Liber Pater (Unique Winemaking, Best Wines 2024)
What’s special about Liber Pater wines and which bottles should you buy?
Liber Pater is renowned for championing the original Bordeaux grape varieties and for their unique winemaking practices. Besides, the limited production quantities ensure exclusivity and exceptionally high prices as well.
What’s the secret behind their winemaking process? What makes the wines from this small boutique winery stand out from other Bordeaux wines?
Let’s explore Liber Pater’s history, winemaking, viticulture, the best wines, and the easiest way to invest in them!
Further reading
- Want to start investing in fine wines? Check out our Complete Guide On Wine Investment.
- Looking for a spicy red wine? Try some of The Best Italian Reds and Luscious Grenache Wines we chose for you.
A Quick Intro to Liber Pater
The Liber Pater estate is located in Landiras, the Graves appellation of Bordeaux, France. Loïc Pasquet (a former engineer) founded Liber Pater in 2005.
The 2006 vintage was the first one to be released under his management.
The winery produces four signature wines:
- Liber Pater: The primary wine of Liber Pater, which is a classical Bordeaux red blend.
- Liber Pater Clos de Landiras: This is the second wine produced in only selected vintages.
- Liber Pater Blanc: The white wine blend is made with Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc grape varieties.
- Liber Pater Denarius: This entry-level light wine is produced as both red and white blends.
Interestingly, the winery’s name Liber Pater is inspired by ancient Roman mythology - Liber Pater (translated as "the free Father"), the God of wine, viticulture, freedom, and fertility.
He was also a patron deity of the plebeian social class in Rome who celebrated an annual Liber’s festival. It is believed that Liber Pater was the equivalent of the Greek god Dionysus and the Roman god Bacchus.
Let’s see what is done differently in the Liber Pater vineyard.
The Unique Viticulture and Winemaking at Liber Pater
The Liber Pater vineyard is relatively small and dates back to ancient Roman times. Out of the total 7 hectares, 2 hectares is dedicated to planting red grape varieties and 1 hectare - to white grape varieties.
The main grapes planted in the vineyard are:
- Red grapes: Around 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot, but there are also small amounts of Malbec and Petit Verdot.
- White grapes: 80% Semillon and 20% Sauvignon Blanc.
The white grapevines are about 85 years old, and the red grape vines are 40 years old.
Now, what’s unique is that Liber Pater is one of the few vineyards where you can find the rare indigenous grapes of Bordeaux, which were popular in the pre-phylloxera era. These include:
- Mancin (also known as Tarney Coulant)
- Castet
- Saint Macaire
- Pardotte
- Prunelard
- Camaralet
- Lauzet
These varietals are not permitted by the current INAO (the French appellations authority) laws. This means that they cannot use the Graves label for blends like the 2015 vintage.
These grapes are planted in very small quantities and high density (up to 20,000 vine plantings per hectare in some plots), which was the norm back in the 19th century.
Along with the focus on historic grape varieties, Pasquet also uses traditional viticultural techniques. He cultivates the vineyard on his own with the help of his Spanish mule Carbonaro and a plow that’s over a century old.
The vineyard is planted on 300,000-year-old sandy soils mixed with gravel and mineral soils, which allows for the planting of ungrafted vines - an essential factor that influences the wine’s taste.
According to Pasquet, the ungrafted vines bring out a pure and exceptional expression of the terroir, which can never be achieved with the more common grafted vines like the American rootstock.
The yields are usually around 5-15 hectoliters per hectare - one of the lowest yields in the whole of Bordeaux.
This unique terroir (a barrier for the rootstock phylloxera development), small yields, and the careful winemaking process is what makes most Liber Pater wine bottles so expensive!
Winemaking at Liber Pater
This winemaker has a clear vision about his winemaking process. With every single bottle, Pasquet wants to recreate the beautiful Bordeaux wines from the 19th-century pre-phylloxera times in France.
Here’s what’s extraordinary about the winemaking process:
- Harvesting: All grapes are carefully harvested by hand.
- Fermentation: The fermentation process takes place in oak barrels.
- Maceration: The wine’s maceration takes longer than usual - about two months.
- Malolactic fermentation: The secondary fermentation takes place in barrels where the wine is stored for 18 months.
- Aging: The wine ages for three years in classic Italian amphorae vessels, which brings out the authentic 19th century wine taste.
Liber Pater sometimes chooses not to produce any wine in certain years. That happened in 2012, 2013, and 2017 when Liber Pater declassified all its crops.
This is why only six vintages were released in the past 15 years, with the latest 2018 vintage to be released in 2021.
Most vintages do not exceed 2,500 bottles, and in some, the batches are even smaller - only 100-200 bottles.
This unique winemaking approach of Loïc Pasquet exceeds any other Bordeaux wine style, creating a lot of excitement about every single Liber Pater vintage in the wine world.
Further reading:
Looking for a more traditional wine to serve at dinner? Try these amazing Malbecs or our top picks of Barbera d’Asti.
