Chateau Caronne Ste Gemme 2009
Offers a dark, plush feel, with roasted fig and warm currant preserves notes flowing over dark tobacco and bittersweet cocoa flavors, followed by a solid, tarry-edged finish.
$300
The vintage
Winery
Chateau Caronne Ste GemmeAppellation & Region
Haut-Medoc, BordeauxBlend
60% cabernet sauvignon, 35% merlot, 5% petit verdotSoil
GravelAverage age of vines
25 yearsVineyards & Vinification
Situation: In the St Laurent Médoc area 500 meters south of the saint Julien strip and in the direct neighbourhood of the vineyards of Gruaud Larose, Lagrange, Belgrave, Camensac and Lanessan.
The vineyard, a resurgence of the St Julien occidental mound, forms an island of 38 hectares (94 acres) planted on first class günzian gravel on a base of iron rich sandstone, a little more sandy to the east, a little more clayey to the west.
The wine making The grapes are destalked, then slightly crushed and sent into stainless steel fermentation vats which are thermo-regulated. Fermentation is led at the temperature of 26/28° Celsius with light “over the top” pumping for a soft extraction of the skins. The maceration can last three weeks. The wine ageing of 12 months is made exclusively in French barrels of 225 L., of which 25% are renewed each year. The wine is fined and finally bottled at the vineyard 20 months after the harvest.
In the press
The Wine Spectator | 90 points Smart Buy
Offers a dark, plush feel, with roasted fig and warm currant preserves notes flowing over dark tobacco and bittersweet cocoa flavors, followed by a solid, tarry-edged finish.
Jancis robinson | 16.5
Decanter.com | Best value winesThe Winery
Caronne is derived from “Carona” for a local spring source, and Gemme a corruption of “James”.
The vineyard of Chateau Caronne Ste Gemme was first reported in 1648 when a local Landlord, Denys de Mullet of La Tour St Lambert rented it to a farmer in exchange of the wines produced.
In the middle-ages the locality was a parish on the grounds of a subsidiary to the Templar Commanderie at nearby Benon a few kilometres inland. The Parish was abolished during the Revolution and it is about this time that the first records of wine production at Caronne begin to emerge. In 1900 ownership of Caronne passed to Emile and Eugène Borie. The sons of Eugène would later cede their shares to their uncle and purchase Chateau Batailley and later Ducru Beaucaillou whilst Emile’s descendance would remain sole owner of Caronne until this day.
The property is now managed by François, the fourth generation with his brother Georges and his two cousins Michel & Jean François.
