Chateau Griviere >
Bordeaux >
France|
| Medoc Cru Bourgeois |
Cabernet 40%, Merlot 55%, Cab Franc 5%
The Chateau Griviere is a family owned domain located in the northern part of the Medoc near the town of Blaignan, just above St Estephe.
The vineyards consist of a single block of rolling slopes with classic Bordeaux soils: gravelly limestone with a mixture of clay. These are perfect soils for ripening Cabernet Sauvignon.
The wines are aged in barrels, 25% new oak, 25% one year oak, 25% two year oak and 25% three year oak. Unusual for Bordeaux, the barrels rest in a cool, deep, underground cellar for 18 months. Most ageing rooms in Bordeaux are above ground and don’t enjoy the stable, cool temperature of underground cellars. Each varietal is aged separately and then blended. The assembled wine is left to rest in cuve for another 3 months before bottling, in order to harmonize the flavors. Then the bottled wine goes back to the cellar to age for at least one more year before release.
This Cru Bourgeois is handled more like a classified Growth without any compromises to quality. The commitment to quality at every step of winemaking is evident in the finished wine. Chateau Griviere is a wine which exhibits the greatness that Bordeaux can achieve in an accessible package.
2001 is a special vintage coming right after the hot and flamboyantly ripe 2000. The spring was very cool and the crop was very small resulting in wines of great concentration and finesse. The long, slow ripening of the grapes yielded wines with a lush texture, fine tannins and great length. The 2001 Chateau Griviere perfectly expresses the soils and grape mix of a classic Bordeaux vintage.
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