Chateau de La Cour d'Argent 2015
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Suckling
James
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James Suckling
Impressive depth and rather polished dry tannins for this humble appellation, then quite a bold, long finish. Already very attractive, but no hurry to drink this.
The estate now consists of 36 hectares (89 acres). Seven (17 acres) of these have the appellation Saint-Emilion, where excellent terroir and low yield give complex dense wines with very gentle tannins.
The Génissac terroir, which makes up most of the land of our Bordeaux wine Chateau de la Cour d'Argent, consists of a fine hillock of chalky clay which has much in common with St Emilion on the other side of the Dordogne.
The St Emilion terroir consists of a sandy gravel with very deep gravels and above all, a cool ferriferous subsoil. A parcel of land has been identified and set apart for its particularly high quality, to produce the Cuvée Lynsolence.
Other parcels are also used, each to give their particular character. Some of these, now classed as Bordeaux, were once included under the St. Emilion appellation.
Varietals planted in the Saint Emilion appellation include: 100% Merlot, with vines from 35 to 50 years old. In the Bordeaux appellation: 35 year-old vines including: Merlot 90%, Cabernet Franc 5%, and Cabernet-Sauvignon 5%.
In most of France, wines are named by their place of origin and not by the type of grape (with the exception of Alsace). Just like a red Burgundy is by law, always made of Pinot noir, a red Bordeaux is a blended wine composed mainly of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Depending on the laws of the village from which the grapes come, the conditions of the vintage and decisions of the winemaker, the blend can be further supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot and in rare cases, Carmenere. So popular and repeated has this mix of grape varieties become worldwide, that the term, Bordeaux Blend, refers to a wine blended in this style, regardless of origin.