 1986, 1996, 2006, 2012 and 2022. Vincent Labergère is general manager, here and at Soutard, and Thomas Duclos is the consulting enologist, after Michel Rolland and, before him, Émile Peynaud.

The vineyard lies in one unbroken block on the north slope, about 1 mile from the village, on clay and limestone, sand, and clay over silica, at 6,000 vines a hectare; the vines average 30 years and some of the Cabernet Franc is over 100. Merlot leads, with Cabernet Franc and a little Cabernet Sauvignon. The estate took Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value, the French state’s environmental certification for farms) at level 3 in 2018 and, with the same vintage, began raising part of the wine in terracotta amphorae.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Saint-Émilion, on the north slope

Classification

Grand Cru Classé, every list from 1955 to 2022

Owner

AG2R La Mondiale, since 1990

Direction

Vincent Labergère, general manager

Consultant

Thomas Duclos

Vineyard

One unbroken block; 6,000 vines a hectare; vines 30 years old on average, some Cabernet Franc over 100

Soil

Clay and limestone, sand, clay over silica Terroir of Saint-Émilion →

Grapes

Mostly Merlot, with Cabernet Franc and a little Cabernet Sauvignon

Farming

Haute Valeur Environnementale, level 3, since 2018

Cellar

Stainless steel; part of the wine in terracotta amphorae since 2018

In history

In the archives in 1585; a deuxième premier cru at 20 tonneaux in 1908