2015 Château Croix de Labrie St-Émilion Grand Cru 750 ml

Two years ago, we sold out our entire allocation of the 96-point 2015 Château Croix de Labrie Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, creating a new Wine Access favorite in the process. Since then, stateside supply has dwindled to absolutely nothing. It doesn’t matter who you are—Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and LeBron James couldn’t buy more if they wanted to.

We saw this scarcity coming, so you can be sure we brought it up on our last visit to Labrie—and today’s the day our close relationship (and a little foresight) pays off for our members. Straight from the château, courtesy of proprietors Pierre and Axelle Courdurié, we’ve scored a back-vintage allocation of the 96-point Croix de Labrie. This is for Wine Access members ONLY, and it’s a bottle that many fans thought they’d never see again. 

Now softened by a couple years, the ‘15 Croix de Labrie is singing. Still showing a deep purple-black color, it’s got wafting aromatics of black cherry, kirsch, plum pudding, blueberry, and licorice, plus leather and truffle developing alongside its dark chocolate, clove, cinnamon, and fine French oak. Impressively structured with a dense core and cooling acidity, the crushed-velvet tannins are mellowing beautifully as this baby eases into its prime. 

An impressed James Suckling served up a 96-point score for the 2015 Château Croix de Labrie, and Jeb Dunnuck was effusive as well: “It’s a beauty!” he said, calling it a “standout St.-Émilion” that “savvy readers should snatch up.” The best part is that we’re bringing it to you today at the same price as on release, just $99. 

We don’t have to spell it out—this cellared Right Bank beauty will disappear even quicker than last time. 

Strolling the vineyard with proprietors Axelle and Pierre Courdurié last year, we couldn’t stop gushing about the tiny estate’s thrilling soils and 100-year-old vines. After a while, the normally loquacious Pierre laughed, cut us off, and summed it up perfectly: “Yes,” he said. “We have f*****g good terroir.” 

That biodynamically-farmed terroir shines through with each swirl and every sip. The vineyard sits on a hillock of sand and limestone soils cut with bands of iron, complete with giant fossils strewn through what was once an ancient seabed. The free-draining porousness provides real depth and density to the finished wine, as do the mature vines, which range from 45 to 100 years of age. No wonder Robert M. Parker Jr. himself said that Croix de Labrie, with Michel Rolland guiding the winemaking, is “always one of the sexiest wines from Bordeaux,” producing “one of the most decadently hedonistic and luxuriously fruity wines. It also possesses undeniable complexity, texture, and class.”

We knew the 2015 was in for a spectacular evolution when we tasted it young. Now, five years into its life, it’s bearing that out beautifully. This allocation wasn’t easy to come by, and we might not see another one come again.