Montagne St.Emilion

Today I was in Montagne St.Emilion, which is called locally a St.Emilion ‘satellite’ – along with St.Georges, Puisseguin and Lussac. The satellites are situated to the north-north east of St.Emilion, and the drive up is really stunning as the view from Montagne looks out over all the other appellations.

However I was here not for the views, but to check on our first Grand Chai Montagne St.Emilion – and 2009 must be the perfect year to start! The vineyards are located on the highest point of Montagne and sit between the two hills that create Montagne. The vineyards are on the border to St.Georges St.Emilion and this area has the reputation for making the richest wines of all the satellites due to the micro climate.

Our 2009 is currently in barrel – all French oak – in an underground secret location! Once inside the cellar I soon got busy with the cellar master tasting every barrel. The wines have developed beautifully and the silky tannins meant we extracted perfectly during the vinification 15 months ago.

I decided the exact blend and that we will make the soutirage (taking wine out of the barrel to vats) first week of January 2011. I also tasted the 2010’s but these wines are still very young and extremely raw; but the good news is that the oak is starting to integrate into the wine, so it will be interesting to taste again in the New Year.

And with Remy’s new menu now up I couldn’t resist to stop by for lunch at Le Comptoir de Genès! It’s great and the menu is full of interesting dishes such as marrow bone, pigeon and deer, so if you’re in the area be sure to make time to stop off for lunch!

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