Château Kirwan is an estate located in Cantenac, not far from the city of Bordeaux and the river Garonne, in a terroir where man and nature have been living together harmoniously for hundreds of years.
The Château, built in 1751, was one of the few Medoc properties that Thomas Jefferson, the future third President of the United States, visited on his Bordeaux wine tasting trip in France and mentioned in his diaries written in 1780. Mark Kirwan passed away in 1815 and over the centuries it passed from hand to hand through several owners, until, during the early years of the twentieth century, it was acquired by a family of “negociant”, the Schyler and Schroder, which moved to Bordeaux in 1738 and still in business today.
With 40 hectares divided into 46 parcels that wind within the territory of the AOC Margaux, it is clear and obvious how the keystone of this Château, over the years, has always been the terroir and its strong identity. Its wines have a characteristic soft, gentle attack, followed by a very Margaux lacework of flavours. Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot provide Kirwan’s main wine with a multi-layered structure that is very big, tempered by the roundness of the Merlot and the delicate elegance of the Cabernet Franc.
Like all great vintages, 2015 offers fine balance. The alcohol is imperceptible and perfectly balanced by a refreshing natural acidity. The tannins give the wine a velvety unctuousness. In the end, the wine is wonderfully fruity and refined, with a gourmand, tactile character that far outshines it simple potency. 100% Margaux.
Château La Croix Du Casse was for many years owned and administered by Jean-Michel Arcaute, who also owned Chateau Jonqueyres and world famous Château Clinet.
He was one of Bordeaux`s true innovators and propelled Croix du Casse into the front line of Pomerol properties.
Located at the southern tip of the Pomerol plateau , the Château La Croix du Casse vineyard extends over a terroir characteristic of the appellation, made up of ancient gravel and sand with an underlayer containing a significant proportion of iron dross.
Family property, on the north-west slope, 1 km from the village of Saint-Émilion, based on traditional cultivation with absence of weedkillers, limited yields, manual harvesting, traditional aging in oak barrels/foudres and amphoras.
This Saint-Émilion Grand Cru is the fruit of the work of the land and the grapes harvested by women and men in symbiosis with nature.
Château La Petite Duchesse is a family property owned by Jean-Louis Champagne. After inheriting from his father, he continued to enlarge the vineyard and modernized the winery. His son Xavier, recently joined him on the wine estate.
This property also produces the appellations Bordeaux Rouge; Bordeaux Supérieur; Bordeaux Rosé and Bordeaux Blanc.
Château La Plaige sits on a hillside overlooking the river Dordogne on the eastern edge of the Bordeaux appellation. The combination of clay and limestone in the soil means that the owner Frédéric Naud can make a wine that is powerful and elegant at the same time. Since 2000, Frédéric Naud and his wife Lise have been managing the vineyard with passion and respect for the family’s winemaking tradition, established by the Naud family for five generations.
Château La Plaige sits on a hillside overlooking the river Dordogne on the eastern edge of the Bordeaux appellation. The combination of clay and limestone in the soil means that the owner Frédéric Naud can make a wine that is powerful and elegant at the same time. Since 2000, Frédéric Naud and his wife Lise have been managing the vineyard with passion and respect for the family’s winemaking tradition, established by the Naud family for five generations.
A really solid Bordeaux Supérieur, with an immediately recognizable Bordeaux’s profile, unusual balance and great value.
The history of La Tour Carnet merges with the history of France. Bearing the name of the squire who infallibly helped his Lord to resist French royalty at the end of the Hundred Years War, Château La Tour Carnet played a major role in the revolution of the Médoc vineyards and the quality of its wine, rewarded by the entry in the classification of Grands Crus Classés of 1855. The diversity of its terroir and the constant search for perfection make this Haut-Médoc an exceptional wine.
Since purchasing the estate in 2000, Bernard Magrez has returned the estate’s Château, cellars and 311 hectares to their glory days, marrying cutting-edge technology with traditional savoir-faire.
Demanding and passionate, Alain Bessette gave his father’s property the means to produce quality wines. Accessible and worn on the fruit, they tell the revolution undertaken in the vineyard and the cellar.
A good control of the vegetation and a rigorous follow-up of the maturity allows to obtain healthy and ripe grapes, of a great richness, while a careful aging for 18 months in barrels and vats allows this wine to express power and elegance.
