Buy wine by Songes de Magdelaine at Corney & Barrow

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Les Songes de Magdelaine, formerly known as Château Saint Brice, is the second wine of Château Magdelaine, Premier Grand Cru Classé St-Emilion. Its origins date from 1991 when, following dreadful frosts, no grand vin was made at the Château, and Saint Brice was introduced as a second label. Fortunately, Les Songes is now a perennial release. Born of adversity, Château Saint Brice created much excitement. Christian Moueix then elected to produce a second wine regularly, allowing Magdelaine to maintain the very highest quality, whilst offering an easy, early-drinking Grand Cru St-Emilion at a very fair price. For legal reasons, the name had to be changed and Château Saint Brice became Les Songes de Magdelaine. Grapes for the second wine tend to come from the lower slope, where the soil is a less interesting sandy-clay, and from young vines. Les Songes de Magdelaine is approachable and charming, a most attractive wine in its own right.

Photo: Horse ploughing at Château Magdelaine

Château Magdelaine was acquired by Etablissements J-P Moueix in 1952, when its reputation had been somewhat tarnished from the problems of the early twentieth century. War, phylloxera, oidium and economic recession had all taken their toll and the property was very much in need of investment. The Moueix immediately began a restructuring and replanting programme, which would restore Magdelaine to its rightful level. The very existence of Les Songes de Magdelaine serves to maintain the integrity of the grand vin as wines from the younger vines and less interesting soils are excluded – happily providing the ingredients for the much more accessible, earlier-drinking Les Songes. Around 2,000 cases of Les Songes are produced every year.

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