AOC BORDEAUX - CHATEAU SAINT HILAIRE 2011

MÉDOC, AOC BORDEAUX

This is a powerful wine. The complex nose shows notes of allspice, blackcurrant and beef gravy. The mouth is rich with firm tannins and the finish is distinguished by nutty oak and liquorice notes.

Beef, seafood

2011

50% Cabernet Sauvignon - 45% Merlot - 5% Cabernet Franc.

13.5%

Médoc, Bordeaux, France

Cattle farmer Adrien Uijttewaal moved to the Médoc in 1982 and bought a patch of vines in Jau Dignac Loirac. He then expanded the vineyard by buying vines in Queyrac, along with an 18th century manor house. Until 1994, he sold his grapes to the local co-op; but he then built a cellar, and in 1995, the first vintage of Château Saint-Hilaire was bottled. His efforts were rewarded with the promotion of the estate to Cru Bourgeois status in 2003

The vineyard can be divided into three distinct areas. 18 ha of vines are planted in deep gravel soils in Jau Dignac Loirac; 10 ha of vines are planted in chalky, clayey soil with gravel topsoil in Queyrac; and a further 2.5 ha of vines are planted in gravelly, sandy soil in Gaillac-enMédoc.

The vines are pruned in the double-guyot style. There is grassing over between the vines, green harvest in May and June and deleafing before picking. In the cellars, the grapes are vinified separately, according to their origin, in stainless steel vats, before ageing for 12 months in French oak barrels from five different cooperages, one third of which are renewed each year. The consultant oenologist is Eric Boissenot.

RV37606008