Chateau Caronne Ste Gemme 2016
Fresh blackcurrant and blackberry leaf on the nose. Tobacco, violets and mocha, too. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm, fine grained tannins.
$220
The vintage
Winery
Chateau Caronne Ste GemmeAppellation & Region
Haut-Medoc, BordeauxBlend
60% cabernet sauvignon, 34% merlot, 6% petit VerdotSoil
GravelAlcohol Content
13%Average age of vines
30 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
JamesSuckling.com | 91-92 points
Linear and tight with polished tannins, plenty of fruit and a medium body. Shows polish and refinement already.
Decanter | 91 points
This is a beautiful, well-regarded wine offering great consistency, replete with smoky bacon, tar, and coffee bean flavours. It is marked by oak, but sexily and cleverly so, and balanced by intense, deep fruit with impact. A gentleman’s claret and one of the great value sleepers of the vintage. 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot from deep gravel over clay. Drinking Window 2025 – 2038
Robert Parker’s Wine Avocate (Neal Martin) | 90 points
The 2016 Caronne Ste Gemme has a very attractive nose with wild strawberry and raspberry scents, cedar and a touch of mint. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp red berry fruit, a fine line of acidity, linear an taut but with plenty of freshness and an almost Pauillac-like character on the finish. This is always a well-priced Bordeaux and it is one of the best I have tasted from the estate. The comes recommended.
The 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.
