CHÂTEAU GRAND VILLAGE 2013, Bordeaux Superieur
Pretty colour-bright, shiny and deep. Floral on the nose with ripe cherry and mulberry fruit, it is fused with some minerality and some complexity from wood tones — natural and reasonably good quality fruit of some intensity clothed in a slight warmth from 13.5 leading to a medium finish. The mild creamy/spicy finish palate is balanced easy, soft, clean, smart red fruit with nothing an experienced taster won't like. Improves in glass. The best window to savour is now.
Surprisingly a lot of international tasters wrote on this little wine including Parker et. al who awarded it 85 Points and Falstaff 88 Points. And Le Grand Village made by the same makers who make Château Lafleur in Pomerol is located just north of the Fronsac appellation within the small commune of Mouillac.
Chateau Grand Village is vinified in traditional cement vats and is aged 30% new, hence the creaminess. Aged in French barrels for an average of 12 months before bottling, and from there, the just used, new oak barrels are sent to Chateau Lafleur, where they used for the ageing of the Grand Vin and Pensees de Lafleur. So, this is actually quite a superlative wine for the class.
The soil is similar to what you can find in St. Emilion with its mix of clay, limestone and gravel; hence you are getting a Right Bank with the price of a generic Bordeaux!
Chateau Grand Village's 17.8 hectare planted to 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc is with a density of 5,500 vines per hectare, hence the level of intensity. They practice pruning and de-budding adapted to each vine plant, crop thinning in summer and de-leafing; hence no greenness and leafiness on palate and nose found. The grapes picked by hand followed by meticulous sorting and selection; therefore there is no bitterness associated with low-cost wine. On average, the production of Chateau Grand Village is close to 5,500 cases of wine per year.
