AOC Pessac-Léognan - Cru Classé de Graves
Château Couhins-Lurton is the emblematic estate of the André Lurton family. With a clay-limestone terroir unique to the appellation, the château produces Sauvignon Blancs with outstanding aromatic profiles bursting with fruit and hints of salinity, which age terrifically.
Cépages
Sauvignon blanc : 100%
Teneur en alcool
13.5% vol.
Conditions météorologiques
Spring was very trying, with considerable rainfall leading to fungal diseases of all sorts. This called for very close attention in the vines until the 14th of July, when the weather changed durably for the better.
Vendanges
09/05/2012
Dégustation
Very pale colour with golden highlights. Many people consider Couhins-Lurton a reference for age-worthy white wines.
The 2012 vintage is very subtle at the moment, with a delicate bouquet of broom flowers and acacia blossoms. It is clearly marked by Sauvignon Blanc, the sole variety used to make this beautiful, very elegant wine. The nose is rather closed-in, but will undoubtedly open up to reveal its intrinsic complexity after a few months in bottle.
The wine proves to be quite elegant on the palate as well, with the cut and precision that is virtually inimitable in other countries around the world where the grapes grow too quickly. The flavours fill out beautifully on the palate, with surprising citrus nuances. The wine really has many of the aromas of fresh fruit. These will become more deep and subtle with age, with hints of brioche, butter, and warm stones typical of the appellation's greatest terroirs. It may even become quasi-immortal, because it is not rare to uncork a 30-year-old Couhins-Lurton that marries beautifully with fine food.
Terroir
Gravel, sand and gravel, on a subsoil of limestone.
Vigne
Pruning type: Double guyot with debudding.
Grape Harvest: By hand in several passes.
Vinification
After pressing and settling, in oak barrels (30% new).
Elevage
For 10 months in oak barrels on full lees with bâtonnage.
Service
Serve between 8°C and 11°C
Potentiel de garde
10 to 15 years
Accords gourmands
Sole gratiné with old Comté cheese, veal entrecote steak with truffles, golden brown veal sweetbreads.
Château Couhins-Lurton is the smallest of our family estates, but also the smallest of the Graves Crus Classés. Nestled on a unique clay-limestone terroir, it gives birth to Sauvignon Blancs of great minerality and to greedy, fruity Merlots. Thanks to their good acidity and low pH, these white and red wines stand out for their freshness and exceptional ageing potential, true signatures of great Bordeaux wines.
