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Let us not obsess over the position of the sails on the sailing boats as they passed this Chateau on their way to or from the local ports. The label shows the gryphon-fronted longboat that has apparently had the Chinese market in a ferment and more significantly, history records nearly a century and a half of underperformance. Things began to look up in the late 20th century. The mid-eighties saw an extremely important change of ownership as GMF. the French civil servants pension fund, gradually bought the estate before bringing in Suntory as a 40% partner in the business.
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It all began in 2006, when the Asseily family were captivated by the charm of then-neglected Chateau Biac. They call themselves ‘accidental’ winemakers. You might say their decision to throw over their lives and go to Bordeaux to make wine was impulsive. But the amount of work they have put in, the seriousness which they have undertaken it, and the sheer gusto with which they have thrown themselves up a forbiddingly steep learning curve are a wonder to behold. And all this work and all the learning are bearing fruit in the soaring quality of the wines.
Biac is a remarkable place.
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Branaire-Ducru was born in 1680. Prior to that, it had been part of the much larger Beychevelle estate. That estate was broken up to settle debts, and several smaller estates emerged. One was acquired by a Jean-Baptiste Braneyre, who gave his surname to it, but it would take another 200 years before a subsequent owner appended his own surname ‘Ducru’. By the early 20th century, this was a neglected, run-down property. Corporate investors stepped in after World War II; in 1988, a whole new era began when Patrick Maroteaux bought Branaire and invested time, money and energy improving it.
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There are three `Cantenacs` in the commune of Margaux, although `Brane` is more renowned than either Boyd or Brown. Brane-Cantenac lies to the west of the village of Cantenac, while the first half of its name comes from its early 19th century owner, the Baron de Brane, the nobility not being shy about having geography named after them. -
‘I make my wine at Lafite and Latour, but my heart is in Calon.’ The legend is that the Marquis de Segur, who owned all three of these properties, uttered these words in the eighteenth century and inspired the heart-shaped logo on bottles of Calon-Segur ever after. The good Marquis gave Calon-Segur half its name, but the other half had been around for quite some time. The estate was recorded as being in the hands of one Monseigneur de Calon, Bishop of Poitiers, in 1157. In other words, Calon-Segur, by the standards of the Medoc and St-Estephe in particular, is ancient.
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Situated on a choice bit of the St-Emilion plateau with a poor, thin, clay topsoil and fossil rich limestone motherlode, this challenging terroir is the birthplace of St-Emilion’s top performers. Canon is a classy, high-wire act. The vineyard is planted 70.30 Merlot/Cabernet Franc, and 10 per cent is on the cotes off the plateau. John Kolasa (ex of Chateau Latour) began the reinvention of Canon when he was appointed by the new owners, the Wertheimer brothers of Chanel.
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