St-Julien AOP - Second Growths Flashcards
Introduce Château Ducru-Beaucaillou to a table
Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is a St-Julien property that today is one of the leading Super Seconds. It is owned by the Borie family and is situated in the south-east of the St-Julien appellation. Ducru-Beaucaillou’s 50 hectares of vineyards (Cabernet Sauvignon 65%, Merlot 25%, Cabernet Franc 5% and Petit Verdot 5%) lie on deep, large-stone gravel beds enriched with alluvial soil deposits and with a high clay content. The wines are matured in oak barriques (50-60% new) for 18 months.
For many, Ducru-Beaucaillou is the quintessential St-Julien - deep-coloured, powerful, ripe, exquisitely well-balanced and perfectly harmonious. It requires a minimum of 10 years of bottle ageing before it should be approached and the best vintages will continue improving for many more years.
Ducru-Beaucaillou is classified as a 2ème Cru Classé.
What wines does Château Ducru-Beaucaillou produce?
Château Ducru-Beaucaillou
La Croix de Beaucaillou
Provide a tasting note for the current release Château Ducru-Beaucaillou
There’s plenty of ‘lift’ on the nose when first encountered, that lively touch in the wine we have come to expect since Bruno Borie took over the management here.
There was a lack of sun in ’13 but the wine doesn’t show any lack of maturity – rather a calm sense of purpose that will come more assured with time. Rigorous selection as ever, this will develop in cask and prove a very satisfactory Ducru mid-term.
Introduce Château Gruaud-Larose (St-Julien AOP - Second Growth) to a table
Château Gruaud-Larose is a 2ème Cru Classé property that produces one of St-Julien’s most full-bodied and long-lived wines.
For many years Gruaud-Larose was owned by the négociants Cordier, who also own Château Talbot. It was sold in 1993 to the French conglomerate, Alcastel Alstom, which in turn sold it to the Taillan Group, owners of Chasse-Spleen and Haut-Bages-Libéral, in 1997. The talented Georges Pauli has remained as régisseur and winemaker throughout all these changes.
Gruaud-Larose has 84 hectares of vineyards located on a gravel-rich plateau just to the west of Château Beychevelle. The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (65%), Merlot (25%), Cabernet Franc (8%) and Petit Verdot (2%). Vinification takes place in a mixture of wooden vats and cement tanks and the wine is aged in oak barriques (30% new) for 18 months.
Gruaud-Larose can be tannic and ungainly in youth but with bottle ageing it becomes marvellously harmonious and develops complex and beguiling characteristics of concentrated black fruits, cedar, spices and liquorice.
What wines does Château Gruaud-Larose produce?
The Château produces a second wine called Sarget du Château Gruaud-Larose or Larose de Gruaud
Very confusing, there seems to be a third label of this chateau’s second wine: La Roseraie de Gruaud Larose.
Vineyards of Château Gruaud-Larose produce
The vineyards cover 82 hectares (200 acres)[1] and are planted with 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec.
Introduce Château Léoville Barton
Château Léoville Barton is the smallest portion of the great Léoville estate and has been owned by the Barton family since 1826. There is no château and the wine is made at Langoa Barton.
Léoville Barton’s 48 hectares of vineyards are located in the east of the St-Julien appellation and lie on gravelly-clay soils. They are planted with Cabernet Sauvignon 72%, Merlot 20%, Cabernet Franc 8%. The wine is matured in oak barriques (50% new) for 18 months.
Since Anthony Barton took over the reins from his Uncle Ronald in the mid 80s, quality has soared at Léoville Barton and the wine has gone from being a solid mid-league performing 2ème Cru Classé to one of the most exciting and scintillating wines in St. Julien.
Léoville Barton is tannic and austere in youth but with time develops the classic cedary character that is the hallmark of St. Julien, along with intensely pure blackcurrant and cassis fruit notes. Léoville Barton’s wines are made for extended cellaring and tend to show at their best with 10-15 years of bottle ageing.
Overview of Château Léoville-Barton
Château Léoville-Barton is a vineyard in the Saint-Julien appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. Château Léoville-Barton is also the name of the red wine produced by this property. The wine produced here was classified as one of fifteen Deuxièmes Crus (Second Growths) in the original Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855.
Unlike many of its peers, Château Léoville-Barton has no château building; the wines are made at Château Langoa-Barton with which it shares ownership. The château depicted on Léoville-Barton’s label is actually that of Château Langoa Barton.
What wines does Château Léoville-Barton produce?
