Chateau Labegorce

Chateau Labegorce


The land that the Labegorce estate now sits on entered recorded history when a certain Duke William of Acquitaine made it his own. The Duke had no known achievements in winemaking but is remembered as an early troubadour and for leading an army in the 1101 ‘Crusade of the Faint-Hearted’, which didn’t go at all well. Vines arrived in the 17th century, and in the 18th century the name Labegorce arrived as a corruption of L’Abbe Gorce, ‘Abbot Gorce’, the Abbot in question being an owner for a while. When the Revolution arrived, the Labegorce estate was large and successful. It was expropriated as a national good, split into three smaller estates (the largest of which was still called Labegorce) and sold off.

A plethora of owners followed, including an Admiral and, later, one Monsieur Condom. A splendid chateau arrived in the early 19th century. Things continued up and down until 1989, when businessman and polo player Hubert Perrodo arrived. He was often at neighbouring Chateau Giscours to watch the polo matches hosted there (which still go on) and he fell in love with Margaux. Not only did he acquire Labegorce when it came up for sale, he set himself the goal of reassembling the estate in its pre-Revolutionary splendour. That meant acquiring the two other chateaux which had been split off. Nobody is likely to mourn (or remember) L’Abbe Grosse de Grosse, which had appeared in the (first) Cru Bourgeois classification of 1932, but thereafter fell into a steep decline and thence entirely off the radar. The other was Labegorce-Zede, which was by then being managed very well by Luc Thienpont, brother of Jacques, he of Le Pin. Luc had established a fine reputation for Labegorce-Zede, and some wine lovers mourn the disappearance of the label; the last vintage of Labegorce-Zede was 2008.

Hubert Perrodo did not live to see the fruits of his reunification. He was killed in a skiing accident in 2006, at the age of 62. His daughter Nathalie Perrodo stepped up to manage Labegorce in tandem with another family property in Margaux, third growth Marquis d’Alesme.

The Labegorce vineyards are in the north of the commune of Margaux, before the land drops and the commune boundary crosses into the Haut-Medoc. There are some 65 hectares of vines on production, with the best on elevated, deep-gravel soils near the chateau. Plantings overall are 50 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, 45 per cent Merlot, 3 per cent Cabernet Franc and 2 per cent Petit Verdot. The proportion of Merlot has been increased in acknowledgement of the clay-rich soils in some section of the vineyard, where Merlot naturally performs better. As recent upheavals have settled, and with the considerable work and investments in the vineyard and the cellar put in place by Nathalie Perrodo, Labegorce is showing serious improvements and exciting promise. (NT 18/08/23)

Vintage Description Cs Sz Bt Sz Cs Btssort descending Cs ib Cs inc Bt inc
2021 young Labegorce (Margaux)
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6x 75cl 1 0 £130.00 - - Buy
2019 drink or keep Labegorce (Margaux)
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6x 75cl 15 4 £126.00 £170.44 £33.95 Buy
2020 drink or keep Labegorce (Margaux)
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6x 75cl 1 4 £120.00 £163.24 £31.95 Buy