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| | M |  | La Mondotte Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
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 | Marius Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
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 | Domaine De La Mordoree Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
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 | Poderi Roche Dei Manzoni Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
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 | Chateau Meyney Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
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 | Chateau Clos Manou Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
Design/Artwork: Winery Notes/History: Medium dark ruby color. Big nose of fresh fruit and spice. Big in mouth feel as well, with terrific balance and flavors, and very long tasty finish. Nice!
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 | Chateau Margaux Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
Design/Artwork: Winery Notes/History: Of all the first growths Margaux is certainly a strong contender for being the most splendid, the imposing 19th Century chateau, peering over the chai, barrel cellars and other buildings, easily visible from the D2, the road that snakes up the Médoc past the front doors of many of the classed growths. It stands proud, surrounded by broad sweeps of vines, the only challenge being from Chateau Palmer, which is visible in the distance, its pointed rooftops stretching skywards in marked contrast to the more sombre style of Margaux. It is a regal chateau indeed, and certainly fitting in view of the quality of the wines that have been made here over the last couple of decades.
The history of Chateau Margaux stretches back to the 12th Century, although this predates the construction of the building that we see today by about seven centuries. At this time it was in the ownership of French nobility, and was known La Mothe de Margaux; 'La Mothe' comes from motte, meaning a small rise in the land, yet another example of the seemingly infinite different number of words that describe such hillocks on the Médoc. Perhaps of more pertinence, this also predates the arrival of viticulture at Margaux, the land more commonly being employed in the production of sugar beet, as was common across much of this part of Bordeaux. It was not until the Lestonnac family took possession of the estate in the 16th Century that it began to resemble the Chateau Margaux that we know today. In the ten years that followed 1572, Pierre Lestonnac, in anticipation of a widespread change from arable agriculture to viticulture on the Médoc, made his mark in a most dramatic fashion. By the beginning of the 18th Century Chateau Margaux comprised 265 ha, of which one third was devoted to viticulture. Today the estate has changed very little in size or layout |
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 | Chateau Marquis D'Alesme Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
Design/Artwork: Winery Notes/History: Château Marquis d'Alesme Becker is a winery in the Margaux appellation of the Bordeaux wine region of France. The wine produced here was classified as one of fourteen Troisièmes Crus (Third Growths) in the historic Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855.
The estate produces a second wine named Marquis d'Alesme
Established by the Marquis d'Alesme in 1585, the estate was originally planted in 1616. The property was acquired in 1809 by Monsieur Becker, who attached his name to that of the estate, and for a period the wine was called simply "Becker" in Bordeaux.
In the early 20th Century, the property was bought by Comte Jean-Jules Théophile Chaix-d'Est-Ange, who had also inherited neighboring Château Lascombes from his father, who intended to combine the two estates, but died in 1923 before carrying out the plan. The original Marquis d'Alesme château became offices for Lascombes, with the original château of Desmirail taking its place.
The estate saw a succession of owners, including English firm WH Chaplin & Co and the Zuger family, until it was sold in 2006 to petrochemical industry businessman Hubert Perrodo. Apparently with elaborate plans of combining several of his Margaux estates, no changes took place after Perrodo was killed in a skiing accident in late 2006. The estate is currently run by Nathalie Perrodo. |
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 | Masseto Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
Design/Artwork: Winery Notes/History: Tenuta dell'Ornellaia's pure Merlot, Masseto, has probably attracted more attention than any other Tuscan, or even any Italian, wine in recent years. Grown in just more than 16 acres of vineyards in the coastal area of Bolgheri, Masseto has been variously described as Italy's top Merlot and as Pomerol's long-lost twin. The 2001 Jean-François Moueix, owner of Pomerol icon Château Pétrus, to be the greatest young Merlot he had ever tasted, declared Masseto, which received a perfect 100-point score in Wine Spectator blind tastings. What's behind the buzz over this wine that first appeared 20 years ago? That's what the attendees of the Masseto vertical tasting came to find out. A show of hands at the start of the seminar demonstrated that only a few people in the room were acquainted with Masseto.
