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This Saint-Estèphe cru, bought in 2016 by entrepreneur Pierre Rousseau, has benefited from considerable investment, both in terms of technical facilities and wine tourism. Recognition as a Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel is clearly in sight for the 2025 edition of the classification.
2025 will see the publication of the new edition of the Crus Bourgeois du Médoc classification, which is revised every five years. In 2020, it returned to the old hierarchy divided into three levels, with the "Crus Bourgeois Exceptionnels" club representing the top of the range. There are currently 14 wines with this status, plus 56 'Crus Bourgeois Supérieurs' and 180 'Crus Bourgeois'. And many are already preparing their weapons to shake up the existing hierarchy and take their place at the top of the pyramid. Among the potential candidates are a number of names, including Château Laffitte-Carcasset. This Saint-Estèphe estate, currently a Cru Bourgeois Supérieur, has shown its great ambitions since its purchase in 2016 by entrepreneur Pierre Rousseau (chairman of the RAPIDO group, one of Europe's leading manufacturers of leisure vehicles, motorhomes, mobile homes and converted vans).
Laffitte-Carcasset is a 35-hectare vineyard located on a beautiful terroir in the Saint-Etienne area, directly adjacent to some of the appellation's stars such as Meyney, Montrose and Tronquoy. Its history dates back to at least 1759 and has been built up by seven successive families, the most recent - and current - not being the least ambitious. Pierre Rousseau, a great wine enthusiast, makes no secret of the fact: he wants to put Laffitte-Carcasset and its wines on the map, and to do so he has spared no expense. To orchestrate this rise, he has entrusted the keys to the car to Pierre Maussire (in post since 2007), who has carried out a series of spectacular works in recent years: the inauguration in 2020 of a new vat room designed by the architect Olivier Chadebost (a top-class technical facility combining high technological standards and aesthetic elegance, with 14 stainless steel vats and 14 concrete vats, as well as two ageing cellars), then, in 2022, a hospitality offering based around 5 luxury guest rooms, have been added to the extension of the land base achieved in 2018 through the purchase of Château Haut-Beauséjour (10 hectares, 5 of which have been incorporated into Laffitte-Carcasset).
The planets are now aligned to ensure that the estate continues to make progress in terms of the quality, consistency and precision of its wines (always with the advice of Hubert de Boüard, who acts as consultant), as well as in terms of its appeal to wine-lovers thanks to its carefully thought-out wine tourism offer. It goes without saying that these investments and their expected impact will be a powerful argument in the case for classification as a Crus Bourgeois du Médoc. The tasting will focus on the 2017 vintage (Pierre Rousseau's first at the head of the estate), 2018 (integration of 5 hectares of Haut-Beauséjour), 2019, 2020 and 2021; but the quest for an additional label (Cru Bourgeois Supérieur or, in this case, Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel) must include criteria such as "enhancement of the site", "quality of the welcome given to professional (wine) and private visitors", "individual and collective promotion", "distribution methods" and "national and international promotion of the cru". The new Laffitte-Carcasset seems to have done everything it can to take the next decisive step. Find out in a year's time.
"Terre de Vins" loves :
Château Laffitte-Carcasset 2019: a vintage that seems to us to be marked by a clear improvement in terms of brilliance, tannic finesse and overall balance. With 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, it displays a beautiful palette of fresh fruit, a slender profile and a lacy structure, despite the typical architecture of Saint-Estèphe. Approx. €22.
Château Laffitte-Carcasset 2020: first vintage in the new vat room. 58% Cabernet. Precise, invigorating concentration, a fine percussion of fruit, juicy, spicy and powerful on the palate. Tannins are present but elegant, with a firm structure and notes of blood orange on the finish. Approx. €21.
Next up: a new 100% Cabernet-Sauvignon cuvée, made from the best plots of gravel over clay on Terrace 3 in Saint-Estèphe, simply called "T3". An explosive wine of restrained strength, with opulent blackcurrant tinged with graphite and smoky notes, muscular with iridescent tannins. More on this later...
