Ornellaia's Axel Heinz Will Become CEO of Château Lascombes

Gaylon Lawrence and Carlton McCoy hire the winemaker for their Bordeaux project after a long tenure in Tuscany producing Ornellaia and Masseto

After more than 17 years producing some of Tuscany's most renowned wines in Bolgheri, Ornellaia winemaker Axel Heniz is going back to Bordeaux. Wine Spectator has learned that Lawrence Wine Estates has hired Heinz to serve as CEO of Château Lascombes. Partners Gaylon Lawrence and Carlton McCoy purchased the Margaux second growth six months ago.

"Axel is a master of his craft and the work he has done while overseeing Ornellaiaand Masseto have taken this already heralded estate to new heights," said McCoy, CEO of Lawrence Wine Estates. "I am thrilled to work with Axel to bring Château Lascombes to its full potential as one of the greatest wine estates in the world."

Heinz has been estate director of Ornellaia and Masseto in the Bolgheri region of Tuscany since 2015, after starting as winemaker for Ornellaia in 2005. He has earned a reputation as one of the world's top winemakers during his time there. Born in Germany, Heinz grew up in Bordeaux, studied agronomy with a specialization in viticulture and enology at the University of Bordeaux and worked at Château La Tour Carnet and other Bordeaux wineries during his early career.

"In life, there are moments where you feel you must make important steps," Heinz told Wine Spectator. "For personal reasons, for my family and professional reasons, it was time to go back home. I'm half Bordelaise, so it was time to make the move."

He added that he felt Ornellaia was in good hands. "I'll do my best to make a great transition. We have a seasoned team and I'm sure they will continue to do great work."

Château Lascombes has been sold to Napa winery owner.

Château Lascombes, the Margaux-based second growth in Bordeaux’s 1855 Classification, has become the first winery in Europe to be acquired by Lawrence Wine Estates, which already owns top Napa wineries Heitz Cellar, Burgess Cellars and Stony Hill.

The group was established by the Lawrence family, led by US entrepreneur Gaylon Lawrence, alongside managing partner and Master Sommelier Carlton McCoy Jr (MS).

‘We are honoured to become the new stewards of such a historical estate,’ said Lawrence. ‘This chateau has some of the greatest vineyards in Margaux and our family looks forward to caring for Château Lascombes for many generations to come.’

Financial details of the deal weren’t disclosed. Insurance group MACSF – Mutuelle d’Assurance du Corps de Santé Français – has owned Lascombes for the past 11 years and retains a minority stake in the estate, Lawrence Wine Estates said.

‘Château Lascombes is the largest estate in Margaux,’ said McCoy Jr. ‘With such exceptional vineyard holdings, we are confident that we can craft some of the most exceptional wines in the region and we have full confidence that [technical director] Delphine Barboux can achieve this.’

He added, ‘Château Lascombes is a special place, and we will spare no expense to ensure that we bring it to its full potential.’

Lascombes has around 100 hectares of vineyards, including a gravelly outcrop planted with Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, a block of clay-gravel with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as clay-limestone plots planted to Merlot, Lawrence Wine Estates said.

It noted that the estate traces its history to the 17th century, when Jean de Lascombes bought the Segonnes estate in Margaux in 1681, naming it after himself and building up the vineyard holdings.

With one hundred thirty hectares of vines (including one hundred twenty in the Margaux appellation and ten in the Haut- Médoc appellation) Château Lascombes is one of the largest estates in the Médoc.

The château, whose elegant profile can be admired from the entrance gate, contains an array of elements of different architectural styles ranging from the 17th to the 19th centuries. The original château, a classic chartreuse in design (the first floor of which remains today), was built in the 17th century. Successive owners then made their own architectural contributions, especially during the 19th century. English influence, which was widespread at the time, can particularly be observed on the building’s upper floors. From the surrounding grounds, the view of the château and its adjacent vineyard is superb.

