Aromas of dark berries, baked plums, licorice and pencil shavings introduce the 2021 Marquis d'Alesme, a medium to full-bodied, fleshy and charming wine built around powdery tannins that assert themselves on the youthfully firm finish.

This 15-hectare estate has produced the Perrodo family's most serious, structured wine this year in the form of the 2021 Marquis d'Alesme. Exhibiting aromas of raspberries, red cherries, violets and blood orange, it's medium to full-bodied, with powdery tannins, lively acids and creditable persistence on the finish. The Perrodo family's first acquisition in Margaux was Ch?teau Lab?gorce, acquired in 1989 (and supplemented by the holdings of Lab?gorce-Z?d? from 2004), followed by Marquis d'Anselme in 2006 and Tour de Mons in 2020. Viticulture is rather forward-thinking, employing organic treatments and phosphonates against disease. Soils see cover crops and much less tilling than was once the case, deleafing is no longer systematic and several parcels are managed without hedging. Where necessary, restructuring is underway, favoring massale selections. In the winery, technical director Marjolaine de Coninck favors gentle extraction, retaining some whole berries and fermenting at low temperatures; and she racks, settles and returns the must before the start of vinification to remove any dust or other debris from the vineyard (a technique also employed at La Conseillante and Barde-Haut, for example). The results are pure-fruited and perfumed, with Marquis d'Anselme somewhat more extracted than the suppler wines produced at Lab?gorce and now Tour de Mons.