From the Château Monbazillac tasting room to home. A worldwide known vineyard which holds many secrets!

The Château is symbolic of the Bergerac region and has stood proudly since the end of the 16^th century when the quality of its wines was well known far beyond the borders of Aquitaine. This constancy is remarkable in a region where wars, peasant revolts and revolution hardly allowed a moment’s peace for the aristocratic properties dotted about the landscape.

From the Château Monbazillac tasting room to home. Sweet dreams of wine for my sweetheart.🍏 💗 😚
These were favorites of ours. 
This Sweet yet dry 2011 Château Monbazillac 

SÉMILLON-SAUVIGNON BLANC BLEND

 can age for another 20 years pairs well with foie gras, confiture, and these noisette cookies perfectly. 

 

 

Facts: Producing a sweet wine needs to get in first full maturity of the grapes. This is primarily conditioned by the selection of plots with soils providing good permeability and good drainage of water. It is in the result of careful management of the plant with a minimum density of planting 4,000 vines per hectare a short size which limits the growing power of the plant, and a low yield of 30 hectolitres per hectare. The main grape varieties relatively early and mid force are Muscadelle, Sauvignon, Sauvignon Gris, and Sémillon.
#winelife #sweetwines #oldworldwine#Renaissance #somm #winewinewine#womeninwine #exploring #experience#lifeofanimporter #sipandtips

Round and full bodied reds and delicious sweet and dessert wines, delicate dry whites, and fruity roses, wines from Bergerac and Duras offer a style for every type of food.

The terroir

It is the action of Botrytis cinerea, that microscopic fungus, which transforms the grapes during warm autumn days so that they give up their wonderful sugars to these famous sweet wines.  Monbazillac wine, so renowned in the 17th century, benefitted from the exodus of Protestants to Holland following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The exiles became zealous promoters of these great sweet white wines, hugely appreciated by their hosts.  Four centuries later, Monbazillac still enjoys this reputation, thanks to the talent of its impassioned and determined winemakers, as well as the introduction of science which has enhanced the quality of the vineyard’s grands crus.

http://chateau-monbazillac.com/en/the-castle/the-terroir

The winemakers

The decision required careful consideration just 4 years after the deadly frosts of 1956 which had ravaged part of the vineyards.  The vote was a secret one and the result was 13 in favour out of 13 votes, so a unanimous decision.  These managers were good winemakers, but also not indifferent to arts and culture.  So the Château and its estate did not fall into unknown hands or under the umbrella of a speculative group.  Nowadays, this historic monument, open to the public, is managed by the children and grand-children of those winemakers, all striving to preserve the Château and make it accessible to as many people as possible.

Facts: It is in a second time ripeness that produces grapes suitable for winemaking sweet wines. It is related to the combination of topographic and climatic conditions very particular found together in a very short .In autumn sites oceanic influence promotes dew, mists or the morning fog that will stagnate at the bottom of hillsides which will be followed by beautiful sunny afternoon. The moisture content is between 85% and 90% and promotes the development of botrytis cinerea whose activity is greatly slowed by the heat of the afternoon.

The best soils, located in northern slope towards the valley of the Dordogne, longer benefit from the conditions of humidity at daybreak; they produce the most concentrated wine. The plateau and the southern slope, submitted in the day to sunlight are less precocious and will produce wines with less sap.

To perpetuate the old practices and to facilitate the extraction of juice pressing, the grapes are placed whole in the press. The wines get their fullness after a few months and they are subject to a breeding until at least 31 May of the year following the harvest.

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xoxo Game of Seasons

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