Small Wineries Equals Great Wines - St. Emilion Wines -Bordeaux Wineries Part 6

St. Emilion is wonderful. It is nestled on the Right Bank of the Bordeaux region and is a beautiful medieval town with narrow, twisty roads, a wonderful church spire and is not overrun by tourists.

The day we went, it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day without a cloud in the sky.

We weren't even sure what some of the ruins were - this one looks like it might have been from another church - and we didn't have a lot of time as it was actually a stop between our visits to two wineries that day.

Many of the streets were cobblestoned and were a bit challenging to walk on, especially this steep downhill street. It must have been very exciting in times of old when it rained and residents had to negotiate the slippery streets. 

As I said, we stopped here for lunch, We booked online at Lard et Bouchon and had a wonderful meal.

My favourite part of the meal was the Oeufs en Meurette - basically a special wine sauce with bits of Beef Bourgignon in it with a couple of toasted bread crostinis which had a slab of foie gras on each one topped by a poached egg. I have never had anything like it before and it was heavenly! We both had a tasty piece of duck next and then, my wife's favourite, the deconstructed lemon tart. 

So, what did we do to earn such a wonderful meal? Visited some wineries, of course!

The Right Bank is not so showy as the Left Bank was. The chateaux are often just houses, not castles. The wine production is smaller. The wines are less expensive. 

But the wines are just as good. 

Practical information - unless you take a wine tour, you will need to rent a car. You will also need a good GPS (I used my iPhone and wayyy too much data) to find the wineries. It's also important to book ahead which I was able to do online by sending an email.

When we rolled up to the first winery, Chateau Cantenac, we knew it was a different. The chateau was nice but looked, well, lived in! We were greeted by our host, A.J., who was from California. When we asked her how she ended up in St. Emilion, she told us this story. 

The parents, who own the winery, have three sons. A few years ago, they had interns come each summer to help with the wine season. A.J. came from California - and married one of the sons. Another intern came from Toronto - and married another one of the sons. Another intern came from the States - and married the last son! By that time, the parents had asked that no more female interns be sent, but it was too late! All of the sons have had daughters so, in a few years, maybe there will be some male interns sent to the winery!

A.J. took us out to the vineyard and we spent at least a half hour schlepping around the vines while A.J. regaled us with stories of the wine. My wine nerd meter was at 10 - I loved every minute of it - but even my distinctly less nerdy wife also enjoyed this part.

A.J. talked about the different types of pruning, wine varietals, and grafting among other things. She really knew her stuff and I wish I'd been able to see all of this when I was doing my WSET. It all made so much more sense, because we were actually in the vineyard!

Founded in 1870, Chateau Cantenac has always been a family winery with the current family purchasing the winery in 1937.  They grow predominantly Merlot and some Cab Franc with a little Cab Sauv on just 19 hectares. 

Inside the winery, we first saw their concrete tanks. These are used to ferment the wines at the beginning of the wine cycle and used to blend the different wines near the end.  A.J. told us how the intern has to clean out all of the grape skins and other leftovers after the wine has finished fermenting. It's a crappy job, with the additional danger of carbon dioxide asphyxiation, which necessitates oxygen being pumped into the tank during cleaning. 

The barrel room in Chateau Cantenac is not only for wines. There are concerts (of the classical type) held in the barrel room during different times of the year. What a great idea! 

The wines were, overall, more approachable than the Left Bank wines - meaning that they don't require a lot of ageing.

The first wine we tried was from another St. Emilion winery in the family, a 2015 Chateau Moulin de Grenet ($20) from Lussac. This wine is 75% Merlot and 25% Cab Sauv and was aged for 18 months. This was the most approachable wine of the tasting, being a fruity and fresh wine that was ready to drink now. It had aromas of blackberry, black currant, and cherries as well as some earthiness. On the palate, there was medium acidity, a slight taste of oak, medium tannins, and a medium finish,. Overall, a Good wine. 

