Winegrowers' portraits Léognan
Château malartic lagraviere
The family Bonnie has the wind in its sails
Moored on the most beautiful hill of graves of Léognan, the Château Malartic Lagravière enjoys exceptional assets: a history, a terroir, high-tech installations, and above all an ambitious family.
The History of Malartic Lagravière dates back to the 18th century when Count Hippolyte de Maurès de Malartic, illustrious Admiral of the French Kings, purchased the domain. It is his boat that now adorns the label of the estate's bottles, a tribute from the family Bonnie.
When the latter takes over the reins of the Château in 1996, the wines of the house are already renowned. Red and white, an exceptional case, are both classed since 1953. But they were also known to be some kind of austere. Michèle and Alfred-Alexandre Bonnie, joined by their son, their daughter and their partners respectively in 2003 and 2008, thus decided to head for quality and the enhancement of the image by creating more elegant, smoother, easier and friendlier wines.
Alfred BonnieObjective: quality
The couple begins by reshaping the vineyard to take the best out of the terroir: the most beautiful hill of gravels of Léognan dating from the Quaternary. The soil of gravels, particularly draining, is supported by a subsoil of shell-limestone crossed by seams of clay. Ideal conditions, especially in case of drought, so that the stock deeply anchors its roots in order to find the life-saving freshness and raise to the fruit all the expression of this exceptional terroir that makes Malartic Lagravière wines’ excellence.
In 1997 a thorough survey enabled to adapt all the better the vineyard to its soils. A huge program of pulling-out, replanting and enlargement has been fulfilled. Now the estate totals 53 hectares of which 46 de-dicated to red. The planted varieties are composed of 45% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, as well as Semillon and white Sauvignon.
In this same will of extracting the best of these treasures, the team implemented integrated farming. Mechanical ploughing of the whole vineyard, planting of various hedges to favour biodiversity, no weed killer, banishment of insecticide, leaves thinned out manually, thanks to this approach, the estate received the certification AGROCERT in 2008. The plant is respected from the roots to the fruit. And so the picking is done by hand, and in order not to crush the berries, the harvest is carried in small crates of maximum 10kg to the sorting tables. To bring the quality of the fruits into the wine, a new rigourous selection is operated. And the rest of the process shows as much tactfulness.
During the big works, the house has been equipped with a high-tech vatroom which temperature is entirely controlled electronically. Above all it is exceptional, even still today, as it uses the gravity process to replace the pumps that injure the berries. This technique enables to handle the grape with soft and slow moves in small vats that are lowered with a hoist above the vats in which the harvest will be poured. One―wood or stainless-steel―vat per plot for a precise and “personalized” extraction and vinification. The integrity of the skin is respected, thus keeping silky and delicate tannins, signature of the wines from Malartic Lagravière.
After a few weeks, the future wine will be transferred into French oak barrels of 225l to quietly mature up to 22 months. The house has a cellar of 1,200 barrels of red and 200 barrels of white.
Destination Excellence
The estate produces two great wines, a red and a white. Its range also counts to second wines, “La Réserve de Malartic” in both colours, formerly called “Le Sillage de Malartic”―other reference to its nautical history. And for some vintages it also has a bled rosé, “Rosé de Malartic”.
The family Bonnie surrounded itself with the oenologists Michel Rolland and Athanase Fakorellis. Together they managed to give real character to the wines of Malartic Lagravière. First by the expression of all the typicity of the Graves region, thus showing the work completed in the respect of the terroir's excellence and nobility.
Then by their signature: voluptuous, silky, and very delicate tannins.
The team created wines with a wonderful balance, easy to pair with dishes as well in red as in white. They can be appreciated young but above all they are wines with a real ageing capacity, in both colours, that now makes the repute of the House. The red reveal aromas of moka and chocolate. The white, when young, displays vividness with exotic notes and a promising fatness.
This approach for quality is a long-term work. Let's bet that the 2011 vintage that promises fruitiness, delicacy and richness, without belying the repute of the château with a complex, silky and elegant tannic structure, will be a step more to the destination Excellence.
Sylvia VAN DER VELDEN
The Vineyards Malartic are composed of Château Gazin-Rocquencourt in Pessac-Léognan and the Domaine DiamAndes in Argentina, very promising and particularly well marked by the famous wine guides.
Château Malartic Lagravière
43 Avenue Mont de Marsan
33850 Léognan
Tél.: +33 (0)5 56 64 75 08
www.malartic-lagravière.com
Bonnie family
