Merlot Blend Wine

Seductive, accessible, Merlot-rich blend

Easy drinking, Bordeaux-style red without the price tag.

A custom-blended claret, delightfully accessible – perfect at family gatherings

An attractive, characterful wine from the far north of the Médoc, an innovative blend which attains optimal balance.

Chateau Vieux Caperot St-Emilion 2015

An accessible, food-friendly style, this has elegance, grace and richness – a fine ambassador for both the vintage and the appellation

Bright ruby-garnet, this offers a blend of red and black fruit on the nose, raspberry, blueberry and ripe cherries. Merlot dominant, this grape makes for luscious, warming generous wines complemented here by the focus of Cabernet Franc. The palate is rounded and ripe with enough acidity and tannic detail to attain a balance which complements many dishes- very versatile - it suits most palates. The ideal accompaniment to family roasts

“Barry White”, as this 7 hectare estate is affectionately known at C&B, is a triumph and one of the great values. Huge colour, deepest red to the rim and with a dark, sinewy, pungent perfume of red and black fruits, this wine offers a palate that is sweetly intense, nicely balanced with firm, fresh but supple structure and really fine length.

An attractive, dark and deep garnet red, the wine has an intense and precise nose that opens on delicate aromas of spices, roses and plums macerated in spirits. Some roasted, toasted notes appear with airing. From a supple and highly refined attack, the mid-palate rapidly emerges on smooth, patrician tannins enhanced by a youthful freshness. The fruit, already there in the background, comes into its own, giving a harmonious, long and opulent finish.

Having tasted this Dior family-owned wine over many years, it was this 2016 offering, under Dominique LauretMestreguilhem, that finally made us put a toe in the water. 90% Merlot, usefully old vines (35 years) and a fine gravelled soil with some clay have combined to make a super wine in 2016. Profound ruby colour. The nose is darkly fruited, smoky, even sexily fruited. The palate is spicily rich with grainy tannins but avoids the rough trade element through plump, fresh fruit and judicious use of oak. Fine length as well.

Manoir de Gay 2014

Chateau de Bel-Air 2016

Louis Mitjavile produces this from vines planted at the end of the Saint Emilion limestone ridge. Cool soils warrant late harvesting and create great intensity

A wonderful wine from Louis Mitjavile’s excellent site in upcoming Castillon, Côtes de Bordeaux, neighbour to Saint Emilion.