More wines available from Chateau Monbousquet
750ml
Bottle:
$29.94
This is really delicious and savory now, showing berry, chocolate, nutmeg and a hint of smoke. Full-bodied and...
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Chateau Monbousquet Saint Emilion Grand Cru 1998
750ml - 1 Bottle
Bottle:
$115.03
The 1998 Monbousquet is medium to deep garnet-brick in color with wonderful dried mulberries, kirsch and prune...
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Chateau Monbousquet Saint Emilion Grand Cru 2000
750ml - 1 Bottle
Bottle:
$118.95
Although still youthful, I do not think the 2000 Monbousquet will develop much more complexity. It is a seductive,...
Pre-Arrival
Chateau Monbousquet Saint Emilion Grand Cru 2009
750ml - 1 Bottle
Bottle:
$149.93
A dense and rich wine with so much juicy fruit, from blackberries to plums. Full body and round, velvety tannins....
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Winery
Chateau Monbousquet
Vintage: 2012
2012 has, so far been a positive year for wineries around the world. While it may be a little too early to speak of the wines being made in the northern hemisphere, European and North American wineries have already begun reporting that their harvesting season has been generally very good, and are predicting to continue with the kind of successes they saw in 2011. However, 2012 has been something of a late year for France, due to unpredictable weather throughout the summer, and the grapes were ripening considerably later than they did in 2011 (which was, admittedly, an exceptionally early year). French wineries are claiming, though, that this could well turn out to be advantageous, as the slow ripening will allow the resulting wines to express more flavour and features of the terroir they are grown in.
The southern hemisphere has seen ideal climatic conditions in most of the key wine producing countries, and Australia and New Zealand particularly had a superb year, in particular with the Bordeaux varietal grapes that grow there and which love the humidity these countries received plenty of. Also enjoying a fantastic year for weather were wineries across Argentina and Chile, with the Mendoza region claiming that 2012 will be one of their best vintages of the past decade. Similar claims are being made across the Chilean wine regions, where Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon had an especially good year. These two grape varietals also produced characterful wines on the coastal regions of South Africa this year.
Varietal: Red Bordeaux
The blended red wines of Bordeaux have gone down in history as the finest wines every produced, with collectors and many of the general public still eagerly anticipating the wineries of this region's new releases to this day. The secret to Bordeaux's monumental success has been their careful blending of high quality grape varietals, controlled and protected by French law. In Bordeaux, wineries can only produce red wines using a blend of two or more of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec or Carménere grape varietals, with the latter two becoming less and less commonly seen on bottles. The vast majority of Bordeaux red wines use Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grape varietals, boosted by a little Petit Verdot. These three grapes compliment each other beautifully as they age in oak, rounded out their tannins and the high astringency of the Sauvignon, and resulting in wonderfully complex flavors and aromas.
Region: Bordeaux
There are few wine regions in the world with a reputation as glowing and well established as that of the Bordeaux, in France. Situated mainly around the Dordogne and Gironde rivers, Bordeaux makes the most of its humid climate and rich, clay and gravel based soils to grow some of the finest examples of red and white grape varietals on earth. Wineries in this region have been in operation for hundreds of years, and have carefully developed the expertise required for the production of carefully balanced and utterly delicious blended red and white wines, alongside some exceptional single variety bottles. Many of the chateaux found in Bordeaux have become household names, due to their prestige and the excellence of their products, grown with love and dedication by heritage wineries in this beautiful and special region.
Country: France
France is renowned across the globe for its quality wines and the careful expertise which goes into making them, but what is truly remarkable about this relatively small country is the vast range of wines it produces in such huge amounts each year. Not only are the finest red wines in the world said to come from the beautiful regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy, but elsewhere in the country we find the Champagne region, and areas such as the Rhone Valley and the Loire, whose white wines consistently receive awards and accolades by the plenty. This range is a result of the great variety of climatic conditions and terrain found in France, coupled with generations of wine makers working within single appellations. Their knowledge of specific terroirs and grape varieties has, over time, perfected the production of wines within their region, and the end results continue to impress the world to this day.
Appellation: Saint Emilion
There are few wine regions in the world quite as famous or respected as France's Bordeaux, and within Bordeaux, the one sub-region which stands head and shoulders above the rest is Saint Emilion. This very special area benefits enormously from both fine climatic conditions and superb soils – mainly clay and gravel based – alongside the nutrients and moisture supplied by the ancient Gironde river. Most wineries in Saint Emilion blend Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot varietal grapes for the production of their blended red wines, but unblended bottles are also regularly produced, to extremely high standards. The region is one steeped in history and tradition, and remains one of France's premier wine producing regions recognized worldwide for its quality and excellence.