Varietals: 70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon
Tasting Notes: 2016 was such a wonderful vintage for Bordeaux; its wines are beautifully structured and balanced, with all the restraint of cool vintages and friendliness of warm years. This everyday Bordeaux is the epitome of a bistro wine, and it’s the perfect gem to stock in your home for every night enjoyment. Unsure of what ‘bistro wine’ entails? Here it is: Inviting dark fruits like blackcurrant and a hint of kirsch, spice notes tinged with a hint of vanilla and enveloped in a tobacco flower note that carries to the palate and finishes with silky, fine-grained tannins that lingers & invites another sip!
Pairing: This wine is excellent with bistro foods: think steak frites, lamb burgers, paté, duck confit, and started.
About. The Château de Cugat was constructed in the 1500s upon a hill overlooking the small village of Blasimon. The vineyards surround the Château and are comprised of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc for red wines, and Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and Muscadelle for white wines.
The domaine is situated in the Entre-Deux-Mers, which is an appellation designated for strictly white wines; the red wines of the region are entitled to the appellation Bordeaux Contrôlée. If their yield is below a certain point and their alcohol level half a degree higher (12.5%), they are entitled to the appellation Bordeaux Supérieur Contrôlée. "Bordeaux Supes" are generally considered a step up from straight Bordeaux.
In 1926, the property was acquired by the grandmother of winemaker, Benoit Meyer. When Benoit began overseeing the estate in the early nineties, he dreamed of making a wine that would make people think they were drinking something from an area more lofty than the humble Entre-Deux-Mers. After all, part of his vineyard had a mixture of sand and gravel soil, much like parts of nearby Pomerol. And a parcel of the vineyard was between 40 and 50 years old and had wonderful exposition.
Benoit made his first dream wine in 1997. With the help of his enologist, they decided to use solely a parcel of old vine Merlot. They did a green harvest in July, and waited longer than their neighboring Châteaux to pick. They put the perfectly ripe juice in new Seguin Moreau oak. Called Francis Meyer, the cuvée is made with nearly all Merlot and aged in new oak. Malolactic is in barrel and the wine is raised with great attention, like in the top Châteaux of Bordeaux.
