2016 Château Puygueraud, Francs-Côtes de Bordeaux

Georges Thienpont, of the great wine-making family in Bordeaux, purchased Château Puygueraud, located in the Cotes de Francs wine appellation, in 1946. The vineyards had been devastated by the two World Wars, and so the land was initially used to grow cereal and farm cattle.
In 1979, he started to replant the vineyards, and in 1983 he was joined by his son Nicolas Thienpont to help produce the first vintage.

The vineyard comprises 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec grapes. The soil consists of clay and limestone, with chalky subsoil. Vines are planted with a vine density of 4,500 vines per hectare.

In 2013, Château Puygueraud launched Puygueraud Blanc, a Bordeaux AOC white wine. The white grapes are composed of 55% Sauvignon Gris and 45% Sauvignon Blanc, representing the highest percentage of Sauvignon Gris used in Bordeaux. Château Puygueraud also produces Cuvée George, as a tribute to George Thienpont, which is a blend of Malbec and Cabernet.

Nowadays, Nicolas manages not only Château Puygueraud, but also several well-known St Emilion estates such as Berliquet and Larcis Ducasse.

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Cotes de Francs

Francs-Côtes de Bordeaux, formerly known as the Côtes de Francs, is an appellation located on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. It is permitted to make red wines as well as dry and sweet white wines.

It forms part of the Côtes de Bordeaux network of appellations along with Blaye, Cadillac, Castillon and Sainte-Foy.

One of the leading producers in Francs-Côtes de Bordeaux is Château Marsau, the home estate of Anne-Laurence and Mathieu Chadronnier; Mathieu is the president of major négociant CVBG.

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Cabernet Sauvignon

The most famous red wine grape in the world and one of the most widely planted.

It is adaptable to a wide range of soils, although it performs particularly well on well-drained, low-fertile soils. It has small, dusty, black-blue berries with thick skins that produce deeply coloured, full-bodied wines with notable tannins. Its spiritual home is the Médoc and Graves regions of Bordeaux where it thrives on the well-drained gravel-rich soils producing tannic wines with piercing blackcurrant fruits that develop complex cedarwood and cigar box nuances when fully mature.

The grape is widely planted in California where Cabernet Sauvignon based wines are distinguished by their rich mixture of cassis, mint, eucalyptus and vanilla oak. It is planted across Australia and with particular success in Coonawarra where it is suited to the famed Terra Rossa soil. In Italy barrique aged Cabernet Sauvignon is a key component in Super Tuscans such as Tignanello and Sassicaia, either on its own or as part of a blend with Sangiovese.

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