Château Carbonnieux 2007

The 2007 vintage in Pessac-Léognan

Vintage benchmark: 83/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: A cool, wet summer demanded strict selection: light, delicious wines, to be drunk young.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Pessac-Léognan. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

Dense, dark purple colour. The nose is not very intense and develops with swirling. The oak is well integrated with the fruit. On the palate the oak dominates without overwhelming the fruit. Tannins are clearly present with good density in the mouth. A very promising wine once it has melded.

Blend of the 2007 vintage

Figures from the 2007 sheet

• 13 % vol.Alcohol
• 27 yrsVine age
• 200,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

The winemaker's aim is to reveal the quality potential that results from precise and careful work in the vineyard. At Château Carbonnieux, winemaking is classic: everything is done to respect the fruit and to limit the negative effects of each handling. The final result must meet the objective of the 3 "F"s that define the Carbonnieux style: Fraîcheur (freshness), Fruité (fruitiness), Finesse. The organoleptic identity of each plot is now well established, which makes it possible to follow each batch very precisely up to the blending. Since the 1990s, Antony Perrin has applied the principles of modern oenology, on the advice of Professor Denis Dubourdieu, so as to leave nothing to chance.

Ageing

In barrels for 15 to 18 months (35 to 40% new)

Food pairings

Culinary advice: meat in sauce. Suggestion: beef bourguignon made with Bordeaux wine.

Terroir

A great terroir is a gift of Nature shaped by the work of men. The product of an original geological past, the Garonne gravel ridge of Château Carbonnieux has been under vine for more than seven centuries. The diversity of the soils along the slopes of this gravel "bean" offers a wide range of expression capable of producing exceptional white and red wines. Such a geological foundation guarantees complexity and breadth in the wines of this Pessac-Léognan Cru Classé. Today, the Carbonnieux estate covers 170 hectares of land at the gates of Bordeaux, of which the vines occupy 92 hectares in a single block, divided equally between red and white varieties.