St-Estephe

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. Yesterday we discussed the oldest wine area in the famed Bordeaux region of France, Saint-Emilion. Today we are going to investigate another famous area in Bordeaux, the area Medoc and the wines of St. Estephe.

Bordeaux is a wine region in France where many of the most famous wines in the world come from. The Bordeaux region is broken up into areas which specialize in wines made from blending the Bordeaux varieties. St. Estephe is the northernmost of the communes in the Northern Haut-Medoc area. Although there are no premier crus, which are prestigious first growths, in the area – the southern most chateau is known today as Chateau Cos, and is a second growth separated from the famed Chateau Lafitte Rothschild by only a stream. So as you might imagine, very often it produces wine of first growth quality. The wines are made from the typical grapes of the Bordeaux region Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Carmenere and Malbec. Overall the wines of St. Estephe mature very slowly. They are rich and tannic with a somewhat high acidity – making them a bit rough when young and smoother as they age. They are fabulous with red meat especially game and gouda cheese. As with the wines we discussed yesterday, from Saint-Emilion, I recommend you ask the advice of your wine merchant when purchasing wines from this area, and thank you for joining me on today’s Vine to Wine.