”Croix” Saint Estephe 2018

A wine merchant in Lille since 1804, the Cuvelier family set foot in the vineyards of Bordeaux with the acquisition of Château Le Crock in 1903. In 1947, Max Cuvelier moved to Bordeaux and established a second trading house: H. Cuvelier & Fils. His eldest son, Didier, took over the day-to-day management of the family estate from 1979. For 40 years he ruled the fate of the manors, ensuring the same care and equal precision in wine-making. Château La Croix Saint-Estèphe is the second wine of Château Le Crock, Château La Croix Saint-Estèphe wines have the same care as Château Le Crock in terms of viticulture. The wines at Château La Croix Saint-Estèphe are balanced and sophisticated. However, you could drink them a little earlier than at Château Le Crock.

A single-varietal Cabernet Franc wine has medium body and exhibit graphite, green bell pepper and red licorice notes, with darker wines showing more cigar and leather flavors.

Most wines from this sub-region are included in the Cru Bourgeois appellation. The soil is rather loamy and contains little gravel thus slowing down the water drainage. The vines here aren't fond of humidity which is why wine form this region shows the best results in hot harvest years. Wines are characterized by a juicy and fruity taste with soft tannins. The primary grape used in this region is Merlot that allows us to enjoy fairly young wines.

Bordeaux wines are considered to be the most prestige and renowned in the world. The region is mainly known for its dry red wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot grapes, and one can almost always find the word Château (French for „castle”) on Bordeaux wine labels. In order to understand the style of wine most desirable for your taste, it is recommended to try different samples from the Left as well as the Right Bank of The Gironde. Both banks differ not only with different soil, but also with the share of specific wines. There are several classifications in Bordeaux but the main one, introduced in 1855, hasn’t changed since and still impacts wine prices nowadays. A few years later, in 1936, an alternative classification system - Crus Bourgeois - was established. Bordeaux is known for a commerce praxis called en primeur - it means that a buyer can purchase wines immediately after harvest and prior to production for a substantially lower price, thus obtaining the opportunity to sell them for a larger profit later in the future. Bordeaux wines can be described as big, complex and with a strong character, but very friendly at the same time so that each and every wine lover could find something tasty and suitable for a great wine night.