On a trip to Bordeaux last Spring, I spent a wonderful afternoon with the father-daughter team at Chateau Simon. It is always exciting to discover a great new wine. Even more exciting when that great wine is also a terrific value.
From the Bordeaux appellation of Graves, this
Chateau Simon blanc brims with clean white fruit, concentration and freshness.
Thank goodness it's low in alcohol because an extra glass is definitely in the cards when the bottle you're lingering over is this Chateau Simon Graves. This wine is both complex and and a pleasure to drink.
It is
50% Sauvignon Blanc and 50% Semillon but my feeling is that the blend tastes as though it is heavier on the Sauvignon Blanc than that - lots of notes of citrus and touches of white flowers. It is very well balanced and the 30% oak treatment is restrained but adds a pleasing roundness.
This a completely new wine area for us. But it was worth the hunt to find this crisp white from the area south of the city of Bordeaux better known for Sauternes. The wine is lively, with all sorts of tropical fruit tastes -- grapefruit, melon, lemon-lime. It also provides
juicy acidity that's quite mouthwatering. But difference from most Sauvignon Blancs is its complexity. There is something about good Graves -- their blend, their soil -- that gives them a particular little grace-note of subtlety and richness. This adds texture and class and makes them particularly good food wines.
In Bordeaux, Graves is on the Left Bank of the Garonne River. The appellation is called Graves because the soil is intensely gravelly - as a result of Ice Age glacier traffic. The Dufour family has been making wine at Chateau Simon since 1814 on these unique soils. They still
hand-pick the grapes for this wine and they practice
reasoned agriculture. Reasoned agriculture improves the quality of the wine and also helps protect the environment and the health of their loyal imbibers.
This wine has the stuff to be your house white. It's a bottle you'll reach for again and again. I tasted dozens upon dozens of white Bordeaux wines as I searched for this wine, and this Graves from Chateau Simon soared above the rest. They don't make much of it, get your case while you can. -Margot Hurley, Cynthia Hurley French Wines
TO ORDER: Simply reply to this email or call the store at 781-934-2033. The wine is not yet in the store (we don't have the room!), it will be ordered for you and we'll give you a call when it arrives in about a week. The minimum purchase is a 12-bottle case. We are happy to deliver your case within Duxbury free of charge.
-Richard Marble
THE DETAILS:
Chateau Simon
Graves Blanc 2014
$203.88 per 12-bottle case ($16.99)
This low price reflects a 15% discount!
