Saint-Emilion Château Doumesche – Bio

Saint-Emilion Château Doumesche. Cuvee from Saint Emillion, France. Ruby red wine with nice brilliance, pleasant and intense nose with lots of spices, round on the palate, supple and elegant with hints of plums, with a nice long finish. Merlot comes from the word merle, which is French for blackbird. Merlot is a classic grape variety used in Bordeaux wines in combination with cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. It was long regarded there as an inferior grape that lacked personality of its own and was used in the Médoc and Pessac-Léognan/Graves just to take the edge off cabernet. Where it did appear on its own and showed a surprising, full-bodied, ripe, lush personality with an inviting juiciness was in Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. Only when both wine regions stepped out of the shadow of their neighbours could merlot step out of cabernet’s shadow. Since then, it was successfully planted in California and later followed by just about every region of the world. Merlot is one of the king of grapes in Bordeaux but is also successfully grown in Languedoc further afield in France. It is also loved in California, Italy, Eastern Europe, Chile and even as far away as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Cabernet Franc is a fairly productive variety. It is in fact the original cabernet grape. The much more famous Cabernet Sauvignon is a descendant of the Cabernet Franc. It probably comes from Bordeaux where it is one of the classic components of Bordeaux wines. In the 17th century it was taken to the Loire Valley where it was subsequently successfully planted. Cabernet Franc likes calcareous gravel, sand and clay soils and ripens about ten days earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon. It thrives very well in cooler soils. At its best, Cabernet Franc has an unmistakable and appetizing aroma of raspberries and pebbles washed in spring water and a refreshingly sharp scent of blackcurrant leaves. This aroma stimulates the taste buds. Cabernet Franc is used successfully in Bordeaux where it is an important player, especially on the soils of Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. He is also very successful in the Loire and more specifically in Chinon Saumur-Champigny and Bourgeuil. The grape is also used in the south of France, Italy, California, Australia, New Zealand, Chile and South Africa. It is often used to mix with cabernet sauvignon. Cabernet sauvignon is the most famous grape of all. He is therefore rightly called King Cab.