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2015 Fronsac
Château Haut-LariveauOn a wintry day in January, our group piled into Grégoire and Bénédicte Hubau’s farmhouse for a much-anticipated lunch and tasting. While Grégoire tended to a rack of glistening fat-capped duck breasts roasting over open flames, the rest of us tasted his boldly ripe and energetic 2015 vintage—a perfect pairing, it turns out, for smoky magret de canard. In a region of winemakers-cum-businessmen, Grégoire’s passion and perspective are a treat. When asked about the blend, he will tell you that this single-varietal Fronsac is 50% Mer and 50% Lot. Not your typical response, but typical doesn’t interest him. Regarding the typicity of Fronsac, Grégoire shrugs and says, “I don’t make wine based on an appellation; I make wine based on what the soils tell me.”
—Jane Berg
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2015 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Merlot |
Appellation: | Fronsac |
Country: | France |
Region: | Bordeaux |
Producer: | Château Haut-Lariveau |
Winemaker: | Bénédicte & Grégoire Hubau |
Vineyard: | 60 years avg., 7.92 ha |
Soil: | Clay, Limestone and Clay, Gravel |
Aging: | 12- to 18-month élevage in barriques, 25% new |
Farming: | Organic (practicing) |
Alcohol: | 13% |
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About The Producer
Château Haut-Lariveau
About The Region
Bordeaux
Often considered the wine capital of the world, Bordeaux and its wines have captured the minds, hearts, and wallets of wine drinkers for centuries. For many, the wines provide an inalienable benchmark against which all other wines are measured.
Bordeaux is divided into three winegrowing regions with the city that gives the region its name in the near geographical center. The “right bank,” or the area located east of the Dordogne River, produces wines that are predominantly Merlot with small amounts of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The “left bank” is located to the west of the Garonne River and produces wines dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, with Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot.
The third region, Entre-Deux-Mers, lies between both rivers and produces white wines from Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and Muscadelle. Though technically in the left bank, it is worth noting the appellation of Sauternes, which produces arguably the world’s most famous sweet wines from Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and Muscadelle as well.
Though many top Bordeaux wines are sold en primeur (in advance of their bottling) and often through a middleman known as a negoçiant, Kermit has always preferred to purchase directly from the winemaker. For more than three decades he has sought out small producers, who make classic Bordeaux wines and are willing to play outside the negoçiant system. This ethic has led to longstanding relationships, excellent prices, and perhaps most important—wines of great value and longevity.
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Kermit once said...
Kermit once said...
Let the brett nerds retire into protective bubbles, and whenever they thirst for wine it can be passed in to them through a sterile filter. Those of us on the outside can continue to enjoy complex, natural, living wines.
Inspiring Thirst, page 236