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-Cantenacwebsite.
VARIETALS
65% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc
At the beginning of the 19th century, John-Lewis Brown (1769-1851), bought a vineyard and designed in the village of Cantenac, a traditional Tudor style château, reminding him of his Scottish origins. His name is forever linked to the Grand Cru Classé. After the 1855 Grand Cru Classification, Louis Armand Lalande (1820-1894), Bordeaux winemerchant and owner of several estates in Médoc, extended the building. Surrounded by a remarkable British style park, Château Cantenac Brown is since then among the most original in Médoc and of the wines to watch out for, getting better vintage after vintage.
All the elements to an exceptional vintage unite in 2016. Perfect alcohol, acidity, and round tannins: the balance is there. It’s harmonious and natural, without excess. Truly a rare vintage.
For more info, visit Château Cantenac Brownwebsite.
Château d’Armailhac is not only a beautiful setting but also a vibrant working and meeting place for the three Pauillac estates and their beating heart.
A place that reflects the identity of Château d’Armailhac, a combination of timelessness, local roots and elegant sobriety. The owners wanted to create buildings that would look as though they had always been there. As a result, Château d’Armailhac blends seamlessly into the Pauillac winegrowing landscape.
Typically for a Pauillac wine, Cabernets predominate in the blend. However, the relatively high proportion of Cabernet Franc is a hallmark of Château d’Armailhac. The wine is defined by a kind of elegant classicism, discernible whatever the vintage.
The vineyards around Chateau de Clotte may date back to the 13th century, while the chateau was built in 1782 by Mr. Roy de Clotte, after whom the estate is named. The current owner is Bruno Laporte, who purchased the chateau in 2002 and also owns a number of other properties in the area.
The blend of 4 varieties in the 2016 vintage gives the wine complexity. Merlot brings aromas of red fruit and silky tannins. Cabernet Franc gives the wine a distinctive color and aroma of black fruit, while Cabernet Sauvignon balances with character and structure. Finally Malbec adds a hint of spice, which is enhanced by aging in oak barrels.
The flagship of the estate, this wine is simply the expression of the best terroir that Fontesteau can offer.
No vintage is ever the same as another. The magic of blending confers a unique style to each: the Cabernet Sauvignon is always the dominant variety in the Château Fontesteau blend, a deep and elegant wine. Château Fontesteau wines are at their best after 5 to 10 years in the cellar yet never disappoint those patient enough to wait 20 years or even more.
“This 2016 is a vintage characterised by its richness and harmony.” – Dominique Fouin
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.
Depth, complexity and graceful power characterise this vintage, which reveals all its qualities after long ageing in the bottle. Predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon, it represents the Médoc’s winemaking tradition and embodies the great classicism of Margaux.
In the small village of Liginiac in Corrèze, the Moueix are recognized and respected for having lived by and passed on two core values, essential to success: Discretion and Hard Work. When Antoine Moueix (1796 – 1874), the first of the namesake, settled with his family in Lieu-dit Manzac on the Millevaches plateau, he had no idea that his descendants would establish one of the biggest wine dynasties in Bordeaux and California.
Today, Antoine Moueix Propriétés walks in the footprints of their founder: discretion and hard work, passion for great terroir, good agricultural sense and social responsibility, for transmission of expertise and the pursuit of excellence in all areas.
Vinified within Château Capet-Guillier, Tour de Capet enjoys its own unique terroir, lending the wine identity and character.
The sandy-silt soil produces wines of great finesse, which draw character from the well-balanced structure and round-bodied nature of Merlot.
For more info, visit Antoine Moueix Propriétés website.
Château de Lamarque is located in Lamarque, in the Haut-Médoc region of Bordeaux. The vines in Lamarque have existed since the 15th century, but the wines were only produced for consumption for the inhabitants of the château.
Donjon de Lamarque is the Château’s Second Wine, made with the younger grapes of the property with a higher percentage of Merlot (up to 60%) and less Cabernet (40%). The Merlot could actually have been part of the Château de Lamarque blending but that would change the traditional Cabernet dominated blend of the first wine. The wine is aged in French oak barrels (all coming from the French region of Allier) for about 12 to 14 months before being bottled. The picking of the barrels is extremely meticulous, being guided by the idea of respecting the harmony between the oak tannins and the wine tannins. Every year the pairing is different. Traditionally 2 vintage-old barrels are used for Donjon de Lamarque.
For more info, visit Château de Lamarque website.
