Spotlight on Chateau Angelus

Angelus offers classic clay & limestone vineyards at the foot of the hill of St Emilion (about 1 mile from the village). Planted to 47% cab franc, 50% merlot and 3% cab sauv, it has one of the St Emilion wines I have tasted. At €120 (2002) to €400 (2005) they’re closing in on Cheval Blanc’s prices. The high level of cabernet franc is like Cheval Blanc but they are in a very different part of St Emilion ‘terroir’ with clay, limestone and sand rather than the almost Pomerol gravels at Cheval Blanc.

Spotlight on Cadet Bon

Chateau Cadet Bon is one of my favourite Grand Cru Classés in St Emilion based on the core plateau (about 1 km from the village) and about 80% merlot and 20% cab franc. Key to their recent success has been new ownership (since 2004) and with it major investment and a new team with Antoine above as Wiinemaker and Stephane Deronencourt as consultant.

Spotlight on Fonplegade

Chateau Fonplegade is a great Grand Cru Classé in St Emilion on the south facing slopes with limestone and clay and a small part of sand at the bottom of their vineyards. It is like most St Emilion blends mostly merlot with some cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon. They offer great wines and a historic property.

Our wine weekends include a day of touring grand cru classés and a day of wine education at our wine school with a good dose of FUN see Try our Perfect Wine Weekend
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What is the french concept of ‘Terroir’?

”Terroir’ is not somone’s dog,’ Tim Mondavi. This humerous quote from Tim Mondavi is mentioned in the Mondavi book reviewed below. Tim says he realised that terroir wasn’t someone’s dog on a wine tasting trip with his Dad, Robert Mondavi, in Burgundy.

For us terroir is a ‘taste of place’. It is made up of four key factors that affect a wine’s character: soil (place); grape variety (vine); climate (including microclimates eg exposition/ slope/ proximity to a forest or mass of water); man (viticulture & winemaking). It is these factors other 3 factors that make up taste as much as the varietal that is often the focus in the new world. This is why a chardonnay grown in chablis will taste totally different to a chardonnay from a hot climate like languedoc. When you tour with me we discuss the different terroirs of Bordeaux and Bergerac and taste the difference while looking at the vineyards. This is the best way to see and remember how terroir affects taste. You can only create true ‘terroir’ wines with natural rather than chemical farming.