Since 2012, Château La Verriere has embarked on an environmental approach by integrating the certification scope of the SME (Environmental Management System) and HVE (Exploitation of High Environmental Value).
Château Lalande-Borie was created almost entirely in 1970, through the purchase of a 30 hectare third growth plot in the Saint Julien appellation. The name Lalande-Borie combines the names of the plot on the land register and a great winegrowing family who have been established in the Médoc for more than a century and own several prestigious grands crus: Ducru-Beaucaillou, Grand-Puy-Lacoste and Haut-Batailley.
Lalande-Borie’s wines are vinified and matured with the same techniques, the same care and same spirit as those produced by the Borie family’s other properties. The winery buildings were fully renovated in 1982. The modern vat room and cellar facilities are designed for optimal vinification.
Château Lalande-Borie has acquired a very good reputation in a relatively short space of time and produces fleshy and sappy wines, not overly tannic, where we find the balance and elegance of Saint-Julien wines.
Château Langoa Barton, 3rd Classified Growth, was the first of the two Bordeaux wine estates bought by Hugh Barton in the 1820s, the other being Léoville-Barton, 2nd Classified Growth.
Both Langoa and Léoville wines are models of typical St Julien restraint and elegance, and for years, Langoa Barton was considered slightly lighter and more forward than Léoville. However, in the last decade it has become noticeably deeper in colour and richer and more concentrated on the palate. Langoa Barton is now often the equal of Léoville.
The plots that compose the Château Langoa Barton terroir overlook the river. The splendid slopes of quaternary gravel bring the grapes to full maturity and then they undergo a rigorous selection process before being chosen for the Langoa Barton. The plowing is traditional, without weeding or herbicide.
For more info, visit Château Langoa Bartonwebsite.
VARIETALS
54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc
Called at various times Château de Canolle, La Rivette, and Château Brion-Larrivet, the estate was given its current name, château Larrivet Haut-Brion, in 1949 by Jacques Guillemaud (owner since 1941). Devoted and hard-working, he conscientiously managed the estate until 1982. Château Larrivet Haut-Brion was acquired by the Gervoson family in 1987. They restored the estate’s unity, once again combining the château, outbuildings, 13 hectares of grounds, and 42 hectares of vines under one owner, as well as replanting 18 hectares of land that had laid fallow.
Today a team of enthusiastic professionals has done a wonderful job of giving Château Larrivet Haut-Brion back its superb reputation, and the estate is once again universally recognized as one of the finest wines in the Pessac-Léognan appellation. This 2018 is a very nice expression of the new style they want to produce: well-balanced, representative of the terroir, with identity.
For more info, visit Château Larrivet Haut-Brionwebsite.
VARIETALS
56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc
From the 17th century to the present day, ten generations of owners have followed one another and have left their mark on the history of Château Lascombes. A destiny marked by colorful characters who all worked for the excellence of Château Lascombes wines.
An alliance of power and elegance, smoothness and tannic richness, Château Lascombes is a complex wine. Young, its deep robe is still impressive. The palate combines finesse and softness with a grain of very noble tannins. Over the years, you have to rediscover Château Lascombes to fully appreciate its aromatic complexity and see its structure evolve, becoming more and more suave.
The Barton family’s passion for wine is reflected in the elegance and consistency of Château Léoville Barton. This estate was classified as a 2nd Grand Cru Classé in 1855 and lies within the iconic terroir of Saint Julien in the Médoc.
The Château was built in 1758 by Monsieur de Pontet. Beneath the private apartments lie the crypted vaulted cellars in which silence reigns eternal.The most renowned vintages of Léoville Barton are left to age in the peace and quiet of these cellars to reach their ultimate potential.
For more info, visit Château Leoville Barton website.
The Château Les Moines belongs to the estate Château la Grâce Dieu which in the Middle Ages was a Cistercian prioress called «A LA Grâce De Dieu».
The vineyard of Château Les Moines is situated on the western hillside of the city (estate) of Saint Emilion, located just 2 km from the famous village of Saint Emilion.
Bernard Cazade composed this harmonious, modern Bordeaux variant from Malbec and Cabernet.
Soft and approachable, like all Cazade organic wines, the grape varieties are easily recognizable and very finely rounded off with a little wood.
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