Like all the greatest wines of the appellation, Château Pédesclaux has the complexity that reflects the terroir it springs from. On this mosaic of soils, the clays convey power while the gravels express pure elegance. Pédesclaux embodies the depth that is the quintessence of Pauillac, balanced by a unique sensuality with each vintage, the painstaking work on these excellent plots pays off, while the revolutionary equipment in the winery enables the wine to develop its own unique personality.
Ethereal, fresh, appealing to both the nose and the palate, Pédesclaux’s second wine is a flower that unfurls as you approach. Unusually for Pauillac, the Fleur de Pedesclaux is predominantly made from Merlot along with a dash of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot depending on the vintage.
Exhibiting a more high-spirited elegance yet nonetheless showing remarkable length, Fleur de Pédesclaux 2016 is a delight. In this more floral expression, the marvellous complexity of our terroir is once again evident, but in a mouth-watering style that is instantly festive.
Located in the heart of the Haut-Médoc appellation, on the edge of the Saint-Julien appellation, the Château de Camensac covers 75 hectares. Purchased in 2005 by the Merlaut family, he benefits from the experience and know-how of the Château Chasse Spleen team, it regains its glory of 1855, when it was ranked 5th Grand Cru in the Bordeaux classification and its wines renew with the traditional quality of the castle.
La Closerie de Camensac is the second wine of Château de Camensac and it is a cuvée from the young vines which it enjoys the same careful care during the vinification as the great wine.
A wine with a captivating personality, La Closerie de Camensac offers the opportunity to taste a vintage from a Médoc classified vintage at a very affordable price.
Thanks to the long involvement of generations of the Kressmann family, and the recognition shown in 1953 by the classification of Graves, the wines of Château LaTour-Martillac feature among the best of Pessac-Léognan. The expansion of the range was drawn up by Tristan and Loïc Kressmann. The second wines appeared at the end of the 1980’s under the label Lagrave-Martillac, followed by the Château Langlet, a magnificent property in the Graves appellation, acquired in 1999.
Lacroix-Martillac comes from selected plots at Château LaTour-Martillac, highlighting the Merlot in the red wines blending.
With each new vintage, the Kressmann family strive to achieve in these wines the best from this true Graves terroir by prioritising a quality yield, in keeping with traditional viticulture practices.
For more info, visit Château LaTour-Martillacwebsite.
Magarey Lane offers a selection of premium wines from the Coonawarra & Limestone Coast. The Magarey Lane vineyard, planted in 1989, has supplied grapes to many famous brands such as Reschke, and over the past 30 years, the largely unirrigated vines have matured and are producing wonderfully ripe and concentrated wines.
Vines for this bottling are 30 years old, from Terra Rossa soils and destemmed berries, offers this impressively composed and styled wine.
Muriel Wines was created as a family business with strong links to its place of origin. Today, it has become a large global company with an important part of its business dedicated to exports. But it remains very connected to its roots: one foot in the vineyard and the other in the rest of the world.
Made from vineyards in the heart of Rioja Alavesa and select areas of Rioja Alta, these old vines are cultivated using the traditional goblet-training system. Giving the greatest prominence to the DOCa Rioja’s star variety and following the traditional guidelines that have made it so well known, Muriel Gran Reserva Viña Viejas is a classic to enjoy the expertise of this community that is so attached to their land.
Rocca delle Macìe was established in 1973, when Italo Zingarelli, a film-maker, producer and director, decided to realize his lifelong dream by acquiring the “Le Macìe” estate, in order to create a winery in the heart of the Chianti Classico zone and to produce wines that, thanks to their balance between the tannic structure, fruit and pleasantness, can be appreciated by young people and wines that are able to give over the years a great evolution.
Italo’s children, Fabio, Sandra and Sergio, dedicate to their father a limited-edition Magnum of Chianti Classico Gran Selezione, the apex of the estate’s production, donning a label in tribute to “They Call Me Trinity”. This special magnum represents the completion of a journey begun 50 years ago, when Italo (Roman by birth) fell deeply in love with the hills of Castellina in Chianti.
Vajol is a is a sunny, warm, welcoming valley in the heart of the Valpolicella classica.
The cradle shape, the micro-climate that envelopes it, the ancient stones that generate and support it are the aspects that qualify the uniqueness of its vineyards, its grapes and its wine.
The selected grapes of this balanced Amarone have rested four months in a fruit bed dug in the tufa rock, where the natural process of lilting has come to an end.
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