94
Jane Anson: Inky colour, delivering a wine with balance and slate-textured tannins, dark fruits, very much in the cassis and bilberry frame, dried herbs, good length and tension through the palate. Always a wine to follow, and it succeeds again. 3.3 pH. Harvest September 15 to 24. 20% new oak (400l casks), plus 30% in cement vats. The Cab Franc comes from massal selection from the properties in St Emilion in the plateau. Nicolas and Cyrille Thienpont, Derenoncourt Consulting."
93-
94
James Suckling: Purity of fruit, with fine tannins and mineral and dried flower undertones. It’s medium-bodied with a vivid and transparent finish. A blend 70% merlot and 30% cabernet franc."
93
Decanter: Dark fruit aromas with milk chocolate, smells gorgeous with a beautiful vivid pink rim to the wine. Grippy and alive in the mouth, bright acidity is at the fore, as are the quite prominent chalky, stony tannins. A little tight and firm still, not yet settled, but there’s no doubting the fruit concentration with a nice balance between sun-kissed fruit and freshness. 3.3pH. Ageing 16-18 months."
90-
92
Jeb Dunnuck: A blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc from yields of 33 hectoliters per hectare, the 2025 Château La Prade is a step up over the Puygueraud with a touch more generosity and volume. Red and black fruits, spring flowers, graphite, and crushed stone all define the aromatics, and it has beautiful complexity. Medium-bodied on the palate, it has ripe, building tannins and a great finish."
90-
92
The Wine Cellar Insider: Always a flowery wine, you also enjoy its nuances of cherries, herbs, tobacco leaves, spearmint, and cocoa in the nose. On the palate, the wine is soft, fruity, polished, fresh, sweet, and creamy, with a basket of cherries, plums, and raspberries that carry through from the mid-palate, through to the finish. You can enjoy this on release, or age it for at least a decade or more. The wine blends 70% Merlot, with 30% Cabernet Franc. Drink from 2028-2040."
