Château Léoville-Barton is one of the oldest Château's in Saint Julien with the Barton family still owning the estate some 175+ years since they took stewardship of the property. Always a finely perfumed wine is produced with rich and powerful tannin that gives way to beautiful fruit and richness of flavour with aging. This is especially the case when speaking of the remarkable 2009 vintage which is being classified as one of the very best of the past 100 years. Take advantage of such a vintage with wines like Léoville's that won't break the Bordeaux bank.
Château Léoville Barton Saint-Julien (Grand Cru Classé) 2017
Standing out from the crowd with its distinctive yellow/brown label, Château Ducru-Beaucaillou was the first second growth producer to break away from the crowd and start to attract higher prices and create the
Château Ducru-Beaucaillou Saint-Julien (Grand Cru Classé) 2008
Elegant and aristocratic kaleidoscope of aromas, an abundance of fruit flavours, blackberry, mulberry and blueberry with supporting complexity of mint, eucalypt, rhubarb, Turkish delight and cinnamon. The palate offers a rich tapestry of enjoyment and fulfilment of flavours of raspberry, strawberry and boysenberry to name a few. Made by Jim Barry.
At the very top of the Appellation. Black fruits with spicy ink notes on the nose The palate- the tannins are very powerful but also mellow, smokey notes pepper, highlights wonderfully the Syrah variety on granite soils.
Roberto Voerzio Fossati Barolo The Fossati is a descentdaent of the Fossati Case Nere 10 Anni Riserva. This wine offers a dual education in the power and robustness of relatively younger vineyard Barolo (it is more Barolo than La Morra) and the lamentable predictability of Italian bureaucratic nonsense. Owing to a change in the regulations, Roberto Voerzio had to change tack from his doppio cru reserve Barolo, known as Fossati Case Nere, as producers can only put the name of the winery, the region, sub-region or the particular cru on the label. You might think this is a reasonable stipulation, and, in truth, it is. What was so predictably lamentable is that it took so long. Now Roberto keeps the Case Nere for his Riserva and the Fossati for the Young Turk of Barolo that we may enjoy now. The 2015 was the first vintage of this wine.
The 2 ha El Pison vineyard was planted in 1945 on a gentle sloping site in the shape of an amphitheatre with deep sub-soils. Made entirely from Tempranillo, El Pison is a very rich and intense age-worthy style typically showing great purity of fruit and abundant chalky tannins that benefit from additional cellaring.
Regarded a Super Second (but technically a 3me growth), Palmer is capable of producing wines that equal or even outstrip the quality of its famous Premier cru neighbour, Ch. Margaux. Named for the wealthy English military man who bought the estate in the early 19th century, Palmer is now majority owned by the Mahler Besse and Sichel families - famous Bordeaux negociants. Many of the best plots on the property were purchased after the Classification of 1855, explaining in part why Palmer did not warrant higher standing at that time. Certainly today there is no question that the wine is among Bordeauxs best. The estate also makes a separate second label - named Alter Ego - which is made from similarly high quality fruit but treated differently in the winery with the aim of producing a counterpoint in style to the First wine.
Château Margaux is a 1er Cru Classé (first growth) estate of Bordeaux. The Grand Vin is renowned for its enthralling perfumed elegance, finesse and layered complexity. A Cabernet Sauvignon blend with a minor component of Merlot and a smattering of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, fermentation occurs in oak vats followed by maturation in 100% new barrels for approximately 22 months. Since its acquisition in 1978 by the Mentzelopoulos family, the quality and international reputation of Château Margaux has soared to even greater heights.
Chateau Montrose is a second Grand Cru Classé estate in St-Estephe and is considered one of the leading wine properties of the appellation. Located in the eastern half of the appellation just 800 metres from the Gironde estuary, the propertys proximity to the water provides a unique micro-climate that protects the vines from frost. The Grand Vin is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, that appears very powerful and austere in its youth, with a backbone of firm tannins that provides exceptional longevity.