The next wine was a 2015 Chateau Cantenac Grand Cru Selection Madame ($32).  This wine is made with 95% Merlot selected by the mom of the winery (the other 5% is Cab Sauv).  This wine has lots of dark fruit like plum and blackberry as well as cedar, vanilla spice, and some earthy characteristics like leather. This is another fruity wine that should be drunk in the next couple of years rather than waiting ten years. There were some medium to medium plus tannins, medium acidity , and a medium plus finish. I felt this wine was balanced, complex and fairly intense - so I would give it a rating of Very Good. 

The final wine of this chateau was the 2015 Chateau Cantenac Grand Cru Grand Vin ($34) - the best wine of the property.  This wine was 70% Merlot, 18% Cab Sauv and 12% Cab Franc.  On the nose, this wine had black cherry, blueberry, plum and blackberry. On the palate, this wine had additional flavours of oak, cedar, smoke and earth and had medium tannins and acidity. It had complexity, balance, and a nice medium plus finish. I would rank this wine as Very Good. 

They had a deal at the winery - all three wines for €50 - guess what we bought?

In the afternoon, we went to Chateau Coutet for our final tasting. Luckily, we had my iPhone because it was hard to find - narrow roads, dirt roads, and finally driving by the vineyards on what seemed like a trail, we managed to find winery. We got out of the car and were greeted by a couple of smelly farm dogs and the sound of bird song in the air. What a great start!

We finally found the entrance to the winery and we were given a private tour by Capuchine, an intern.  Dating from Roman times, the current family has owned this chateau for 400 years.

She first took us to the vineyard where she showed us that tulips were able to co-exist with the vines due to the organic nature of the winery. In fact, the property had a thick hedge going all the way around it, preventing contamination from other farms. They have been organic for a long time and are proud of their legacy.

This grape press is over one hundred years old and is still used today to extract the juice from the grapes. The 13 hectares of grapes are 60% Merlot,  30% Cab Franc, 5% Cab Sauv and 5% Malbec. 

This winery did not have such a fancy place to store their barrels. However, the room smelled good and the wine ended up being a great product.

Ah, again, the dusty collection of amazing old wines. One that isn't here is a bottle that was found recently under a pile of dirt when a winery worker was fixing a broken wine rack. The bottle has been determined to be from around 1750! During this era, most wine was aged and sold in barrels, not bottles - but some special bottles were made - with glass stoppers. Because glass is airtight, the wine inside that bottle will taste just like it did when it was bottled over 250 years ago.  

Capuchine gave us a very interesting tour but the best part, of course, was in the modest tasting room. 

The first wine we tried was a 2015 Chateau Belles-Cimes Saint Emilion ($25). It was a fruity wine with aromas of black plum and black pepper. It had medium tannins and medium acidity and had some vanilla on the palate. It was a balanced wine, but not overly complex, with a medium finish but good intensity. I would rate this wine as Good.

The second wine was the 2015 Chateau Coutet Grand Cru ($42). This somewhat tannic wine had aromas and tastes of blackberry, black cherry, blueberry, plum, cedar, tobacco, coconut, as well as mushroom, smoke and leather. What a complex wine! With medium plus acidity, a long finish, intense flavours, and a balance of flavours, I would rate this as Outstanding and will hold onto it for a few years.

The final wine we tried was the 2015 Chateau Coutet St. Emilion Grand Cru Cuvée Desmoiselles ($98).  This wine is made the traditional way - including interns' bare feet to work the cap during fermentation! This wine had aromas of blackberry and black currant as well as black plum, cedar and vanilla. It was bit more tannic than the last wine so would benefit from more ageing time. This had a long finish, was balanced and had good intensity of flavours. I would give this wine a rating of Very Good. 

We ended up with a bottle of the Grand Cru - a wine I think was a great deal for the money. 

As we left the winery, we emerged outside into the wonderful sounds of birds chirping and dogs romping around in the sunshine. If you look closely, you'll see some ducks and geese in the distance at the top of the photo. 

We both loved St. Emilion. We would definitely come back here to explore the village some more and to try out more of the great wineries in this region. A great day!

Santé!