On the stage was Lamberto Frescobaldi, whose family became sole owners of Ornellaia last April; the Frescobaldis and California's Robert Mondavi Corp. had taken over the estate from Lodovico Antinori in 2002 in a 50/50 venture. With Frescobaldi was Ornellaia technical director Leonardo Raspini. Moderator James Suckling, who as Wine Spectator's European bureau chief has lived in Tuscany since 1998, said that winemaking in the area of Bolgheri had seen rapid growth since he first visited it in 1987. "At that time," he said, "there were some nice beaches, but not much winemaking going on at all, apart from Sassicaia and a rosé wine from Antinori."
Since Lodovico Antinori founded Ornellaia, numerous people from around the world have helped to shape the estate. The late André Tchelistcheff, the famed winemaker who guided California's Beaulieu Vineyard to glory, was Ornellaia's first consultant. Bordeaux enologist Michel Rolland has been overseeing the estate's winemaking since the early 1990s. And New Zealand viticulturist Danny Schuster worked to define vineyard techniques at Ornellaia in the mid-1990s, preparing the way for the excellent quality wines that followed. Eight Massetos, from 1995 to 2002, were on show, and the majority of them received a rating of "classic" (95 to 100 points on Wine Spectator's 100-point scale) on release. Although the tasting reconfirmed the wines' original scores, the panel focused on explaining the various climatic variables that gave each vintage its particular quality. "Wines must reflect the season in which they were born," said Frescobaldi. "If they are the same every year, it just becomes boring." |
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 | Massolino Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
Design/Artwork: Winery Notes/History: For more than a century, the Vigna Rionda-Massolino Winery has been making a name for itself by producing spicy, aromatic Barolos. This fantastic family-run, Piedmont winery was founded in 1896 and is now run by three generations of the family, including winemakers Franco and Roberto Massolino. The small estate, in the beautiful wine hamlet of Serralunga d'Alba, is divided into four vineyards that have only 18 hectares of planted vineyards among them. Yet from this modest land holding come nearly a dozen pampered, boutique wines. The views of the vineyards from the winery is fantastic, a patchwork of colors in autumn (the best time to go wine touring).
Massolino's best-known wine is its Classic Barolo; in production since 1911, this entry-level yet consistently excellent brew is a blend of grapes from several different vineyards. After generations of production, it's still the winery's best-known wine. Made with Nebbiolo grapes grown in different subzones, the wine reflects the terroir's broad and variable spectrum of perfumes, ranging from the classic spicy notes to those of a sweeter, floral and fruity nature.
The more exclusive wines originate in the winery's three cru vineyards: Margheria, Parafada and Vigna Rionda. These small one- to two-hectare vineyards are the birthplace of the highly respected wines Barolo Margheria, Barolo Parafada and Vigna Rionda Riserva. Each is a complex blend with great aging potential. The Margheria vineyard is one of the most important and famous cru vineyards of Serralunga, purchased by the Estate towards the end of the Fifties. The soil is calcareous with a good percentage of sand, adding elegance, mineral and spicy notes to the wine. Nearby is the marly-lime-soiled Parafada vineyard, where a wine with rich berry, leather and vanilla notes originates. With a similar marly lime soil, the vineyard situated in Vigna Rionda produces an important, potent wine, suitable for long aging. |
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 | Maya Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
Design/Artwork: Winery Notes/History: Dalla Valle Vineyards is a small, family-owned winery that was founded in 1986. The winery and vineyards are located on a plateau 400 feet above the valley floor, in the eastern hills of Oakville, Napa Valley. The combination of perfect sun exposure and the cooling marine influence from the Pacific Ocean make this an ideal site for world class winegrowing. Dalla Valle has reached an admirable level of acceptance in the last decade and produces some of the most sought out Cabernet Sauvignon and proprietary red wine in California. Wines made from Dalla Valle Vineyards are pure unbridled expressions of fruit at its most powerful and concentrated. These wines are of immense stature and richness with well-integrated tannin and acidity. |
