Chateau Du Courlat Cuvee Jean-Baptiste Lussac Saint Emilion 2018 1.5 Litre Magnum

Description

Chateau du Courlat Cuvée Jean-Baptiste is a red wine from the Lussac-Saint-Emilion wine growing appellation. It is owned by the Bordeaux negociant Jean-Baptiste Audy. Lussac-Saint-Emilion is located on Bordeaux’s right bank and is one of the “satellite” appellations of Saint-Emilion itself.

Jean-Baptiste Audy is a family owned business. It was founded in 1906 when Audy settled in Libourne, and began a wine trading company along the banks of the Dordogne river, on the celebrated Quai du Priourat, well known for its many wine merchant offices. The company distributed all the leading wines of Bordeaux, with a clear preference for the Right Bank, and most particularly the appellation of Pomerol. Audy’s grandson Pierre Bourotte ran the company from 1991 to 2002 and Pierre’s son, Jean-Baptiste Bourotte took over in 2003. As well as the negociant business the company owns several Chateaux including Chateau Bonalgue in Pomerol, Chateau Les Hauts-Conseillants in Lalande-de-Pomerol and Clos de Clocher, also in Pomerol.

Chateau du Courlat was once owned by the Seigneurs Barons de Montagne and the first vines were planted at the property in the middle ages. The slopes of Lussac where sought after for the quality of their clay soils, peppered with traces of limestone. Today the estate consists of 17 hectares with 4 under vine and as Robert Parker says, it is “always among the best in the appellation”.

The Chateau de Courlat Cuvée Jean-Baptiste, which is named in honour of Pierre Bourotte’s grand-father, is a wine of power and depth. It is produced from 100% Merlot from vines with an average age of 25 years grown on the estate’s clay-loam vineyards. The grapes are harvested by hand into small crates and the fruit is first sorted by hand followed by sorting using a densimetric sorter. The wine is fermented in stainless steel. Each plot is vinified separately with manual pumping over and maceration for around one month. The wine is matured 15 months in French fine-grain oak barrels (1/3 new, 1/3 first fill and 1/3 second fill). Around 18,000 bottles per year are produced.

Consultant winemakers are Michel Rolland’s team.