Liber Pater Wine Food Pairing and How to Serve it
A young Liber Pater wine needs decanting of about 1-2 hours, so it fully develops its beautiful aromas. It is best served at 15.5 °C. At this temperature, the wine has a bright and uplifting freshness.
Serve Liber Pater along with a variety of dishes like roasted chicken, grilled beef, game meats, or spicy Asian dishes. The Liber Pater Blanc is an excellent choice for seafood dishes like shellfish, lobster, and sushi.
Further reading:
Are you a fan of classic Italian reds? Explore some of the best Chianti and spicy Barbera wines.
The Best Vintages of Liber Pater to Buy in 2024
To make things easy, we’ve picked the top 10 Liber Pater wines for you:
1. Liber Pater 2015
Liber Pater's 2015 vintage is truly history in a bottle. The wine is labeled Vin de France (unlike the typical AOC Graves label of other vintages.) The wine is a classical Bordeaux blend made with rare grape varieties from the pre-phylloxera period.
The wine’s elegant violet and black cherry taste is accompanied by dominant spice and truffle aromas with a subtle cedar aftertaste.
Price of Liber Pater 2015: $37,688
2. Liber Pater 2011
The 2011 vintage is a brilliant Bordeaux blend that is balanced, round, and medium-bodied. The wine has a pleasant black fruit taste, delicate fragrances of tobacco, and a long-lasting earthy aroma.
Price of Liber Pater 2011: $4,591
3. Liber Pater 2010
This vintage of Liber Pater Bordeaux Rouge stands out with its bright acidity and delightful chewy tannins. It has dominant raspberry and black fruit aromas complemented by a rich but subtle exotic spice flavor and a mild clove aftertaste.
Price of Liber Pater 2010: $4,394
4. Liber Pater 2009
The 2009 vintage is a true masterpiece. The wine is slightly tangy with high tannin levels and a pleasant blueberry taste. It has beautiful cedar and violets aromas that transition into a long-lasting oaky finish.
Price of Liber Pater 2009: $4,406
5. Liber Pater 2007
This is an elegant Graves wine with an authentic Bordeaux blend taste of wild berries and black cherry. It has mesmerizing scents of oak, cocoa, and tobacco accompanied by the wine’s supple texture and bright acidity.
Price of Liber Pater 2007: $4,381
6. Liber Pater 2004
Here’s an exceptional Liber Pater that has an enchanting richness and elegance. The traditional blackberry flavor is accompanied by a subtle red fruit and earthy scent. On the palate, it has distinct herbal and truffle notes.
Price of Liber Pater 2004: $10,671
7. Liber Pater Blanc 2010
This is a fine Bordeaux wine from the successful 2010 vintage. The wine surprises with a stunning bouquet of flavors - apple, melon, citrus, and white flowers. The nose is distinctive - with notes of white pepper and mint.
Price of Liber Pater Blanc 2010: $4,350
8. Liber Pater Blanc 2009
This beautiful Liber Pater white wine has a creamy texture and well-balanced acidity. It has a unique mango and peach taste accompanied by complex aromas of sage and stone fruits.
Price of Liber Pater Blanc 2009: $4,392
9. Denarius Rouge 2018
This Denarius red wine blend is from the recent 2018 vintage. It has enigmatic flowery aromas complemented by a delightful blueberry flavor and a distinct herbal finish.
Price of Denarius Rouge 2018: $602
10. Denarius Rouge 2015
This is a bold red wine that surprises with its expressive chocolate, cherry, and licorice flavors. The nose is a beautiful swirl of aromas of spice, tobacco, and cedar.
Price of Denarius Rouge 2015: $629
Also read: Try some of the most elegant Rose wines or explore the world of the blush Zinfandel wines.
Now, Liber Pater is an excellent investment-grade wine. Let’s see why.
Investing in Liber Pater Wine
The wine tastes great after 7 to 10 years of aging. However, its aging potential is much greater, and it preserves perfectly for 15-25 years.
The labor-intensive and time-consuming winemaking techniques, the exclusivity of the wine, and the fact that it’s produced only in certain years drive both the demand and the price for a single bottle much higher than other Bordeaux wines.
The iconic 2015 vintage had a starting price of $36,100+ per bottle. Liber Pater produced 500 bottles of this vintage and released only 240 bottles for sale. This made Liber Pater 2015 one of the most expensive wines in the world.
Also read: Feeling like a fruity white wine? Try some of these fascinating Sauvignon Blancs, sweet Rieslings, or the best Pinot Blancs.
So, how can you invest in a rare Liber Pater wine?
After all, the limited number of bottles and vintages makes it almost impossible to find a bottle in a neighborhood wine shop, while buying online imposes the risk of getting a counterfeit bottle.
Luckily, wine investing platforms like Vinovest give you access to rare wines and provide you with an easy way to invest in a Liber Pater or any other wine from Bordeaux or elsewhere.
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It’s Time to Build a Winning Wine Portfolio!
Liber Pater is a rare and exceptional Bordeaux wine that has established a unique style, seen nowhere else in the world. Its exclusivity, limited releases, and unique character make it a perfect addition to your collection.
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