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
65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc
Traditionally Château Larcis Ducasse, a St Emilion Grand Cru Classé, was regarded as a property with exceptional terroir but a constant under-performer. This has changed, mainly thanks to the talents of a new winemaking team headed up by Nicolas Thienpont (of Château Pavie Macquin repute) and Stephane Derenoncourt(the mercurial ‘flying wine consultant’) who have managed to unlock the potential of this sleeping giant.
The estate is located on one of Bordeaux’s finest strips of terroir – the Cote Pavie in St Emilion. The vines are planted on an eclectic range of soils – alluvial sand deposits, clay, chalk and limestone.
With a terroir spared by the episodes of frost at the end of April, Château Larcis Ducasse proved to be one of the greatest favorites of this vintage of contrasts. From a blend dominated by Merlot (92%) and completed by Cabernet Franc (8%), Château Larcis Ducasse 2017 is a real success for Nicolas Thienpont.
For more info, visit Château Larcis Ducassewebsite.
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.
Bernard Magrez’s journey is that of passion, a constant desire for improvement, know-how and exceptional success which has its roots first in Bordeaux, in the Grands Crus Classés, then in other prestigious terroirs in France and around the world. Bernard Magrez’s journey is that of passion, a constant desire for improvement, know-how and exceptional success which has its roots first in Bordeaux, in the Grands Crus Classés, then in other prestigious terroirs in France and around the world.
Located in the town of Pompignac, “Château Les Songes boasts a beautiful clay and limestone terroir where Merlot, the ‘king’ of grape varieties on
the Right Bank flourishes. This supple, fruity and full-bodied wine reflects the style of the area, lively and energetic.
At the gates of Pauillac, Château Lynch-Bages now represents a symbolic history of the Medoc. Born in 1691 by the hand of John Lynch, an Irish nobleman in exile, the winery was implemented by John’s son, Thomas Lynch, who managed the company with wisdom and foresight from 1749 to 1824, producing excellent wines initially known as ” Cru de Lynch ”, later classified as Grand Cru at the Paris Exposition of 1855.
Having become the property of the Cazes family in 1939 and led by the outstanding Jean-Michel Cazes since 2007, Château Lynch-Bages’ style has established itself, and this reflects Pauillac’s identity with an extraordinary depth and richness, thanks above all to Jean-Michel Cazes.
Wines have been made at Château Macquin since 1885, when the first cellar was developed by François-Albert Macquin. François was the first to re-plant vines in the Saint-Émilion region following the phylloxera outbreak in the 19th century.
Château Macquin is located just three kilometres north of Saint- Émilion, in the small village of Saint-Georges, the smallest of all Bordeaux appellations. However, at its peak of 89 metres above sea level, Saint-Georges enjoys one of the best elevations on the right bank, giving the wines freshness and concentration.
The south facing vines are planted on clay and limestone soils and range from 15 to 60 years old. The vines are sustainably farmed, without the use of herbicides, fertilizers, or other harmful chemicals.
VARIETALS
80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc
Castel Estates and Vineyards offer a range of unique estate wines, finding some true gems by following the advice of the people who know and love the place best. In Bordeaux, at the gateway to Entre-Deux-Mers, they selected Château Malbec which also houses an education center dedicated to wine and the art of wine tasting. Contrary to appearances, Château Malbec is not named after the famous grape variety, but for one of its former owners, Louis Malbec.
Vignobles Lassagne gather several family properties that were bought since three generations and are grown according to tradition and innovation on unique terroir located in the Libourne area.
Vignobles Lassagne encompasses these three properties: Château des Arnauds (the original estate), Château des Landes and Château Maltus, the latest addition to the Vignobles Lassagne.
History tells us that the origin of the Château Maltus goes back to the Middle Ages, in the time of the crusades.
The Order of Malta, well implanted on the land named Lalande de Pomerol, cultivated vines for the first time on the grounds of the Château Maltus.
Nicolas Lassagne acquired this parcel in 2015 of sixty-year-old vines with the purpose of producing this richly dense wine.
A well regarded 28ha property on the borders of St Georges-St Emilion owned by the Amart family since 1949, which it is looking out over her neighbours like Cheval Blanc, Vieux Chateau Certan and Chateau Petrus who are just over the Barbanne stream. Tasted against far greater names this is a exceptional value, very elegant, with a lovely weight of fruit. It will not disappoint.
Château Nénin is located in the village of Pomerol, one of the most prestigious areas of Bordeaux. The Domaine was bought by Jean-Hubert Delon in 1997 from his cousins, the Despujols, owners of the estate since 1847. Jean-Hubert had the intention of continuing the centuries-old tradition of the Château, and precisely for this reason, since immediately, extensive renovation and modernization works, including technical ones, were carried out. Under his direction, the land was in fact drained, the vineyards renewed and the cellars modernised, to improve the vinification and aging processes.
According to the Delon family, Château Nénin is the epitome of a great Pomerol “vin de garde” (wine for laying down). It combines power and elegance, complexity and balance, purity and refi nement. The gradual increase of Cabernet Franc within the vineyards gives the wine tautness, distinction and freshness. To really appreciate the Grand Vin’s ageing ability, you may need to be patient. Like all great Pomerol vins de garde, Château Nénin blossoms over time.
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