Try that wine

Château Caronne Ste Gemme 2007 ( Cru Bourgeois Superior) Bordeaux is from the vineyard of Caronne Ste-Gemme is made up of 45 hectares in the central Médoc in the left bank of Bordeaux planted on a mound of gravel with a base of iron-rich sandstone. Plantings consist of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot and the average vine age is 25 years planted at a density of 10000 vines/ha. François Nony   has introduced green harvesting in the vineyard to reduce the yield and increase the quality of the resultant grapes, after fermentation the resultant wine is matured in oak ( 20% new) for 12 months, racked, and fined with egg whites before bottling.



On the nose, green pepper, black fruits and sweet spices mix contentedly with wood shavings, these follow through to the palate, with tannins ripe, but chewy, savoury and chalky, the alcohol is warming but well integrated, and the body feels settled with the fruit, this is a well structured wine, fruit jostles for space with the spice and leather, the length, long and sweet spicy fruits - a wine that tells you where it came from and that it has been made with care - thankyou!
£12.99 from when on offer Majestic, a good value wine which still has time to improve in bottle - but it is lovely now!

Cru Bourgeois  - what does this term mean.

In the 1855 classification of the Medoc, many properties ( Chateau) that were not included. In 1932 a selection of 444 properties were put forward for classification, and this was split into 3 seperate classifications Cru Bourgeois , Cru Bourgeois Superior and Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel.

In 2003 there was a shake-up of the whole Cru Bourgeois system with the numbers contained in the ranks reduced to 247, this was legally challenged and so annulled by some of those that had been relegated/demoted. The list was to be Exceptionnel (9 properties), Supérieurs (87 properties) and straight Bourgeois (151 properties).

In 2010 in response to the 2003 annulment a new certification adopting the term Label Cru Bourgeois, was created "not as a classification, but as a mark of quality" open to all Medoc wines, based on production and quality standards, and assessed by an independent body. It was to include 180 estates from the defunct 2003 ranking, along with 95 new entrants.

The revision demanded that estates adhere to a new set of production rules and independent quality testing in order to remain in the classification, and the terms Cru Bourgeois Supérieur or Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel would no longer be used. Of the 290 producers who applied for Cru Bourgeois status for their 2008 wine, 243 were successful. In September 2011, the 2009 classification was announced. Of 304 applicants, 246 were successful