“Lagrave Martillac” Pessac-Leognan 2016

The name of the property comes from the tower located in the main courtyard of the castle; it is a remnant of a fort built in the 12th century by the ancestors of Montesquieu. The structure took a strategic position and controlled the route between Bordeaux and Toulouse. The stones of the fortress were used to build the existing castle at the end of the 18th century. In 1871, the property attracted the attention of Edouard Kressmann, who had just founded his own wine merchant business in Bordeaux and took over the whole process. In the early 1930s, Alfred Kresman and his son Jean, both with outstanding artistic talents, developed a label for their new wine. It was inspired by the Art Deco movement, which was very fashionable at the time, and created the famous design "gold and sandy stripes", which proudly decorate bottles to this day.

Cabernet Sauvignon wines shows a strong body, high acidity and high levels of tannins. A bouquet is very intensive, with black berries and spices. Very often these wines has great aging potential.

These are considered to be ones of the most complex and tasty wines of Bordeaux. White wines, mostly made from Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon grapes, are undoubtedly the best in Bordeaux with the ageing time of up 15 years. A red wine house that should be highlighted is Château Haut-Brion - one of the five cult wine houses from the 1855 classification. The soil here is rather sandy so wines are very aromatic. Winemakers use all the grapes allowed in the region in red wine blends.

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.