A central figure in the history of Château Lascombes was Knight Antoine de Lascombes. As well as being the château’s first recorded owner, it was he who gave Lascombes its name. Born in 1625, he was to forge the destiny of the estate. One of his descendants, Jean-François de Lascombes, a councillor at the Bordeaux parliament, Crown Prosecutor at the Admiralty and member of the Academy, dedicated his fortune to the upkeep of the château and most particularly to enhancing the quality of its wines. In 1855, Château Lascombes was ranked as a Second Classified Growth in the classification of the Grand Crus Classés.

In 1952, Alexis Lichine, both château owner and Bordeaux merchant, and an excellent taster widely respected by his peers, bought the château and completely overhauled it. Under his leadership, the estate enjoyed a golden era, and its renown spread around the world. Writing several works on wine and travelling widely, he sought passionately to make Château Lascombes a wine of the very highest order.

A man of experience and a highly-reputed winemaker, Dominique Befve took charge of Château Lascombes in 2001. His years spent previously at great estates such as Lafite-Rothschild in Pauillac paved the way for his future post at Château Lascombes. Under his management, the vineyard was restructured, and the wine-making methods were completely rethought, leading to the introduction of more modern, high-performing wine-making equipment.

In 2011, the MACSF became the new owners when they bought Château Lascombes from Colony Capital. They immediately sought to take the quality of the wines to even greater heights and thereby gain permanent recognition for the fine work begun by the estate’s first owners. Marcel Kahn, MACSF’s General Manager, is today the Managing.

Everything begins in the vines.

Behind this simple truism lies a series of rigorous and meticulous vineyard tasks (de-leafing, green harvesting and so on) performed throughout the seasons. At Château Lascombes, all the work on the vines is done manually. In recent years, and since the arrival of Dominique Befve, numerous adjustments have been introduced to enhance grape ripeness and quality. Regular, thorough ripeness analyses are carried out, though it is always the tasting of the berries that determines the harvesting dates. The grapes are therefore tasted regularly to estimate their optimal ripeness.

Since 2001, Château Lascombes has been equipped with the latest high-performing tools to enable optimal handling of the grapes while keeping them perfectly intact. Built on four floors, the vat cellar enables the wine-making process to be carried out using gravity systems. Different-sized temperature-controlled stainless steel and oak vats allow the crop to be vinified plot by plot and grape variety by grape variety. Demanding and rigorous techniques, such as a pre-fermentation cold soak and an ageing on the lees, have been adopted to achieve the highest levels of excellence.

The ageing process is the last stage in the making of the wine. At this point both the handling of the wine and the period of time of ageing are important. The First Wine is run into French oak barrels by gravity and is aged for 18 to 20 months. After doing its malo-lactic fermentation in barrel it begins its ageing. A barrel rotation system allows the lees to be brought into suspension, giving the wine more flesh and fullness without any air coming into contact with the wine. The different batches are then blended according to their character, terroir and power. The harmony of this blend produces the characteristic richness and complexity of the wine of Château Lascombes.

The Château Lascombes vineyard stretches over 112 hectares (276 acres) in the Margaux appellation and 6 hectares (15 acres) in the Haut-Médoc appellation. It is today one of the largest vineyards of the 1855 Classified Growths. The Château Lascombes vines are located in the most prized parcels of Margaux and have the advantage of being planted in a unique variety of soils for this appellation. The vineyard is made up of three distinct parts of roughly equal surface areas: a gravelly mound, on which Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot are planted, a clay-gravel area planted with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, and lastly, clay-limestone plots, perfectly suited to the Merlot grape variety planted there. In fact, Merlot makes up the majority of the grape composition of the vineyard with some 50%, which sets Lascombes apart from other Margaux growths.

The wines of Château Lascombes are aged in barrels for eighteen to twenty months. Using Oxoline barrel racks, the estate has adopted highly dependable technology based on simple principles. While from the outside the winery conforms closely to the architecture of the local region, the interior offers a more contemporary style, particularly in the first-year cellar, where the lighting’s fluorescent, blue halo never fails to catch the attention of visitors. In each of the cellars, traditional materials combine to offer an image of classicism, strength and sobriety.