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 | Chateau La Mission Haut Brion Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
Design/Artwork: Winery Notes/History: The Haut-Brions of this world are certainly confusing; Haut-Brion itself, La Tour Haut Brion, La Mission Haut-Brion, Laville Haut-Brion, Carmes Haut-Brion and Larrivet Haut-Brion. They make for a confabulated litany of misunderstanding, but it is possible to see through the mist. The latter two are lesser properties, unclassified in 1959 (although that surely needs reassessment), and are topographically distinct from the first four, which are the first growth and pseudo-first growths of the Pessac-Léognan appellation, all located in the Bordeaux suburbs. The big two are Haut Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion, estates which face each other across a suburban street. It is tempting to think they are even more closely related, that they are siblings in some way, with some shared origin perhaps. Maybe they are the result of dividing up an ancient vineyard, as we have seen with the Léovilles, the Pichons and others. No such record of any division exists, and La Mission Haut-Brion has, as far as we can tell, always been a discrete and individual neighbor to Haut-Brion across the road. Indeed, there does appear to be some evidence as to the origins of La Mission Haut-Brion, evidence which shows it to be quite distinct from that of Jean de Pontac's property next-door. The story begins at the opening of the 16th Century with Arrejedhuys, a plot of land in the ownership of the Roustaing family. With the sale of this land in 1540 to a local merchant, Arnaut de Lestonnac, we have the genesis of La Mission Haut-Brion. It is conceivable that this land was already planted with vines, but it seems more likely that it was Arnaut that established the vineyard, and thus it is he, more than anyone else, who should be credited with the creation of La Mission Haut-Brion. Indeed, the Lestonnac family did much to establish the property, and they held tenure here for more than a century. Arnaut went on to marry Marie de Pontac, the sister of Jean de Pontac, proprietor at neighboring Haut-Brion, and the estate subsequently passed to the next generation Pierre, and then in 1607 to Olive de Lestonnac, Pierre's grand-daughter. At this stage the estate was set to leave their ownership, however, as Olive saw fit to bequeath her estate to the Congregation of the Mission (which must surely be the origin of this estate's name), otherwise known as Pères Lazaristes or even Vincentians. This latter term relates to St Vincent de Paul who is claimed to have founded this order of priests and brothers. The transition was not a straightforward one, however, as Olive's descendants were naturally reluctant to release what they perhaps saw as more rightfully theirs. Nevertheless, in 1664 Catherine de Mullet, heir to the estate, relinquished her hold and it passed into the hands of the Roman Catholic church. |
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 | Chateau Monbousquet Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
Design/Artwork: Winery Notes/History: Château Monbousquet is a Bordeaux wine from the appellation Saint-Émilion, ranked Grand cru classé in the Classification of Saint-Émilion wine. The winery is located in the Right Bank of France’s Bordeaux wine region in the commune of Saint-Sulpice-de-Faleyrens, in the department Gironde.
The estate and château originates from the late 16th century, and in the early 18th century the property came to the de Carle family, seigneurs of Château Figeac, while winemaking began at Château Monbousquet in the 19th century when Comte de Vassal-Montviel expanded the estate to 40 hectares and had vines planted on a large scale.
A neglected property by 1945, it was bought by Daniel Querre who began thorough restorations of the vineyards and buildings, continued by his son Alain Querre. In the following years Monbousquet became one of the best-known non-classified wines of Saint-Émilion.
In 1993 Monbousquet was acquired by the Parisian supermarket owner Gérard Perse, who later bought Château Pavie, Château Pavie-Decesse and Château La Clusière. Consultancy is provided by the oenologist Michel Rolland.
The estate was elevated to Grand cru classée in the Saint-Émilion classification of 2006 The vineyard area extends 32 hectares with the grape varieties of approximately 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Of the Grand vin Monbousquet there is a typically an annual production of 8,300 cases.
