2019 L'Hêtre Castillon

When Jacques Thienpont visited this estate in the Côtes de Castillon during the 2015 harvest, he was immediately struck by its great location and breathtaking view, situated at the end of the limestone plateau running east from Saint Emilion. Of course we know Jacques van Thienpont from Le Pin

A Belgian couple, Stéphane and Béatrice Goubau, had owned the castle for ten years and named it after their family: "Château Goubau". During this time they converted the estate to organic farming. It consists of 10 hectares of vineyards surrounded by forests and meadows; a varied and rich biotope, located at an altitude of 100 m on the plateau of Saint Philippe d'Aiguilhe, the highest point of the Bordeaux region.

Together with his sister, Anne De Raeymaeker, Jacques decided to purchase the domain as an investment for the two related branches of the Thienpont family. The following year, in 2017, the families had the opportunity to purchase the adjacent domain, Chateau Montagne, a 25-hectare estate with an impressive chateau, including the potential to plant a further 10 hectares of vineyards.

The families hired Maxime Thienpont, their cousin who had grown up on another family estate, Chateau Labegorce Zédé in Margaux, as administrator and renamed the estate L'Hêtre (the name of a beech tree in French), thus continuing the tree theme that Jacques has used for all his possessions.

The vineyards have a good southeast orientation, a continuous gentle breeze and are distributed between the limestone plateau and a mixture of clay, limestone and limestone slopes. The wines are fermented in concrete and oak barrels and aged in a mixture of one third new oak, one third one year and one third second year barrels. Although the Thienponts have aged the 2015 vintage, the 2016 vintage was the first to be made entirely by the new owners and is therefore the first to bear the new name: L'Hêtre. The artwork for the labels was created by the Belgian artist Anne Van Hereweghen.

The 2019 l'Hêtre is a blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc and matured for 15 months in oak barrels. It has a dark purple color; fresh and sweet on the nose with a good expression of autumn fruit; on the attack the wine is firm and rich with good, ripe tannins and a round, silky structure; in the mouth the wine is fresh and spicy. A wonderfully beautiful organic bordeaux with an excellent price/quality ratio. The wine comes from the plots located on the limestone plateau of the domain, from 20-year-old vines grown organically and certified by Ecocert.