Wine Review Short #22: A Lady winemaker on the right bank – Chateau La Couspaude, St. Emilion

Posted by princeofwine in Featured Articles, Wine Review Shorts on 05 1st, 2009 | no responses

An interview with Ms. Vanessa Aubert of Chateau La Couspaude, of the town of St Emilion regarding the 2006 Vintage. Ms. Aubert is part of a family of winemakers that has worked hard to earn this Chateau a coveted Grande Cru classification in 1996. The Chateau’s soil is clay/limestone with a Chalky sub-soil that supports a predominance of 30 year old Merlot plants. The Chateau’s philosophy regarding reinvigorating the vineyard is complantation (selective /individual replacement of vines rather than removal and replanting of a whole block of vines).
Whilst the 2005 Vintage is complex and early to drink, the 2006 is accessible and has an outstanding bouquet of red fruit intertwined with earthy notes and a very pleasing texture with smooth tannins and a long finish (POW 93). This remarkable wine epitomizes St Emilion and reminds me why I love the right bank of Bordeaux!

Technical Information:
Area under production: 7 hectares ( a hectare is approximately 2.47 acres)
Grape varieties: 75 % merlot, 20 % cabernet franc, 5 % cabernet sauvignon
Average age: 30 years
Type of soil: Saint-Emilion chalky shelf, clay-limestone
Planting density: 6500 shoots/ha
Vinegrowing: Vineyard management plot by plot, severe pruning, leaf thining, bunch thining, hand picking into small crates and carefully sorted prior to crushing.
Winemaking: Wooden small fermenting vats, cold maceration, catch the cap by hand, malolactic fermentation in new French oak barrels, ageing 18 – 20 months.
Yield: 30 – 35 hectolitres/hectare ( a hectare is approximately 2.47 acres)
Winemaker: Jean-Claude Aubert / Vanessa Aubert
Consultant: Michel Rolland

Walid Romaya
Prince of Wine
http://princeofwine.com