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Château de Barbe Blanche Red
Acquired for an half in 2000 by André Lurton, this estate is ideally situated on a ridge of clay and limestone in Lussac, facing the best slopes of St Emilion. Merlot is king, and regularly gives soft and tasty wines.
Wine style
Rich and Powerful
Grape blend
Merlot 80% / Cabernet Franc 20 %
Weather
2016 was one of the finest vintages in the past 20 years. Winter was exceptionally wet and mild, and it rained a great deal in spring until June. However, the weather changed radically in mid-June, turning warm and quite dry, with cool nights. Ideal conditions for growing excellent wine grapes!
Tasting Comment
Appearance
Brilliant, very dark ruby red colour with beautiful purplish highlights.
Nose
Powerful, rich and spicy bouquet of very ripe red and black fruit (cherry, blackcurrant), as well as a touch of vanilla.
Mouth
The wine starts out very round on the palate. It is full-bodied, rich, powerful, and in no way heavy. The tannin is quite smooth. The freshness and spiciness of the nose come through in the flavour. The wine is altogether beautifully balanced and elegant. Ideal with duck or lamb.
Ratings and reviews
The top 10 wines of 2021 - lt's a perennial question for anyone closely involved in wine - what can you recommend from Bordeaux that's fine and affordable? So it was a relief to have unearthed this in this year's Autumn Tasting to answer that question for 2021 at least. lt's a £.20 Merlot-dominant Right Bank drop from satellite Bordeaux appellation Lussac-Saint-Emillon, and it showcases both the quality of the outstanding 2016 vintage and the winemaking skills of André Lurton - who acquired this es ate, called Château de Barbe Blanche, in 2000. Unmistakably Bordeaux, there are notes of cedar and cigar box, even a touch of graphite, and then layers of ripe berry fruit, from blackberry to red cherry, before the wine finishes with a dense wall of dry tannin - which are a little firm, but will no doubt feel softer when tasted with the fatty food at this time of year.(Patrick Schmitt)
A little reserved and lean at this early stage, but there’s clean and linear fruit and good tannin balance to this young red.
Consumption period
2020 - 2030
Our suggestions
White meats
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Game
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vegetables
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Cheese |
Salads |
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.
Maturing potential
Begins to open up after 2 to 3 years, will age 10 to 12 years.
Oenologist consultant
Michel ROLLAND et Mikaël LAIZET
Recipes
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