The estate also produces a dry white wine, Château Monbousquet Bordeaux Blanc, from a vineyard area of 1 hectare consisting of 55% Sauvignon blanc, 35% Sauvignon gris, 5% Muscadelle and 5% Sémillon. The annual production is 450 cases. |
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 | Chateau Montrose Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
Design/Artwork: Winery Notes/History: In researching the history of the vineyards of Bordeaux, it is not uncommonly that I find myself delving into medieval history, stories of 12th Century fortresses, ancient seigneuries and the Hundred Years' War. Not so with Chateau Montrose, which is one of the younger members of the classed growths of the Médoc. At the end of the 18th Century the land which today is the Montrose vineyard was nothing more than heather-encrusted moor-land, owned by the Ségur family. In 1778 it was acquired, as part of the Calon estate, by Etienne Théodore Dumoulin, who seems to have done little with it other than bequeath it to his children upon his death in 1806. Of his three children it was one of his sons, also Etienne Théodore, who took control. His attention was drawn to part of the estate, a plot of land to the south of the Calon vineyard and adjacent to the Gironde, entitled La Lande de l'Escargeon, the situation of which was such that it clearly had potential as a vineyard. Having cleared the heather and scrub the soil beneath was gravelly, and indeed was eminently suitable for the vine, and planting was underway by 1815, with good results. By 1820 Dumoulin had expanded the vineyard and erected a small chateau. |
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 | Domaine F. Mugnier Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
Design/Artwork: Winery Notes/History: Frederic Mugnier’s philosophy is summarized very simply: let the message in the vineyard come through. Mugnier’s background is engineering and he was a commercial pilot who came to wine as a second career. He started crafting wine while still a pilot and released his first vintage in 1985 from 4 hectares of Chambolle Musigny vineyards (including.53 hectare of Les Amoureuses, .36 hectare of Bonne Mares, and a little over 1 hectare of Musigny - second only to Comte de Vogue) that had been in his family for generations and mostly leased to others. By his own admission, he didn’t know anything about winemaking initially. He attended viticulture school in Beaune and experimented a lot. Over time his experience has served him better than formal winemaking education. He continued to work as a pilot until 2000. In 2004 his Domaine changed dramatically when Faiveley’s lease of the Mugnier family’s 9.55-hectare Nuits St. George 1er Cru Clos de la Maréchale expired. This more than tripled the size of Mugnier’s vineyard holdings to 13.5 hectares. With the assumption of the largest monopole in Burgundy, his Domaine became quite large, and he was forced to build a winery and hire several workers to assist him. |
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 | Christian Moueix Picture of: Wine Crate Type: Classic Country: France Region: Bordeaux Sub-region: Medoc Design/Artwork: Simple detail with lettering. The lettering of the crate is embossed in black. Both long sides of the crate have the logo design. |
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 | Chateau Mouton Rothschild Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
Design/Artwork: Winery Notes/History: Château Mouton Rothschild is a wine estate located in the village of Pauillac in the Médoc, 50 km (30 mi) north-west of the city of Bordeaux, France. Its red wine of the same name is regarded as one of the world's greatest clarets. Originally known as Château Brane-Mouton it was renamed by Nathaniel de Rothschild in 1853 to Château Mouton Rothschild. It was the first estate to begin complete château bottling of the harvest. The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 was based entirely on recent market prices for a vineyard's wines, with one exception: Château Mouton Rothschild. Despite the market prices for their vineyard's wines equalling that of Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Mouton Rothschild was excluded from First Great Growth status, an act that Baron Philippe de Rothschild referred to as "the monstrous injustice". It is widely believed that the exception was made because the vineyard had recently been purchased by an Englishman and was no longer in French ownership.
In 1973, Mouton was elevated to "first growth" status after decades of intense lobbying by its powerful and influential owner, the only change in the original 1855 classification (excepting the 1856 addition of Château Cantemerle). This prompted a change of motto: previously, the motto of the wine was Premier ne puis, second ne daigne, Mouton suis. ("First, I cannot be. Second, I do not deign to be. Mouton I am."), and it was changed to Premier je suis, Second je fus, Mouton ne change. ("First, I am. Second, I used to be. But Mouton does not change.") |
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