Baron de Brane Margaux AOC (Château Brane-Cantenac GCC 2nd wine)

2019, 2014, 2016

Baron de Brane Margaux AOC (Château Brane-Cantenac GCC 2nd wine)

Château Brane-Cantenac stands proudly in the heart of the prestigious Margaux appellation. Renowned for its wines of remarkable elegance and finesse, this 75-hectare property is an emblem of quality and excellence in the world of fine wines.
Since Henri Lurton took over in 1992, he has made it his mission to produce the best possible wine, reinforcing Brane’s position as a second classified growth in 1855. The Château de Brane-Cantenac vineyard is unique in that the terroir of the Brane plateau contributes to the elegant and aromatic signature of the estate’s wines.

Baron de Brane is the second wine from Château Brane-Cantenac. This wine is a tribute to Baron Jacques-Maxime de Brane, who owned the vineyard in the 19th century. This second wine is made from deep gravel plots of clay gravel.

For more info, visit Château Brane-Cantenac website.

VARIETALS
65% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 1% Carménère

VINTAGE

2014 – Download Tasting Note

2016 – Download Tasting Note

2019 – Download Tasting Note

Blason d'Issan Margaux AOC (Château d'Issan GCC 2nd wine)

2021, 2014

Blason d’Issan Margaux AOC (Château d’Issan GCC 2nd wine)

The history of Château d’Issan consists primarily of a long list of property transmissions and legacies. By inheritance and marriage, the estate has been handed down from owner to owner, and all of them have contributed in their own way to its renown and helped to forge its unique character. Over a period of nearly three centuries, the estate was passed down along a line involving a number of families with names such as Noailhan, Meyrac, Ségur, Salignac, de la Vergne, Escodeca de Boisse, etc. From 1575 onwards, the property was owned by five generations of the Essenault family, who ended up renaming it, contracting their name to “Issan” and thus Château d’Issan was born…

Blason d’Issan, the second wine, was introduced from 1995 onwards to enable selection amongst our vines growing in the Margaux appellation area. Fruit from the youngest vines is used to produce this wine, which respects the identity of its terroir, while offering a tasty round fruitiness, which can be enjoyed earlier.

This is a very well-crafted Blason d’Issan that follows their very fine deuxieme vin in both 2010 and 2012. Therefore 2014 vintage cannot be compared with any other one but is clearly identificable to its original terroir.

For more info, visit Château d’Issan website.

VARIETALS
53% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Sauvignon

VINTAGE
2014 – Download Tasting Note

2021 – Download Tasting Note

Château Giscours Grand Cru Classé AOC

2014

Château Giscours Grand Cru Classé AOC

Château Giscours is one of the largest properties in the Médoc. The vineyard’s soil consists of gravel on sandy-gravelly subsoil. The exceptional terroir benefits from all of the factors necessary for the production of high quality wines: good orientation, very warm soil in the spring, root permeability, fertility, and regulation of the water supply in the summer. After family and financial difficulties, the property was taken over by Dutch businessman Eric Albada-Jelgersma in 1995. Since then, under the management of the enthusiast Alexander Van Beek, who has accomplished huge work both in the vines and cellar, the château has been brought back to former glory.

Giscours’ wines are concentrated, generous and rich, with well-integrated tannins. Particularly seductive when young, they have a potential to age for several years in good vintages.

For more info, visit Château Giscours website.

VARIETALS
70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot 10% Petit Verdot

VINTAGE
2014

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Château Joanin Bécot Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux AOC (Dragon edition)

2014

Château Joanin Bécot Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux AOC (Dragon edition)

After the 2000 vintage, Juliette Bécot and her father Gérard Bécot wanted to join forces to acquire a new family property. A new challenge for Gérard, and for his daughter Juliette, who is taking her first steps in this magical and exciting profession.

It was while searching in the neighboring Appellations of Saint-Emilion, a property offering great potential due to the quality of its wines and its terroirs, that they discovered Château Joanin in Saint-Philippe-d’Aiguille. With the desire to personalize this vineyard, they wanted to add their family name to it. Thus, they brought this vintage to life, giving it a first and last name: “Joanin Bécot”.

