Brilliant Haut-Medoc - Weeknight Red

BRILLIANT BORDEAUX BUY!

“It is relatively easy to find a great red wine for under $20 – we let you know you about them all the time! To find a great Bordeaux with loads of character that is clean and absolutely delicious for under $20, that is more like the holy grail. Yet that is what we have for you today, the 2014 Chateau Valentin Haut-Medoc. This is a satisfying and complete wine for only $18 that tastes like it could be twice the price. The nose is deep and evocative, with red plum, black currant, a hint of cassis, tobacco, and graphite. On the palate, it is silky-smooth, the tannins soft but not overly sweet. As velvety and palate-coating as it is, there’s enough acid to lend lift. This is a wine that could easily go with mid-week burgers or a steak dinner with friends. I know I am bringing home a case, you should too!” – Jim Knight, The Wine House

Check out our CLOSEOUT wines on our website! Quantities are limited to current stock and new closeout wines will be added regularly!

FROM THE IMPORTER

The vineyards for Château Valentin are south of Margaux in the commune of Macau in the greater Haut-Médoc. Marked by ancient glacial soils deposited from the Pyrenees and the Massif Central, these gravelly soils are Cabernet friendly. Valentin is handpicked Cabernet Sauvignon from 57 year-old vines, balanced by 10% of Merlot and 10% of Petit Verdot. In classic Sorge winemaking, fermentation begins in cement vats, and the wine is finished in 2 and 3 year-old barrels, reused from the Château Deyrem-Valentin wine; bottled unfiltered. Blackberry and plum preserved with a soft leathery texture and a pool of melted cigar tannins. This is addictive, rubber-stamp Bordeaux.

FROM THE WINERY

Area: 3 ha
Soil: calcareous clay
Average of the vine: 40 years old Planting density 10 000 vines/ha
Grape variety: 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37%, Petit Verdot, 20% Merlot
Viticulture: bud pruning, desuckering, defeafing manual and green harvest if necessary Ploughing, without chemicals
Harvest: 100% manual with selective sorting
Tasting the grape: every day are essential to an optimum maturity
Vinification: soft and delicate extraction by racking. Temperature of fermentation 25-26°c. Fermentation malolactic in a concrete tank
Aging: during 12 months in barrels

THE VINE

The vines of the Château Deyrem Valentin are located on an exceptional terroir, adjoining the most famous “grands crus” of Margaux. The Margaux appellation covers five villages including those of Soussans and Margaux where Jean Sorge’s estate is located. The ground is composed of deep gravelly soil. 13 hectares are dedicated to Château Deyrem Valentin and Château Soussans, and 2.5 hectares to Château Valentin in the Haut-Médoc area. All work on the vines is carried out with care by hand (cutting, pruning, leaf removal, harvesting).

At Deyrem Valentin, every effort is made to get the grapes to peak maturity: Leaf removal and green harvesting on the plot for better aeration of the bunches. After harvesting by hand, the crop is sorted twice, among the vines and in the wine cellar. In 2013, the purchase of a new harvesting reception system (Viniclean) with more rigorous grain-by-grain selection, has helped to make the wines more elegant and more refined and to have more aromatic richness.

WORK IN THE CELLAR

Winemaking is carried out in a traditional, piecemeal process in thermo-regulated vats. The process includes offloading. This operation consists of pumping the fermenting grape must into another vat which allows the pomace (skin and pips) to be crushed in the vat. The must is then re-pumped over the pomace to obtain a soft and delicate extraction. This operation is done twice a day during alcoholic fermentation. The temperature of alcoholic fermentation is between 26 and 28 degrees. The second fermentation, malolactic fermentation, is carried out in the vat for good homogeneity. An initial blending follows before racking into barrels. The final blending is done before bottling, which is carried out in May or June, two years after the harvest.

DEVELOPMENT

Collaboration with Hubert de Boüard
To always go above and beyond the best, Christelle Sorge enlisted the services of Hubert de Boüard Consulting, which is one of the major players in consultancy in the Bordeaux region.