The Story
Bordeaux Supérieur wines are literally superior, made under stricter appellation laws, setting higher winemaking standards making richer and more complex wine with greater aging ability”
The Bordeaux Superieur appellation extends over the entire Bordeaux vineyard: it corresponds not to a specific terroir but to a selection among the Bordeaux wines. The selection criteria are for example often old vines, a lower authorized yield, a minimum ageing period of nine months – for many in barrels – and a higher alcoholic degree.
Deserving the Bordeaux Superieur appellation means complying with particularly strict production conditions in order to give an optimal expression of the terroir.
But it also means offering the winegrower the opportunity to give the best of himself : in every Bordeaux Superieur, there is the mark of its author, the undefinable reflection of his own know-how, a personal style that gives each bottle and each vintage its own particular character.
The Wine
When drank young, the Bordeaux Superieur wines are already eloquent but, with a little patience, they will present an intense aromatic richness, revealing ripe fruits, woody and spicy notes. In the mouth, they are characterized by their more powerful tannins, which ensures a longer ageing capacity
Grandissime’s advice
« An ageing potential of 5 to 8 years. Service temperatire 17-18° C »
The Story
Château Les Conquêtes has been a family estate since 8 generations and a great story of women for the last ones. Today the two grand-daughters run the estate.
The vines are planted on chalky clay soils.
Grapes are harvested by machine at the best of maturity. Cold maceration before fermentation in order to extract primary fruit aromas and floral notes. The juice is put in thermo-regulated stainless steel tanks between 26 and 28°C. After a fermentation of 18 to 25 days with pumping overs and punching downs to reinforce structure and colour, the wine gains body and structure with a final hot maceration at 30-35°C during 3 days. Malolactic fermentation to soften the wine followed by an ageing in tanks with French oak staves and a light mirco oxygenation.
Le Vin
80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon
Nice ruby colour. The nose is fine and complex with red fruit notes (cherry, blackcurrant). Round on the palate, the wine is delicate with red fruits as on the nose, with a vanilla hint and a long and rich finish.
Le Conseil de Grandissime
« This wine will be a great companion to cold cuts, red meat and cheese. »
The Story
The château owes its name to the battle of Pont d’Arcole, which pitted Napoléon’s army against Austrian soldiers in northern Italy in 1796. Mr Jean Barthe, a soldier in Napoléon’s Guard, participated in this historic victory. Thanks to a few coins of gold offered by Napoléon to those married on the same day as him, M Barthe acquired his first parcel of vines in Bordeaux. For more than two centuries, the property has passed down from generation to generation. Chateau d’Arcole is owned by Véronique Barthe and Philippe Gardère. Château d’Arcole is located in the village of Saint-Sulpice-de-Faleyrens, in the heart of the prestigious terroir of Saint-Emilion.
Château d’Arcole was the first Saint-Emilion vineyard farmed as organic beginning in the 1960s’. Only natural products are used to protect the vineyards, which have been Biodynamic certified since 2012.
The Wine
70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon
Deep purple colour. The nose is characterized by intense aromas of red fruits, warm toasted bread and vanilla notes.
Grandissime’s advice
“The palate is rich and elegant with silky tanins. It can be appreciated for its fruit when young, but its robust structure will allow it to age in the cellar for several years.”
The Story
From a long bloodline of winemakers, the grandson has taken over the estate over his grandparents. The current estate, in the family since 1956, covers an area of 20 hectares, situated in the heart of prestigious appellations.
It is on a plateau 70 meters high to the north of Libourne that the vines flourish, rooted in clayey-gravel and clayey-loam soils and enjoying exceptional sunshine.
The vineyard has been managed according to organic farming since 2002, with leaf thinning (for a better maturation of grapes) and hand harvest.
The wine is aged during 12 months in barrels.
Modernity combined with Tradition results in a constant quality..
The Wine
Merlot – Cabernet Franc – Cabernet Sauvignon
Colour of a beautiful purple red. The nose is powerful with black fruit and spicy aromas. The mouth is ample, of a nice complexity, with a silky and persistent finish.
Grandissime’s advice
“This wine will be a perfect companion to red meat, game, spicy meals as well as cheese.”
The Story
The chateau is located in the prolongation of the limestone plateau of St Emilion, in the municipality of St Magne de Castillon (AOC Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux) For 200 years it has been a privileged place dedicated to wine. Its hillsides, spread over 28 hectares, have a southern exposure and produce a wine of exceptional quality.