The main desire, through each vintage, is to preserve all the flavors and charm of the fruit, while relying on the notion of terroirs, truly attractive and promising in the “Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux” appellation.

VARIETALS
80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc

VINTAGE
2014

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Château La Croix Du Casse Pomerol AOC

2014

Château La Croix Du Casse Pomerol AOC

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.

VARIETALS
92% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc

VINTAGE
2014

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Château Lalande-Borie Saint-Julien AOC

2014

Château Lalande-Borie Saint-Julien AOC

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.

VARIETALS
50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc

VINTAGE
2014

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Fugue de Nenin Pomerol AOC (Château Nenin 2nd wine)

2020, 2013, 2014

Fugue de Nenin Pomerol AOC (Château Nenin 2nd wine)

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.

Fugue de Nénin was created and first sold in 1997. Fugue comes from sandy-clay soils found in the eastern part of the Château’s vineyards, as well as from the young vines. This second wine is a typical example of the charm of Pomerol. The wines are smooth and silky and can be enjoyed earlier than those of the Grand Vin.

Fugue de Nénin 2013 comes from sandy-clay soils representing the eastern half of the estate’s vineyard and it is made from mainly Merlot, with a floral component by Cabernet Franc.

For more info, visit Château Nenin website.

VARIETALS
95% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc

VINTAGE
2013 –  Download Tasting Note

2014 –  Download Tasting Note

2020 –  Download Tasting Note

Le Saint-Estèphe de Montrose Saint-Estèphe AOC (Château Montrose GCC 3rd wine)

2014

Le Saint-Estèphe de Montrose Saint-Estèphe AOC (Château Montrose GCC 3rd wine)

The history of Montrose, written in two centuries by three families of owners, is depositary of their spirit, marked by their quest of excellence and legendary vintages. Pioneers in the Médoc, visionary builders and wise managers, all these families knew how to work and valorise this unique terroir. The estate owes them the foundation on which Montrose builds its image today and its unique place in the world of exceptional wines.

Produced on the exceptional terroir of Château Montrose and made in the château’s winery, Saint Estèphe de Montrose is the estate’s third wine and a traditional blend of classic Bordeaux grape varieties. Previously available only to the estate’s owners and employees, it uses wines from younger vines and lees wines.

For more info, visit Château Montrose website.

VARIETALS
60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon

VINTAGE
2014

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Pastourelle de Clerc Milon Pauillac AOC (Château Clerc Milon GCC 2nd wine)

2021, 2022, 2014, 2015

Pastourelle de Clerc Milon Pauillac AOC (Château Clerc Milon GCC 2nd wine)

Tied to the Seigneuries of Lafite and Mouton (future First Classified Growths belonging to two different branches of the Rothschild family), Château Clerc Milon derives its name from its historic owners, the Clerc family, who acquired it when it was sold as a national asset after the French Revolution.

Living testimony to the considerable improvements in quality achieved at the property since the arrival of Baron Philippe and his descendants, Château Clerc Milon now has a second wine. Pastourelle de Clerc Milon has joined the dance and already accomplished its first very confident steps in the company of fine Pauillac wines. Its name comes from a traditional dance, the pastourelle, which evokes a knight’s romantic encounter with a shepherdess: the name echoes the pair of dancers that adorn the label of the Grand Vin. Made of gold, enamel and pearls, this precious miniature from the Museum of Wine in Art at Château Mouton Rothschild belonged to Catherine II, the empress of Russia, and is inspired by characters of the Commedia dell’Arte. Baroness Philippine de Rothschild chose it as the Clerc Milon emblem because of her love of the theatre.

2014 will be remembered as a year of contrasts, but overall a well-balanced, harmonious and rich wine.

For more info, visit Château Clerc Milon website.

VARIETALS
77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot

VINTAGE 
2014 – Download Tasting Note

2015 – Download Tasting Note

2021 – Download Tasting Note

2022 – Download Tasting Note