Winemaker Notes
This is an exceptional vintage of Les Grands Maréchaux. Strict vineyard management under the advice of consultant winemaker Stéphane Derenoncourt helps bring out this Merlot based wine’s rich mulberry, plum, cedar and incense character. Rounded, dark fruit and fig hints with a touch of chocolate Superb and affordable.
Chateau Les Grands Marechaux is best paired with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised and grilled dishes.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of blackberries, blackcurrants, praline and cloves. Medium-to full-bodied with fine tannins. Fleshy and balanced with a textured, spicy finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
A perfumed wine with black-fruit flavors, this is already well balanced. Dark flavors are spiced and packed with a fresher aftertaste.
The 53 acre, Chateau Les Grands Marechaux vineyard is planted to 84% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon. The terroir is clay, limestone and sandy soils. The average age of the vines is 17 years. To produce the wine, the fruit is whole berry fermented in temperature controlled, stainless steel tanks with a 30-day maceration. Malolactic fermentation is performed in French oak barrels. The wine making and vineyard management of Chateau Les Grands Marechaux is consulted by Stephane Derenoncourt who is well known for working with numerous estates in the Right Bank of Bordeaux. Les Grands Marechaux is another contender for the best value Bordeaux wine produced today.
Etienne Barre and Christophe Reboul Salze bought Chateau Les Grands Marechaux located in the Cotes de Blaye appellation in 1997. However, this is not their only vineyard in the region. They also own Chateau Chateau Gigault, which makes the popular Cuvee Viva. They recently added to their portfolio of Bordeaux value wine producing estates with the purchase of Chateau Belle Coline. Aside from being a Bordeaux winemaker, Christophe Reboul is also well known as a Bordeaux wine negociant with his company, The Wine Merchant.
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.