Country: | France |
Region: | Bordeaux |
Winery: | Chateau Hourbanon |
Grape Type: | Cabernet Sauvignon |
Organic: | Yes |
Vintage: | 2010 |
Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
Chateau Batailley Grand Cru is made from 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot & 1% Cabernet Franc.
Château Batailley is a winery in the Pauillac appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. The wine produced at the estate was classified as one of eighteen Cinquièmes Crus (Fifth Growths) in the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855.
Garnet-purple colour. Rich and expressive nose, fruity with notes of spices, smoke and vanilla. On the palate, this wine is supple, round, well balanced, with good acidity, a nice fruitiness and nice notes of leather and cedar. Long elegant finish.
Review:
The 2010 Batailley repeated its magnificent showing when poured at the chateau. It has a detailed bouquet of blackberry and cedar, quite backward and seemingly having advanced lite since | tasted in in April 2016. The palate remains full of tension and brimming with energy, delivering classic cedar and tobacco notes toward the persistent finish. Batailley can produce wines that live many decades, and this is clearly one of them. Tasted at the property. Drink 2020-2050
- Neal Martin Vinous 95 Points
All older vintage wines have been purchased from a single collectors cellar. Pictures can be requested before shipment.
Trois Moulins Haut-Medoc Cru is made from 52% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc.
Average age of vines: 19 years.
Aged 8 months in French oak barrels (1 year old barrels)
This wine is ripe and firm on the palate. Flavors of black plum skin and blackberry form a rich wine that is approachable at an early age. This wine is weighted enough to balance the intense tannins, with enough acidic structure to lift the finish.
All older vintage wines have been purchased from a single collectors cellar. Pictures can be requested before shipment.
All older vintage wines have been purchased from a single collectors cellar. Pictures can be requested before shipment.
Chateau de Saint Cosme Gigondas Le Claux is made from 95% Grenache, 5% Syrah.
Château de Saint Cosme is the leading estate of Gigondas and produces the benchmark wines of the appellation. The property has been in the hands of the Barruol family since 1490. Louis Barruol took over from his father in 1992 making a dramatic shift to quality and converting to biodynamics in 2010.
Château de Saint Cosme Gigondas Le Claux is the estate’s oldest vineyard and sits near the entrance to the winery. “It was first planted in 1870 following phylloxera. My uncles thought it wasn’t producing enough fruit and planned to uproot it in 1914,” says Louis Barruol, but “World War I interrupted that plan.”
The 1.8-hectare Le Claux—meaning “Clos” in old French—is a field blend of predominately Grenache. Louis Barruol believes 10% of the vineyard is from the original 1870 planting. Vines are replaced by massal selection and the average vine age is 60-years. The wine is made with whole cluster fermentation from indigenous yeasts, is aged in 20% new 228-liter barrels, and bottled without fining or filtration.
Tasting Notes
Brilliant violet color. Displays pungent, mineral- and spice-accented cherry, black raspberry, potpourri and licorice aromas, along with hints of savory herbs, vanillo and incense. Chewy and tightly focused on the palate, offering bitter cherry, dark berry and Moroccan spice flavors that unfurl slowly through the back half. It closes with firm tension, chewy tannins and excellent tenacity, leaving resonating cherry and floral notes behind. All barriques, a third of them new.
-Vinous 95-97 Points
Appellation: Medoc
Chateau Hourbanon Medoc is made from 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc
Aging: Aged 1 year on French oak
Tasting Notes: Straight attack in the mouth with supple, silky and harmonious tannins.
Very mature, Almost jammy fruits aromas with a touch of spicy notes.
Avg Age of Vines: 38 years
Review:
This densely textured wine is ripe with blackberry fruits over firm, smoky tannins. It has a generous feel to it, rich with fruitiness while just moving into a more mature mode. Drink this wine now for its forward fruit, although it will be even better from 2017. WE 90 Points
Chateau Hourbanon Estate
The vineyard Hourbanon appears in the 6th edition of Bordeaux and Its Wines, Editions Feret (the bible of Bordeaux wines), classified under the headings of Crus Artisans and Farmers in 1893. At that time the vineyard belonged to the Drouillet family, one member of whom was mayor of Lesparre.
