Château Le Puy 1998 - Côtes de Francs

Château Du Puy 1998 - Côtes de Francs (Today Château Le Puy cuvée Emilien)

About the domain:

The estate has been owned by the Amoreau family since 1610! The estate is located on top of the same rocky plateau of clay and limestone as St-Emilion and Pomerol. The name "puy" means summit or podium.

This estate draws its international popularity from a manga (Japanese therefore) which refers to it as "The drops of God". Apart from that, the estate is a pioneer in the field of integrated and ecosystem-friendly viticulture.

Learn more on the very comprehensive Château Le Puy website

About the vintage:

It's hard to find your way around the names of the estate's vintages. The vintage was called "Château du Puy grand vin" until 1999. To be called "Château le Puy grand vin" from 2000. Today it bears the name "Le Puy Emilien".

Other vintages were added year after year: Emilien, Barthélemy, Blaise-Albert, Marie-Elisa, Marie-Cécille, Rose-Marie, Retour des iles.

In addition, the Château has a large wine library and sometimes re-releases certain vintages.

The 1998 vintage in Bordeaux

1998 is an emblematic vintage for the right bank of Bordeaux. The ideal climatic conditions, marked by a hot and dry summer, allowed an optimal maturity of the grapes, in particular for Merlot, the dominant grape variety in this region. The wines produced are rich, fleshy, and offer a great aromatic intensity.

In the Côtes de Francs, the 1998 vintage stands out for its wines that are both concentrated and balanced, with a lovely freshness and interesting aging potential.

Condition of the bottles:

• Level: Perfect, sign of excellent conservation.
• Labels: Stained and weathered by many years in the cellar.
• Cork: Covered with original wax, which cracks and crumbles over time. Special care is taken to preserve the wax, although its fragility is inevitable.

Tasting notes and specificities of the 1998 vintage taken from the official website:

Deep garnet color with copper highlights.

The nose is fruity with very concentrated aromas of blackcurrant, musk and truffle.

The mouth is round, full, with superb silky tannins, the structure is very tight, with aromas of roasted chestnuts.

A long finish, of rare breadth and suave.

A wine for laying down, exceptional, of great breed, of great complexity.

Food and wine pairing

The Château Du Puy 1998 will enhance refined dishes, such as:

• Beef chuck confit in red wine.
• Hare stew with prunes.
• Roast veal with herbs and root vegetables.
• Platter of matured cheeses (Comté 24 months, Tomme de Savoie).