Description
Clos Lunelles located in the Cotes de Bordeaux appellation was acquired by Gerard Perse and Chantal Perse in 2001. By that point in time, the Perse family was already well-known in Bordeaux for owning numerous estates including Chateau Pavie and Chateau Monbousquet.
The Clos Lunelles 8.5 hectare vineyard is planted to 80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cabernet Franc. The vineyard has a terroir of clay and limestone soils. The vines are well placed on the peak of the limestone plateau in Cotes de Castillon. The vineyard of Clos Lunelles is planted to a vine density of 5,500 vines per hectare. The vineyard has old vines. In fact, the average age of the vines at Clos Lunelles are close to an impressive 45 of age. Yields are always kept low at Clos Lunelles. To accomplish this, the vines are crop-thinned, deleafed, hand-harvested and table-sorted. To produce the wine of Clos Lunelles, extensive labor is involved. In fact, Clos Lunelles is one of the most labor intensive wines to produce in the entire appellation.
To produce the wine of Clos Lunelles, the vinification process starts with an eight day cold soak at 9 degrees Celsius. Next, the juice is fermented in temperature controlled, stainless steel vats for a maceration period that lasts close to 32 days. Malolactic fermentation takes place in 50% new, French oak barrels. The wine of Clos Lunelles is aged in 60% new French oak barrels for between 18 to 24 months. During the aging process, the wine of Clos Lunelles is aged on its lees for the first four months.
Tasting Note
One of the bigger, more tannic and powerful wines of the vintage, although it is only 14.4% alcohol, which puts it well below some of the blockbusters in the Cotes de Castillon, this wine exhibits wonderfully pure black raspberry, black cherry and graphite notes intermixed with hints of cedar and liquorice, in a medium to full-bodied, slightly softer and less extracted style than usual. This is another sleeper of the vintage that should drink nicely for up to a decade. The Perse family finally dropped the -Les- from the name of this estate, which should make it easier to remember. The 2010, a blend of 80% Merlot and the rest equal parts Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, was produced from absurdly low yields of 25 hectolitres per hectare. [91 points, Robert M. Parker Jr. – February 2013, robertparker.com]
