Château Larcis Ducasse

In 1841, Lecoutre de Beauvais in the “Producteur” cited Larcis as one of the first growths of Saint-Émilion. This judgement was confirmed in 1867 by a gold medal awarded at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, rewarding the quality of the wines of this terroir, and in the “Féret” published in 1868.
In 1893, Henry Raba, a direct descendant of a great family of shipowners and négociants established in Bordeaux since the 18th century, bought château Larcis Ducasse. Out of passion, he invested a large part of his fortune in maintaining this terraced vineyard and in equipping the château with state-of-the-art cellars. On his death in 1925, his wife and then his son André took up the torch. The latter died during the war. He had no children, so it was his niece Hélène Gratiot Alphandéry who inherited the property in 1941. Having had to take refuge in the free zone with her children, she regained possession of the growth after the Liberation and, while teaching psychology at the Sorbonne, ran the property with Pharaon Roche, the steward.
In 1990, her son Jacques-Olivier Gratiot succeeded her. The quality that characterises the wines of château Larcis Ducasse continued until 2002 with the help of Philippe Dubois. That year, Nicolas Thienpont joined the property as co-manager. Ten years later, the Saint-Émilion classification (2012) placed Larcis Ducasse among the Premiers Grands Crus Classés of the appellation, 161 years after the citation in the “Producteur”.
Without any doubt this classification celebrates first and foremost a historic terroir: steep and fascinating, the Côte Pavie has greatly contributed to the renown of Saint-Émilion wines. It also rewards a family’s determination to awaken this terroir by handing the keys to a team built around Nicolas Thienpont, Stéphane Derenoncourt, David Suire and Julien Lavenu…
The change has been felt since 2004; crescendo, the wines climb towards the heights, and 2010, beyond a great vintage, happily displays the result of precise work; it is also the year Murmure de Larcis Ducasse, the second wine, was created.
With a first-rate terroir, château Larcis Ducasse is once again a Premier and still a family property.