Chateau Le Puy 'Emilien' 2021 750ml

FRANCE : BORDEAUX : FRANCS CÔTES DE BORDEAUX

BIODYNAMIC : Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère

MED-BODIED, DRIED CHERRIES, LEATHER, HERBS, DAMP EARTH, NEUTRAL OAK

The Amoreau family has farmed this estate — on the same plateau as Saint-Émilion and Pomerol, at the second-highest point in the Gironde — since 1610, fourteen generations without synthetic treatments. The 2021 is fermented by infusion in cement vats with indigenous yeast, no chaptalisation, no SO₂ during fermentation, then aged two years in old foudres and barrels. Nothing added, nothing taken away.

2021 was one of Bordeaux's most difficult vintages in memory — April frosts, mildew, hail, and rain at harvest kept yields far below average across every appellation. Biodynamically farmed estates weathered the year better than most. What made it through is aromatically expressive and freshly structured: less extracted than a warmer year, carrying more acidity and definition. Decant a few hours and it drinks well now; the bones are there to age another decade.

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