Château de France Pessac-Léognan Rouge 2014

Description

Château de France Pessac-Léognan Rouge 2014 is what many consider to be a classic Pessac-Léognan red wine, fragrant, full of black fruit flavours with a hint of minerality & silky in texture. Traditionally, as in Médoc to the North, the Pessac-Léognan blend tends to be Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant. However in 2014, as seems to be the case for many Left Bank Bordeaux producers, the blend from Château de France changed to Merlot dominant, in their case Merlot 59% vs 41% Cabernet Sauvignon. The aim is to create a fairly consistent wine year on year and so adjustments have to be made depending on the quality of each vintage.

Cabernet brings the black fruit flavours and the tannins that give Château de France Pessac-Léognan Rouge 2014 its longevity. Merlot is the perfect partner, softening the style of the wine to help with the texture and to tone down the tannins. For a Bordeaux that is more Merlot-dominant, try Gaby’s Canon-Fronsac.

Château de France was built on the foundations of an ancient manor house beneath which the original arched cellars still remain. Now owned by the Thomassin family the Château has 40 hectares of vineyards located on one of the highest slopes in Léognan with deep gravel and a clay-chalk subsoil which make excellent wine growing terroir. The wine producing lands in Graves are some of the oldest in Bordeaux and those closest to the city itself.