Closerie du Chene 'Christiana' 2019 Saint Emilion

750ml bottle

14% abv

Juicy dark plum and black cherry, gentle spice, and a little cedar. Medium-full but elegant, with soft, fine tannins and a clean, slate-mineral finish. Fresh, balanced, quietly natural-feeling Bordeaux without heaviness. Drink now with a short decant.

Small-production, organic Saint-Émilion blending vibrant dark fruit with elegant tannins and a clean, mineral edge. Native-yeast fermented and aged in amphora and barrel with very low sulfur, it delivers a refined, quietly natural take on right-bank Bordeaux. A rare, soulful bottle from a 1.15-hectare estate.

Viticulture: Organic certified (AB)
Size: 1.15 hectares
Terroir: Iron-rich Clay, sand, limestone

The 2019 vintage was notably warm, with some significant mildew pressure and intense frost.

Primarily Merlot vinified in her cousin's cellar and there were fewer pump-overs, less racking, and more resting in the bottle (less barrel) than the previous/first vintage. The wine is classic in style and very much reflective of the region and appellation. The ‘19 did not receive Grand Cru status, hence it's not on the bottle for this vintage.  

Fully destemmed, 18 months in barrel, and under 20 ppm of sulfur.

After a career in Aeronautics for Christian, and in cultural events and associative world for Catherine, the Paris-based couple, parents of one of Guilhaume's dearest friends Bertrand Grebaut of Septime's fame, the couple decided to move to Saint Christophe des Bardes in the Libournais, and take over a small hectare of vines planted in 1956, on the "cote nord" of the AOC, inherited from Catherine's family. "The idea was to get the best quality grapes to make it as easy as possible to vinify" and so they started "gardening" their plot, hoping to one day make a wine they could all be happy with.

The project starts in 2015 when Catherine and Christian start getting their hands dirty, but still had to provide the local cooperative their fruit, tied to a contract.

Right away they start converting the plot to organic viticulture, when sadly in the beginning of 2016 Christian suddenly passes away.
Catherine decides to keep going and for the next three vintages, she not only converts her terroir to certified organic but makes one of the great wines of her appellation, following the principles of natural winemaking, naturally fermented, low sulfur the first year and zero sulfur the last. 
Being alone and going through some medical issues, Catherine and Bertrand decided to call it quits with the 2020 vintage, releasing all their wines to us at the same time.

Rarely has Saint Emilion been so joyful and drinkable so young.

Using a mix of stainless, barriques, and amphora (2018 vintage), Catherine managed to strike a fine balance between seriousness, ageability, and immediate pleasure that is not often seen in the grand cru.