The Château was acquired in 2004 by Alexandra and Nicolas, and has since then been followed by the famous oenologist Michel Rolland. The wine benefits from the most attentive and enlightened care in terms of viticulture and winemaking in a spirit of excellence and quest for perfection.
The harvest is received and crushed directly above small capacity cement tanks in order to carry out parcel based vinification. Extraction is traditionally carried out by pumping. A post-fermentation maceration follows before draining. After malo-lactic fermentation, the wine is aged in one or two years old barrels. Ageing lasts between 10 and 12 months in cellar 330 barrels capacity on limestone clay soil. Average age of vines 35 years
The Wine
75% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc
A superb ruby red color, a very fruity nose and mouth with notes of wood and spices
Grandissime’s Advice
“this soft wine will be perfect with red or white meats and cheeses. To be served at temperature of 16 / 17°C”
The Appellation
The Côtes de Bergerac moelleux AOC is officially designated by the Côtes de Bergerac white AOC. It is thus distinguished because moelleux wines group the main part of the production of the appellation. The grape varieties are the same as for dry white wines, with a local preference for Sémillon, but harvest conditions differ. The grapes are manually harvested when over-matured, and then sorted to select the most beautiful berries before vinification. The Côtes de Bergerac moelleux are thus more or less sweet, depending on their sugar content. They can be drank young but become more intense after a few years ageing.
The nature of grounds reflects the size of the vineyard: from lakeside limestones to sands, including gravel clays. The multiplicity of the configurations connected to landforms, to waterways and to exposures creates a large number of local climates and allows each wine grower to differentiate himself.
The Wine
Bergerac moelleux are wines with a capacity to combine round body, subtlety and aromatic freshness. They are often appreciated for their aromas of beewax and honey, showing the over-maturation of the grapes, and their fine yellowish robe. The production is mainly issued from the grape variety Sémillon.
Grandissime’s advice
“They are an attractive alternative to the sweetness of liquoreux wines for other opportunities and other moments. Full of charm and with a more silky than soft texture, they are very popular because they are easy drinking wines, they correspond to the new trends and can be enjoyed with most types of food (sweet-sour preparations, aperitif, fishes in sauce, salads, some cheeses or even dessert).”
The Story
After participating in the conquest of Mexico under Napoleon III, an ancestor of Brigitte’s stayed in Mexico where he married a French woman.
In 1930, one of his grandsons, Henri Emile, left the family hacienda to do agro engineering studies in Switzerland. Due to health concerns, the young man was sent to convalescence with the priest of Puisseguin, related to the family.
There, Henri Emile is doubly attracted: by a young girl, Yvette, whose family owns Chateau Guibot la Fourvieille, and by Chateau Guibeau (adjoining Chateau Guibot la Fourvieille) that he acquired in 1936.
The marriage of Henri Emile and Yvette combined the two properties. Henri, the son of Henri Emile, ran the estate until 2009, and then entrusted it to his daughter Brigitte and her husband Eric.
The vineyard, organic certified, is located near Saint Emilion to the North East, on a clay limestone with stony subsoil, over one of the highest points of the Bordeaux region.
Average age of the vines: 28 years.
Traditional wine making, maturing 35% in barrels, 65% in concrete tanks.
The Wine
80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc.
Deep ruby colour, aromas of ripe red fruits (strawberry, cherry) with notes of liquorice, prune and roasting, powerful tannins.
Grandissime’s advice
“Ripe fruit showing forest fruit and morello cherry notes. Slight toasty touches. Superb and generous attack. Fine and delicate tannins.”
The Story
Château Le Gay belongs to the BOURSAUD family since 1922. Back then the vine represented barely 15% of the area, with very old plantations. Jean BOURSAUD has built the vineyard and made the appropriate adjustments in order to specialize in the production of white wine. He changed his mind in the 60s and started producing red wine with the help of his son Claude, who runs the estate since 1970.
This vineyard, which used to have a rural setting, finds itself today in a suburban environment, on the slopes of the Bordeaux community, with all the consequences resulting of this. This merger of the city as well as climate upheavals require further observation of nature in order to adapt the soil and vine work. This is why all operations are carried out under the supervision of the family, doing their best to protect the environment and sell qualitative local products.
The Wine
59% Merlot noir, 33.25% Cabernet Franc, 3.25% Malbec, 4.5% Petit Verdot
Deep red color. Intense aromas of vanilla, sweet spices and delicate woody notes. Beautifully balanced, round and supple on the palate. Ripe and well blended tannins. Silky finish.
Grandissime’s advice
“Perfect with spicy, roasted meats.”
