Description
Château Bel-Air Lagrave, Cru Bourgeois
Although we’ve been striking liquid gold for the past two years, Château Bel-Air Lagrave’s well is quickly drying up: Their decades-old, flawlessly preserved Bordeaux gems were in finite supply to begin with and our rapid sellouts of the ’85, ’86, and ’90 vintages haven’t helped either. Now, we’re further compounding the issue of scarcity with today’s smoking 1989 Grand Vin.
Coming directly from their esteemed Cru Bourgeois cellar, this savory, Cabernet-driven bombshell spent the past 32 years scaling the mountain of peak maturity. As always, the price-to-quality here is mindblowing: This tiny parcel evolved without seeing a hint of sunlight, an inch of movement, or a shift in temperature for three decades, and yet the château still went the extra mile by reconditioning, recorking, and topping off each bottle—with the same wine—to ensure it’d be perfectly sound once arriving at your door. This is a sublimely elegant, rustic, melt-in-your-mouth Bordeaux that will arouse deep emotions in those who swoon for mature Left Bank reds. Up to 12 bottles per person.
While you may not need this reminder, I’ll repeat it anyway: Bordeaux is big. Nevertheless, most of the attention is lavished upon a relatively tiny fraction of the region’s estates—namely, those Crus Classés (“classified growths”) listed in the famous ranking of 1855. One could stay busy with the 61 red wine-producing châteaux in that 1855 Classification, but at this point, you’ll pay handsomely to do so. That’s why we spend so much time turning over rocks in search of wines like today’s. It is here in Moulis-en-Médoc, a low-dollar/high-value Left Bank appellation that sits between titans Saint-Julien and Margaux, where you’ll find a star-studded trove of châteaux (Poujeaux, Chasse-Spleen, Maucaillou, Bel-Air Lagrave) that dazzle critics with their elegance, price-to-quality, and longevity. Further, Bel-Air Lagrave actually falls under one of Bordeaux’s other classifications: Cru Bourgeois, created by merchants in 1932 to showcase estates of high quality throughout the “Left Bank.” Over the decades, this ever-evolving classification has become a shining beacon of value.
Owned by the same family since the 19th century, Bel-Air Lagrave has as much pedigree as they do patience in the cellar. For decades, they’ve held back an impressive amount of inventory, a common practice of yore, and this has resulted in a “library” filled to the brim with back vintages. When the new generation recently took over, they began releasing some of these closely held heirlooms, which is how today’s small stash of 1989s was made possible.
As with most châteaux in Moulis, Bel-Air Lagrave’s land holdings lie further away from the Gironde River, where the soils transition from sandy gravel to more clay-limestone. Their vineyards are heavily planted to Cabernet Sauvignon (65%) and Merlot (30%) with a smattering of Petit Verdot, and this roughly mirrors that blend, albeit with a touch more Cabernet Sauvignon. Following fermentation and blending, the wine was transferred into a combination of new and used French oak for 20 months. It was bottled in the second half of 1991 and sent to rest in their cellar for nearly 30 undisturbed years.
All you need to do is gently extract the cork, serve in your grandest Bordeaux stems around 60 degrees, and allow it to rest in your glass for about 5-10 minutes before taking your first sip. From here, we suggest consuming over two hours, although it will still show impressive energy beyond that!. Enjoy now through 2025. Cheers!
