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Château de Barbe Blanche Cuvée Henri IV Red
Château de Barbe Blanche Cuvée Henri IV comes from a vineyard ideally situated on a clay-limestone rise in Lussac, opposite the finest slopes in Saint Emilion. Merlot is king here, and regularly produces smooth, delicious wines.
Wine style
Rich and Powerful
Grape blend
Merlot 85% / Cabernet franc 15%
Weather
Temperatures were much higher than average from February to June, with much less rainfall than usual. There were already signs of drought at the end of Spring.
Tasting Comment
Appearance
Beautiful deep dark garnet-red colour suggesting a wine with tremendous concentration.
Nose
Thanks to many efforts over the past ten years, this Château Barbe Blanche Cuvée Henri IV has attained a level of quality close to that of the finest wines on the Saint-Émilion plateau. The nose is still fairly closed-in, but its character and sheer class are clearly burgeoning, with elegant, subtle hints of graphite and smoke, as well as strong fruity components (black cherry).
Mouth
Starts out full-bodied and smooth on the palate. Ripe Merlot grapes account for the wine's soft, rich tannin, following through into a lovely long aftertaste. A well-concentrated, rich wine with good ageing potential. Enjoyable young (in two or three years), and is an excellent match with roast duck or cassoulet. In fact, all braised or roast red meats make for an ideal accompaniment.
Consumption period
2013 - 2026
Our suggestions
White meats
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Game
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vegetables
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Cheese |
Red meats
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Ground
Surface
28.00 ha
Soil
On a clay-limestone shelf with about 1 meter of clay on the surface. At the foot of the hills, clay-siliceous soil with light sand.
Winemaking
Grape harvest
Machine harvest with sorting and selection at the winery.
Others
Plant food
Traditional, limited impact.
Plant density
6,000 vines per hectare.
Wine average age
32 years old.
Grape variety
Merlot / Cabernet Franc / Cabernet Sauvignon.
Pruning type
Double guyot
Fermentation
In stainless-steel temperature-controlled tanks. Approximately 3 weeks (subject to vintage and ripeness of tannins).
Fermentation temperature
28 to 30°C
Malolactic
yes
Wine maturing
For 12 months in oak barrels (50% new) with racking each trimester.
Wine montage
Eggwhites
Maturing potential
Begins to open up after 2 to 3 years, will age 10 to 12 years.
Recipes
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