Château Croix de Labrie 2025 Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé (Organic)

Xavier Lacombe
99-100 punten

Jean-Mac Quarin
99 punten
Zwarte kleur. Intense neus, fijn, fruitig, puur en complex. Nuances van bramen in het walsen van het glas. Ruim bij de aanzet, volumineus in het midden van de mond, met een vettige textuur en vooral veel smaak, blijft deze krachtige wijn langzaam en onophoudend aanwezig. Het hangt zich op aan het meest nobele tannineuze frame dat ooit in deze wijn is gezien. Complexe persistentie. Het is prachtig. Voor de goede orde, het is een van de rijkste jaargangen in Cabernet Franc en Cabernet Sauvignon. Blend: 82% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc. Alcoholgraad: 13 ° 5 - pH: 3,4. Productie: 16.500 flessen. Die kanttekening plaats deze wijn op de eerste plaats van domeinen ten oosten van Saint-Emilion, in de traditioneel koelere gebieden. Nooit eerder maakte een wijn uit deze gedeelte (Saint-Christophe des Bardes) mij zo'n nobele indruk. Hij kan concurreren met de beroemdste wijnen van Saint-Emilion. Ik kan niet wachten om het eind van de veroudering op fles mee te maken. Zulke nieuwe expressies, in staat om het smaaklandschap te verrijken, zijn opwindend en zeldzaam.

James Suckling
97-98 punten
Blackberry, blueberry, licorice, iodine and ink aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied with a focused and beautiful center palate. Hints of salt and terra cotta. Terrific presence in the finish. From organically grown grapes. 82% merlot, 11% cabernet franc and 7% cabernet sauvignon.

Jeb Dunnuck
94-96+ punten
Cassis, assorted red and blue fruits, violets, and graphite all define the 2025 Château Croix De Labrie, the grand vin sourced from a mix of parcels at a very low yield of 25 hectoliters per hectare. Based on 82% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 7% Cabernet Franc that's being raised 20 months in a combination of 225-liter barrels and the balance in 500-liter demi-muids and 12-hectoliter foudres, it brings another level of elegance and finesse over the Chapelle de Labrie. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it's fresh and focused, with ripe, polished, yet building tannins and a great finish. It checks in at 13.5% alcohol with a pH of 3.4, and while it's going to benefit from bottle age, this is a beautiful Saint-Emilion in the making.

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux
95 punten
Exceptionally impressive intensity, purity, velvety tannins that cradle fully ripe berry fruit, with clear sea spray salinity that is particularly marked in this vintage. 3.4 pH. Harvest September 15 to 20. 70% aged in barrel (with 70% new oak), plus the rest in large neutral oak casks. No added SO2. 25hl/h, 5.16ha estate. 7,500 vines per hectare.

Decanter
95 punten
Ripe blackcurrants and sticky liquorice aromas, smells heady and intense yet floral too with violets and peony scents. Smooth and silky, this is sleek and controlled with lovely purity to the summer berry fruit - strawberry and cranberry - with powdery, chalky tannins that give this body and structure. Classy and polished, there’s something really captivating about this wine. Great energy and intensity while keeping lifted. Hands-off in the best way but still with undeniable power. Juicy and long with undeniable limestone aspects. Totally different blend compared to 2022 and 2023. Started harvest on 14th September on the plateau, 15-16th on the slopes, Cabernet Sauvignon on the 20th and Cabernet Franc on the 21st. 3.40pH. Two years ageing: 70% barrel (70% new oak, 30% one-year-old), 30% demi-muids and 12hl foudres. 100-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon added to the blend.

Vinous
92-94 punten
The 2025 Croix de Labrie is quite delicate. Floral and mineral notes confer notable energy right out of the gate. Crushed flowers, vibrant red-toned fruit and mid-weight structure are the signatures. This is all understatement and class.

Andreas Larsson (Best Sommelier of the World 2007)
98 punten

Raimonds Tomsons (Best Sommelier of the World 2023)
Very open and expressive, with charming purity of fruit and an alluring, lifted perfume... Very fine concentration on the attack without any sense of heaviness, lifted by freshness and tension. The tannins are remarkably fine-grained and well integrated, giving the wine a precise and already harmonious sturcture. The mid-palate reveals layers of freshly crushed dark cherry, plum, and cassis, with impressive purity and energy... The finish is long and focused, driven by a terroir freshness that brings balance, lift and defenition to the wine's concentrated core. A beautifully balanced and precise wine, combining substance and concentration, depth of fruit, aromatic elegance, and broad yet refined structure with a strong sense of terroir.