Château Le Pin
Château Le Pin is a small winery in Pomerol , a wine-growing region in the Bordelais around Bordeaux in south-western France .
history
In 1924 Madame Loubie bought a small vineyard. The winery only covered one hectare until 1979. After the death of Madame Loubie, it was acquired by the Thienpont family, who also own the neighboring Vieux Château Certan . In 1984 0.3 hectares were bought and in 1985 the estate grew by a further 0.65 hectares. Instead of adding the vineyards to the Vieux Château Certan, the new owners decided to turn “Le Pin” into a new top-quality wine. As with the example of Château Pétrus , the name “Château” was omitted on the label. In fact, within a few years Le Pin was able to establish itself in the top tier of Pomerol. With the approach of creating an outstanding new wine on a tiny estate with uncompromising consistency, Le Pin became the first “ garage wine” of Bordeaux.
The wine
The estate's wine, known only as “Le Pin”, is one of the most expensive red wines in the world. A bottle of vintage 1990 for example, costs at least € 1,000 - can be provided that it ever arise. A maximum of 8,000 bottles are produced on the 2 hectare estate. With 92% Merlot This almost varietal wine is among the best that the appellation Pomerol has to offer. Its outstanding quality, especially from the end of the eighties, and the fact that this wine is only available in extremely small quantities, make it a sought-after object of speculation.
Manufacturing
The “Le Pin” owes its outstanding quality primarily to two facts: On the one hand, it has one of the best terroirs of the Pomerol plateau , a clay-soaked gravel soil on a ferrous limestone ground (“Crasse de Fer”). On the other hand, the wine is given every conceivable care: strict yield restriction to around 30 hectoliters per hectare, hand-picking, fermentation in stainless steel and aging exclusively in new barriques , in which the malolactic fermentation takes place. During the 18–24 months of barrel aging, the wine is drawn off every three months, refined with egg white and finally bottled without filtration.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Clive Coates : The wines of Bordeaux. Vintages and tasting notes 1952 - 2003 . 1st edition. University of California Press, 2004, ISBN 0-297-84317-6 , pp. 162 .