Belgian entrepreneur Alfred-Alexandre Bonnie was about to give up his quest for his dream property as he stumbled upon Malartic Lagravière in 1996. As things go with love at first sight, it was more an affair of the heart than business. Bonnie invested millions of euro’s in a total renovation of the chai’s, the wine making facilities. He strongly believes that 70% of the quality of the wine comes from the vineyard. A lot of attention is dedicated to the vines. They have created natural barriers made out of 9 different species of plants to prevent diseases and bugs from spreading through the vineyards. This results in a significant reduction of the use of chemicals and of course improves the quality of the crop.

Tasting the Wines
We started the tasting with the different cepages (grape varieties) of the spectacular 2009 vintage. The estate’s owner, Monsieur Bonnie, joined us for the tasting. We tasted Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and the Petit Verdot. It was a first time for me as well to taste the four grape varieties next to each other. We were amazed by the impressive massive red-purple color. The Merlot (45% of the production) struck me as having a strong nose with loads of fresh fruits. The Cabernet Sauvignon ( 45%) had great strong tannins, almost like velvet, nothing aggressive. Healthy, clean and showing lots of fruit. The Cabernet Franc (8%) showed intense darkness and had strong floral notes, with mild tannins and a hint of sweetness. The Petit Verdot (2%) was so dark it was nearly black. It tasted almost sweet, so beautifully ripe was this difficult and late maturing grape variety.
I can’t wait to taste the blend at the future’s tasting this March.

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