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France

Grand Enclos du Château de Cérons Blanc Sec 2006, A.C. Graves Blanc Sec  **HERITAGE WINE**
Color: deep yellow - green.
Nose: very expressive, fresh, with obvious wood, spices, vanilla, minerals, very clean and pure, lots of nuances of citrus fruit, some yeast, great elegance, perfect balance between fresh fruit, minerals and wood, lots of breed and depth, complexity, great nose, impressive, yet elegantly refreshing.
Taste: dry, fresh, round, elegant, good concentration, with loads of minerals, (citrus)fruit, spicy wood, but also soft and mild, rich and compact,  beautiful freshness combined with strong and great elegance, very pure and clean style, very present, but not dominating wood, excellent balance.
Finish: quite long, intense, elegant, very fresh and clean, with minerals, a whiff of honey, hops and cloves. Clean and refreshing.

* This is a rare, impressive white dry Graves. It is the freshness and elegance that impresses most, there is depth, concentration, refinement and lots of fruit and minerals along with quite a lot of oak, but it is all so well balanced and refreshing it is impossible not to fall in love with it.  Just a great and perfect wine, a modern classic. Very good vineyard, good vintage, great winemaker.

- Ready to drink now, will keep a few more years, but I doubt if it will increase in complexity, besides, it now is so deliciously balanced, you do not need to wait much longer.

Dry white Graves are not so popular as their red brothers. I must admit I have tasted many uninteresting white specimens from this region. Producers tend to concentrate on red in this part of Bordeaux, because perhaps consumers / wine critics are concentrating on red wines. This wine shows what a pity it is not more producers of dry white Graves have chosen to follow the "quality route". This wine is quite unique in its character. It is hard to find a very similar wine from elsewhere in the world. The elegance and mineral style combined with the very good intensity is very specifically Bordeaux. We seem to have lost that knowledge. Oaked Chardonnay is the norm now.  Rediscover this identity and the potential for producing white wines in Graves.  Let me be frank and honest on this wine: it is produced from a very good vineyard, but not a top terroir. Therefore it lacks the complexity of the big names, its lacks the depth and impressive nuances of the top Cru's of the Graves, but this wine is of very high quality and both the vineyard manager aswell as the winemaker got everything right in 2006. This producer has managed to increase quality every consequent year. A great joy to taste and drink. This is also the case with his equally excellent red Graves.This is what more Bordelais should do with their precious terroir.
Produced from 55% Sémillon and 45% Sauvignon Blanc. The Sauvignon was fermented and matured in stainless steel tanks to preserve freshness of aromas after one night maceration on the skins to extract color and varietal expression. The Sémillon was 100% barrel fermented and aged for 10 to 12 months in 40% new french oak and 60% in 1 year old barriques, with bâtonnage twice a week until Christmas and once a week to once every two weeks until Easter. Interestingly: 50% of the Semillon were allowed to have a malolactic fermentation adding extra complexity, smoothness and depth to the wine.
 

- lotnr.: L 001
- tasted: 17-02-’09
- estimated retail price ca. € 15,00
-  production: 
- Grand Enclos du Château de Cérons, 33720 Cérons, Francis Unique, export manager, tel: +33 5 56 27 01 53 ; mob: +33 613 590 649 ; fax: +33 5 56 27 08 86 ; e-mail: funique.grandenclos@orange.fr