BORDEAUX COTES : LA SELECTION

At the top of its appellation. The roads of Château Berthenon and the Ponz-planter family crossed for the first time in 1953. It was at this time that Paul Planter (the grandfather) bought this wine estate which was almost abandoned. He quickly transferred the property to his children and it was they (Léa and Henri) who restored the Castle and made it prosper.
The relay has been transmitted to the third generation (Thérèse and Thierry) since 1999. The estate covers 37 ha, 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet-Sauvignon.
“Despite a bit of hail, the 2018 harvest was very good, we were lucky with a particularly sunny back-season, and what we produced is of great quality,” says Thérèse Ponz-Szymanski. “
We are going to make a Chloé vintage in 2018, we did not make one in 2017. The wine is currently in barrels at the breeding.
Château Berthenon 2017 is an easy wine to drink, not too much tannin, a pleasure wine, on the fruit, round, we also made Tradition and the Cuvée Henri 2017.
The Blaye Bordeaux Blanc 2018 is great, thanks to the very clayey soil, the grapes have not suffered from the drought. It is a superb white wine with aromas of passion fruit and citrus. The rosé is also very successful, delicious aromas of English candy, a dry but fruity rosé, of medium sustained color, of a pretty pink. It is a 100% Merlot rosé with fruity aromas and strawberry-flavored.
James Suckling of the Wine Spectator to which I presented my 2016 wines gave me good ratings, 91 for the Chloé Cuvée, 81+ for Cuvée Henri and 88 for Tradition. It is important to me that these good results are appreciated by importers, I work a lot with Asia and the United States.”
We are really pleased with his Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux Cuvée Chloé 2016, total scraping of the harvest, malolactic fermentation in barrels, breeding on fine lees in new barrels 18 months, a broad wine, which combines color and material, with its aromas of red fruits with stone and liquorice, finely tannic, rich mouth, of course. In the lineage, the 2015, beautiful material, is a dark wine, with a powerful nose of blackcurrant and undergrowth, where the distinction is associated with the richness, really tasty. The 2014 is a wine with material, beautiful colour and with intense aromas of small red fruits (plum, cherry), a nice finish and very good evolution. The Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux Cuvée Henri 2015, with these characteristic and very persistent notes of redcurrant, smoked and spices, with dense and ripe tannins at the same time, a full mouth wine, of excellent guard. The Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux red 2016, with a powerful nose where ripe and blackcurrant blend, ample and solid, silky mouth, a tasty wine, delicate with round tannins. Tasty 2015, with cherry colour, purple reflections with raspberry aromas, rich in mouth, mixing power and finesse, a wine with ripe tannins.
Enjoy the 2018 Blaye Bordeaux Blanc Sauvignon, one of the best in the appellation, with its aromatic, harmonious and elegant delicacies, with pink and apple scents, a supple but lively mouth, to be enjoyed on stuffed clams as well as with fillets of herring potatoes in oil.
The Crémant de Bordeaux white, even Sauvignon grape, with light bubbles, lively mouth where one finds the fresh almond and the apple, is of fringante moss, like the Crémant rosé, which smells strawberry, perfect, in particular, on grey shrimp or a chocolate cake.

Family property for four generations, the Château Pont Les Moines is located north of Bordeaux, in the Blayais region, and extends over the municipality of Civrac de Blaye. Vineyard of an area of 29 ha, on clay-limestone soil, where the vines have an average age of 15 years. A classic encépagement of this region (70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet-Sauvignon), which produces colorful, round wines on the palate. Vinification is traditional, with long vats and maturation in tanks for 14 months.
For Eric Barrat, “The 2018 harvest went very well on both the whites and the reds, we started to harvest whites on August 27 while on the reds we started around September 20, very nice harvest! We are in Bio so we had to be very vigilant to fight against mildew in order to be able to obtain the volumes we wanted while having an excellent quality.
On sale this year, we are on the 2015 vintage for Bordeaux, on the Bordeaux Supérieur cuvée Louisa on 2014, for our Blaye Pont les Moines on 2015, Rosé 2018 and Sauvignon blanc 2018.
We have installed bat boxes because they can get rid of cluster worms. “
You will love this superb Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux red 2016 Bio, it is a beautiful deep red, persistent nose, with connotations of humus and well ripe black berries, all in tannic finesse, ample and good structure. The 2015, pure Merlot, of structured mouth, of a beautiful harmony, is a wine with aromas of spices and black fruits, well balanced and generous, all in color and material, notes of undergrowth and currant on the palate, ample mouth and fondue. Excellent 2014, of sustained colour, a fleshy and fatty wine, with a complex and subtle nose at the same time, dominated by cherry, soft tannic base and very balanced. All in charm, the Bordeaux blanc 2018, with nuances of fern and apple on the palate, is a pretty round, smooth and persistent. See the Bordeaux Supérieur Château Bran de Compostelle.

Here, the densities of 6,500 feet/ha, produce little and the encépagement of Merlot to more than 80% accompanied by 18% Malbec and some Cabernet franc, allows one of the best specific expressions of these terroirs.
This is all the more so since the vines are subjected almost continuously to westerly winds, allowing a lesser fungal contamination (thus limited treatments), and bringing a natural concentration.
Superb Côtes-de-Bbourg Grand Vin 2014, with its aromas of blackberry and pepper, both powerful and round mouth, it is a beautiful pronounced ruby color. Very beautiful Côtes-de-Bbourg cuvée Selection 2015, with purple reflections, where dominate notes of blackcurrant, cherry and spices, it is a wine with a rich structure, well firm in mouth.