Offers for the 2023 Vintage Campaign have begun!
2023 Bordeaux Futures Offer #11 We are definitely seeing things slow a bit, but this is still a solid offer, including two indisputably great Chateaux, one from the Right Bank and one from the Left. Vieux Chateau Certan is one of the stars of Pomerol, and sits on the plateau just down the street from Petrus, and, in fact, shares a border with that most famous estate. This looks to be another exciting vintage; here are the notes from the Wine Advocate: The 2023 Vieux Château Certan bursts from the glass with demonstrative aromas of dark berries, pencil shavings, violets mingled with notions of burning embers, iris, crushed mint and black tea. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and sensual, with a gourmand attack that segues into a layered, enveloping mid-palate, it's polished and perfumed, with a sweet core of fruit and a long, gently oak-inflected finish. This year's blend of 82% Merlot and 18% Cabernet Franc checks in at 14% alcohol and a pH of 3.74. (94-96, $279.38)
Back over to the left bank, we find the star of St. Estephe, Second Growth Montrose. If they were to re-do the great classification of 1855 today, Montrose would definitely be considered a strong candidate for first growth status. In recent years the wines have been remarkable, and go from strength to strength. Personally, this is the wine that I buy for myself most vintages. I'm going to quote both the tasting note and the lengthy Wine Advocate property notes here: The 2023 Montrose is another brilliant wine from an estate that's now routinely among Bordeaux's very best, year in, year out. A blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, derived exclusively from the estate's historic core on the fourth terrace situated just in front of the château itself, it unwinds in the glass with aromas of cassis and wild berries mingled with notions of lilac, violet and pencil shavings. Full-bodied, deep and layered, with a textural attack that segues into a dense, multidimensional mid-palate framed by beautifully ripe tannins and lively acids, it concludes with a long, resonant finish. It will be worth a special effort to seek out. This large estate overlooking the Gironde in Saint-Estèphe produces some of Bordeaux's greatest and longest-lived wines, and the last 15 or so years have seen it benefit from sustained and intelligently directed investment. There's a brand-new winery and cellars, of course, but there's a lot of work going on in the vineyards too. When Olivier and Martin Bouygues acquired Château Montrose from the Charmolüe family in 2006, the estate included fully 17 hectares of pre-clonal vines dating back to the early 20th century, and a massal selection program has since identified 80 viable individuals, mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, for use when replanting (the same efforts are currently being lavished on Merlot, drawing on a block behind the château acquired from Phélan-Ségur). Now, cover crops are being trialed, and the soils are being cultivated more superficially to avoid disrupting the microbiome. Winemaking is rather classical, with maturation in some 60% new oak.
In 2023, Montrose was largely spared by mildew, receiving less rain than many other estates in June, and harvest rolled out between September 5 and 28. As in 2022, the grand vin this year derives exclusively from the Terrace 4 gravels in front of the estate itself, Montrose's historic core terroir. Readers looking for more information about this de-facto first growth are directed to my feature published in the December 2023 Week 3 issue of The Wine Advocate. (97-100, $183.54)
If you want to make sure you receive offers by email going forward, you feel free to email me.
Please note: Prices do not include any taxes, duties or tariffs which are in existence or may be in effect in the future. There is no certainty with respect to the tariff rate, if any, or other duties and taxes that may be enacted or imposed at the time of shipment of the 2023 vintage. If any are in effect at the time of delivery of the wine to Houston Wine Merchant, they will be the responsibility of the purchaser and must be paid prior to transferring custody of the wine to you.
A copy of this PDF, containing all wines cumulatively offered thus far, can be downloaded here.
Should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us by phone or email. If you choose to email, we ask that you include "Bordeaux Futures" in the subject line. The remains of past vintages will be found on the shelf at regular retail pricing, |
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