In 1898, according to the 7th edition of Bordeaux and Its Wines, the vineyard became Cru Bourgeois, still belonging to the same family and producing 35 tons, or 31,500 liter, equivalent to 42,000 bottles
At that time, the operation is called Cru-Hourbanon, since at that time the Chateau La Cardonne was a neighbor located on the same road, 1km away. Unfortunately, the hardships of operating in the decades that followed is not known. It seems that the vineyard has had ups and downs with the same period of abandonment.
After their return from Algeria, the Montgaillard family acquired the vineyard. The Family Montgaillard operated this small area shared between the vineyards and some cows. They sold grapes to the cooperative, and the brand at that time fell into disuse somewhat.
In 1974 Rémi Delayat, the current owner’s father, acquired this vineyard. It was in pretty bad shape. This dentist from Yvelines, originally from Bresse and passionate about wine decided to restore the credentials in the vineyard of Hourbanon. Remi constructed a modern winery, and rehabilitated the old wine cellar for storing and aging wine bottles. He also renovated the farmhouse. All of this renovation work lasted several years, which his wife Nicole Delayat continued after the premature death of Remi in 1981.
Hugues, their son, took over in 1997. Having bathed in the passion of wine since childhood, he faces this trade directly in contrast to his parents. But certain constants have transcended generations : a passion for wine, respect for the land, and taste for wines of the Médoc.
Kershaw Chardonnay Deconstructed Lake District Bokkeveld Shale CY95 is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
The inspiration for this Chardonnay stems from my belief that the Elgin region has both a signature grape as well as particular terroirs within its demarcated boundary that reflect regional credentials. This Chardonnay was selected from a sub-region of Elgin from a specific vineyard and an individual clone.
Tasting Notes: Sourced from a parcel in the Western part of Elgin the 95 clone is known for its excellent quality creating wines that are aromatic, fuller bodied and rich yet tightly structured, well–balanced with length of flavor, managing to show restraint and mouth-watering passivity with a great line through the palate and fruit veering towards white peach flesh and nectarine. On Bokkeveld Shales it brings amplified perfume on the nose and persistence and elegance to the palate.
Winemaking:
Grapes were hand-picked in the early autumnal mornings, placed into small lug baskets and tipped directly into a press before being gently whole-bunch pressed up to a maximum of 0.6 bar or until a low juice recovery of 580 liters per ton was obtained. The juice gravity-flowed directly to barrel (no pumps were used at all) without settling. The unclarified juice had no enzymes or yeast added to it and therefore underwent spontaneous fermentation until dry, with malolactic discouraged. The wine rested in barrel for 4 months prior to judicious sulfuring and a further 7 months’ maturation in barrel before racking and bottling.
Review:
"Minerals and a hint of flint on the nose. The expressive minerality of this wine also shows on the palate with complementary light stone fruit notes. Aged in 50% new 228L oak aging for 11 months."
- International Wine Review (Richard Kershaw Lifts Elgin To New Heights, February 2019), 95 pts
Halter Ranch Vineyard Ancestor Estate Reserve is made from 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Malbec, 17% Petit Verdot,
Their flagship wine, Ancestor is their Bordeaux-style reserve blend, and an homage to the Ancestor Tree, the largest Coast Live Oak on record. The 2019 Ancestor showcases aromas of red currant and dark chocolate along with subtle hints of cinnamon and clove. The entry is soft and rich with layered flavors of blueberry, blackberry, and dark cherry. The mid- palate is thick and mouth coating with balanced acid. The finish is framed by integrated tannins and delicate flavors of caramel and truffle.
Pair with roasted meats, reduction sauces, and hearty stews.
Review:
Baked blackberry, leather, cocoa and espresso-bean aromas show on the nose of this blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Malbec and 17% Petit Verdot. The palate is generous in fruit, tense in tannins and very approachable, showing creamy blueberry, pepper and wild-herb flavors.
-Wine Enthusiast 93 Points