Château LOUDENNE 2014
Château Loudenne is located in Saint-Yzans-de-Médoc, in the Médoc of the Bordeaux wine region. The chateau was built in 1670 by a noble Bordeaux family, and was expanded in 1875 by two British merchants, Alfred and Walter Gilbey . At the time, the port of Loudenne made it possible to ship wines by sea to London and the rest of the world. They built a very modern cellar for the time and made the estate an essential living and reception area. Today, the property extends over 132 hectares of which 62 hectares are intended for vines, the rest being salt meadows intended for the extensive breeding of oxen and sheep in compliance with the Natura 2000 charter. rich in gravel which impoverishes the soil allows the production of small, very concentrated berries. Château Loudenne is owned by Chinese spirits group Moutai and Camus , the house of Cognac. Since 2017, Loudenne has been HVE 3 certified and a process of conversion to organic farming is underway.
Loudenne Le Château 2014 is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot harvested manually. The grapes are sorted in the vineyard then on a vibrating table on arrival at the cellar. They are transferred by gravity to temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks where fermentation takes place. The malolactic fermentation is carried out in barrels. The wine is aged for 12 to 16 months in French oak barrels , 33% of which are new.
The winter of the 2014 vintage was mild and very rainy, which favored an early budburst. However, the cool spring slowed the development of the vine. July and August were also cool and regularly wet, with occasional hot episodes over a few days. Beautiful sunshine in September and stable weather over several weeks allowed the grapes to ripen well. The North Médoc and Loudenne were spared by the corridor of rain and thunderstorms that hit Saint-Estèphe and Pauillac during the harvest.
Grapes: 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Merlot