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Country: France, Bordeaux, Saint EmilionGrapes: MerlotABV: 14.5%Style: Savoury Classic Red95 Points - Decanter. Like many leading properties in Saint Emilion, Château Fleur Cardinale produced an outstanding wine in 2019. A severe frost in May saw the loss of over 1.5 hectares of grapes, and the heat that followed further reduced yields leaving a small, exceptionally concentrated crop. Being a blend of 71% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet it will drink well young, but has the structure and abundant fruit to age and develop over the next two decades. Decanter awarded the Châ -
Country: France, Bordeaux, Haut MedocGrapes: Cabernet SauvignonABV: 13%Style: Savoury Classic RedOwner Jose Sanfins is also the Director at the 3rd growth Château Cantenac Brown. 100% aged in Oak Barrels, this beautifully complex wine with a velvety finish is made from 62% Cabernet Sauvignon and can be aged for up to 20 years. This wine is a beautiful deep ruby colour. Richness and density are both apparent in a wine that will eventually turn into bold ripe black fruits. A wine for both the present and the future. "Well-delivered slice of Médoc with clear, dark cassis fruits from an estate -
Country: France, Bordeaux, Saint EstepheGrapes: Cabernet SauvignonABV: 13.5%Style: Savoury Classic Red93 Points - Decanter. Chateau Meyney 2020 is probably the best wine this impressive property has produced since its acquisition by Crédit Agricole Grands Crus in 2004. 2020 was an exceptional year in Bordeaux and the conditions seem to have agreed with Chateau Meyney’s well-placed vines. Scoring 93 from Falstaff Magazine and Jeff Leve who described it as, ‘Rich, ripe, supple and lush, the wine is polished, fresh and offers layers of fruit-filled pleasure with every sip’, this is a seriously good -
Country: France, Bordeaux, Saint EstepheGrapes: MerlotABV: 13%Style: Savoury Classic Red92 Points - Wine Enthusiast. Chateau Petit Bocq made the most of its scattered Saint Estèphe plots and selected only the finest fruit for its Grand Vin in 2017. This Cru Bourgeois Supérieur is made up of 50% Merlot, 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Petit Verdot from vineyards that border the likes of Cos d’Estournel and Montrose. Known as one of the best value wines in all of Saint Estèphe, it’s been described as a ‘…seriously structured wine. It also has density and solid black fruits that are r -
Country: France, Bordeaux, MargauxGrapes: Cabernet SauvignonABV: 13%Style: Savoury Classic Red92 Points Wine Spectator. From one of the finest vintages of the century. Château Chantelune is a jewel located on top of the highest hill in Margaux, Château Chantelune is a unique property. Its previous owner, Mr. Soubrane was a carpenter who believed in felling his trees by moonlight, claiming this gave the best quality wood. His practice gave the property its name, meaning “sing to the moon.” He sold his land to José Sanfins, director at third growth property, Château Cantenac Brown. Forty y -
Country: France, Bordeaux, PomerolGrapes: MerlotABV: 13.5%Style: Savoury Classic Red94 Points - Jeff Leve. Even in the context of Pomerol, Clos l’Eglise is a tiny property. In an average year, its 5.98-hectare vineyard (which isn’t a walled ‘clos’) yields only 2,800 cases of wine, and given its rising popularity, stocks are quickly exhausted. The secret to its success – alongside the huge investment by its owners the billionaire Garcan-Cathiard family – is its sandy-gravel topsoil, hard-pan subsoil and climate which is drier in the summer and winter than further west in the Med -
Country: France, Bordeaux, PauillacGrapes: Cabernet SauvignonABV: 14.5%Style: Savoury Classic Red95 Points - Wine Enthusiast. Haut Bages Liberal produced one of its finest wines in 2019. James Suckling awarded it 96-100 describing it as, ‘Full and racy with wonderful length and purity.’ The 2019 Bordeaux vintage was simply stunning. Having tasted 270 wines at a recent tasting, Jancis Robinson MW declared it to be ‘perhaps the best I have ever tasted at this stage.’ A challenging spring was followed by a glorious summer and early autumn that gifted producers a crop of exceptional grapes. Tha -
Country: France, Bordeaux, PauillacGrapes: Cabernet SauvignonABV: 13%Style: Savoury Classic Red91 Points - Wine Enthusiast. Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste produced an outstanding 2013. Writing in the Wine Advocate, Neal Martin described it as ‘one of the finest Pauillac wines of the vintage.’ A cool, wet spring, baking hot July, and a harvest carried out in fits and starts, this was a vintage that tested the winemakers’ skills to the limit. Grand-Puy-Lacoste’s Xavier and Emeline Borie were more than up to the challenge though and produced a wine that warrants its status as a Grand Cru Classé. -
Country: France, Bordeaux, MargauxGrapes: MerlotABV: 13%Style: Savoury Classic Red90 Points - Falstaff. The history of this very old vineyard begins in the 13th century. Château la Tour de Mons, formerly Tour de Marsac, took in 1623 the name of its owner Pierre de Mons. Château La Tour de Mons was later sold to the Clauzel Crunchet family and then bought back in 1995 by a group of institutional investors, Crédit Agricole and Caisse des Dépôts and Placements du Québec. Since, very important works of renovation and modernisation were carried out in order to restore its past. Vi -
Country: France, Bordeaux, Pessac LeognanGrapes: Cabernet SauvignonABV: 14%Style: Savoury Classic Red96 Points - Wine Enthusiast. La Mission Haut Brion produced a typically brilliant wine in 2008. While the vintage as a whole has been somewhat overshadowed by the 2009 and 2010, the 2008s are often exceptional and offer great value for money by comparison. Robert Parker awarded this classic blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc 95 points praising its ‘Medium to full-bodied and concentrated with good acidity, freshness and delineation.’ Neal Martin gave the 2008 96 po -
Country: France, Bordeaux, PauillacGrapes: Cabernet SauvignonABV: 13%Style: Savoury Classic RedLynch Moussas 2008 produced an impressive wine in the underrated 2008 vintage. Robert Parker awarded it 88-89 while Wine Enthusiast gave it 89 and described it as being ‘intensely spicy wine, full of exotic flavours, dried prunes, figs and a powerful layer of cinnamon.’ Created from a classic blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, Lynch Moussas has always made a traditional style of Pauillac and is renowned for its longevity and complexity. Vivino Rating: 4.1 (Jun 2024) Taste Medium-red with ga