2015 Chateau des Landes Cuvee Prestige Lussac Saint Emilion 750 ml

“Wines of Grandeur From Modest Estates”

On February 26, the chief critic of the New York Times, Eric Asimov, cast the spotlight on Bordeaux’s Right Bank petit chateaux pegging them as “Wines of Grandeur From Modest Estates.” Asimov notes that the reds from these family-owned and family-worked estates “are characteristically lush and round, but also nuanced and fine-grained.” This 2015 Château des Landes Cuvée Prestige Lussac-Saint-Émilion is a shining example of the beauty and purity that only old-vine Merlot from this region can deliver. True garagiste satelite Saint-Émilion with 91 points from Wine Enthusiast from a historic vintage, this is a serious wine with an open-without-hesitation $24.99 price tag.  

The 2015 Château des Landes Cuvée Prestige shows off the 2015 Right Bank vintage that, according to Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, eclipsed every vintage since the historic 2005. Composed of 100% Merlot from 70-year-old vines planted in the white clay soils, the Cuvée Prestige hails from Lussac-Saint-Émilion, one of the “satellite appellations” of Saint-Émilion. With its serious Right Bank density and complexity, this wine showed beautifully against its peers, winning a Gold Medal at the 2016 Concours de Bordeaux’s blind tasting competition.

The story of Château des Landes is not one of a luxurious estate passed from generation to increasingly wealthy generation, but of one family’s inspiring rise into the world of fine winemaking. It was founded in 1952 by Paul Lassagne, who worked in a local tile factory at night while tending to his recently purchased vines during the day. In 1979, after Paul’s son Daniel completed his studies in viticulture, he joined his father at the estate. The pair expanded their vineyard holdings and diversified their line of offerings. In 2001, Daniel’s son Nicholas joined the estate, introducing modern techniques to improve upon the tradition established by his father and grandfather.

Now with 80 acres of land, the family’s reputation has grown along with the estate itself, and Cuvée Prestige is a bottled representation of that evolution. It is selected from the estate’s oldest Merlot vines, low-yielding plants that were planted 70 years ago by Paul Lassagne. A long 40- to 50- day maceration imbues the wine with gorgeous ruby and crimson color, before it is aged for 12-18 months in French Oak. The result is classic Right Bank Merlot from a once-in-a-decade vintage that deserves every accolade — its Gold Medal in the Concours de Bordeaux’s blind tasting competition and 91 admiring points from Wine Enthusiast.  It also deserves a little space in your cellar, close at hand.

Jonathan Cristaldi
Editor-in-Chief, Wine Access