2016 | Château Malartic-Lagravière La Réserve de Malartic | Pessac-Léognan | France

The second wine of a Pessac-Léognan Grand Cru Classé — 91-point classified-estate Bordeaux from the great 2016 vintage.

La Réserve de Malartic is the second wine of Château Malartic-Lagravière, a Grand Cru Classé de Graves in Pessac-Léognan, superbly run by the Bonnie family since 1997. Drawn from the same gravelly ridge as the grand vin, it's a Cabernet/Merlot Bordeaux blend from the celebrated 2016 vintage — structured, black-fruited and refined.

Second wine of a classified Pessac estate in a great vintage is textbook Bordeaux value. Grand Cru Classé pedigree, 2016 vintage, 91 pts → the grand vin costs several times more → at this price you're drinking classified-growth Pessac.

• Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot Bordeaux blend (with Cabernet Franc)
• Pessac-Léognan — Bordeaux, France
• Château Malartic-Lagravière — Grand Cru Classé, Bonnie family
• 91 pts Decanter · benchmark 2016 vintage

Deep purple; plum, ripe blackberry and smoke over bay leaf, pencil lead and tobacco with supple, well-structured tannins. Translation: a serious, classified-estate Pessac in miniature — dark fruit, graphite and tobacco with real structure and finesse. Drinking well now, good to cellar.

Classified-growth Pessac-Léognan at second-wine value, from a stellar year. Exactly the Bordeaux for a roast or a few years in the cellar.