Two red wines are produced from the vineyards of Château Léoville-Barton, an eponymous grand-vin, and a second wine called La Reserve de Léoville-Barton into which is made from lots produced by younger vines or lots deemed lacking the quality of the grand-vin. After a hand picked harvest, fermentation takes place in temperature controlled wood vats for two to three weeks before being transferred into oak barrels (50% of which are new) for aging before bottling.
Vineyards of Château Léoville-Barton
Léoville-Barton’s 116 acres (47 ha) of vineyard is located in the central part of the appellation along the Gironde river. The soil composition, is mostly gravel with a subsoil of clay. The plantings are 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, and 8% Cabernet Franc with the vines averaging 30 years of age.[1]
Introduce Léoville Las Cases to a table
Château Léoville Las Cases is one of the largest and oldest classified growths in the Médoc. It is the largest of the 3 Léoville properties and now without doubt the leading estate in St-Julien.
Léoville Las Cases’s 97 hectares of vineyards are superbly sited on gravelly-clay soils with the largest plot being surrounded by a stone wall and stretching between the village of St-Julien and Château Latour. The wine is a Cabernet Sauvignon dominated blend (65%), and is matured in oak barriques (70-80% new) for 18 months.
Léoville Las Cases produces arguably the most exotically perfumed wine in the Médoc and this can be partially attributed to the must being fermented at lower than average temperatures, which leads to its youthful aromatic richness being retained. On the palate it is powerful and concentrated and marvellously well-balanced.
Léoville Las Cases is a 2ème Cru Classé in name but produces 1er Cru Classé quality wines.
Overview of Château Léoville-Las Cases
Château Léoville-Las Cases is a winery in the Saint-Julien appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. Château Léoville-Las Cases is also the name of the red wine produced by this property. The wine produced here was classified as one of fifteen Deuxièmes Crus (Second Growths) in the original Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855.
Léoville-Las Cases was one of the first estates in Bordeaux to introduce a second label, Clos du Marquis. However, Clos du Marquis is a separate wine. Since 2007, the Chateau has offered a Second Wine known as Le Petit Lion de Marquis de Las Cases.
Discuss production at Château Léoville-Las Cases
Léoville-Las Cases produces two wines, its grand vin, and a second wine called Clos du Marquis that has been in production since 1902.[2]
Grapes are harvested by hand, crushed and then may be fermented in temperature controlled wood, concrete, or stainless steel vats of varying size depending on the style of the vintage. Léoville-Las Cases also employs a state of the art reverse osmosis machine to help extract excess water from the grape must in a rainy vintage.[3] Use of this machine is considered legal, but highly controversial, and while Léoville-Las Cases is not the only estate to employ this technique, few estates admit to their use.[3] After processing and fermentation, the wine is transferred into oak barrels for 18–20 months of aging before being fined with egg whites and bottled.
The average annual production is 180,000 to 200,000 bottles for the Grand Vin, and 250,000 to 270,000 bottles for the second wine, Clos du Marquis.[4]
Describe Léoville-Las Cases’ vineyards
The largest plot of Léoville-Las Cases’ vineyards, known as the Grand Clos, is located on the northern boundary of St-Julien, with only the Juillac tributary separating its vineyards from those of Château Latour in Pauillac.
A the vineyard area in total extends 97 hectares (240 acres) planted with a grape variety distribution of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot.[1] The vineyard underwent major replanting during the 1950s, and today the vines average 30 years of age.
Introduce Château Léoville Poyferré to a table
Château Léoville Poyferré was the Léoville that got left in the starting blocks in terms of reputation and in the quality of its wines.
Léoville Poyferré has been owned by the Cuvelier family (who also own Château Le Crock) since 1921, yet it was not until the 1970s, when Didier Cuvelier took control at the château, that quality began to improve. In the last 20 years, Didier, with the assistance of Michel Rolland since 1995, has turned Léoville-Poyferré into one of St-Julien’s finest estates.
Léoville Poyferré has 80 hectares of vineyards planted with Cabernet Sauvignon (65%), Merlot (25%), Petit Verdot (8%) and Cabernet Franc (2%).
Léoville Poyferré traditionally produced the softest and most supple wine of the 3 Léovilles, yet in the last decade the wines have definitely put on weight and body. This is largely due to the grapes being harvested riper and later and because of the increased exposure to new oak in the maturation process.
Now up with the best of the St-Juliens but still selling at non-scary prices. Léoville Poyferré is classified as a 2ème Cru Classé.
