Château Cambon La Pelouse Haut-Médoc 2018

“We can attest that it is one of the longest-standing in the area and its products contributed substantially in the past to building the reputation in France and abroad of Médoc wines. When sent to England at the end of the 17th century, they commanded a price of 400 French livres for a 900-litre barrel and more.” The older editions of the Féret GuideMr. de Cambon first made this wine, which has been preferred by wine lovers for centuries ever since. Annick, Jean-Pierre Marie and their son Nicolas have been responsible for the place’s destiny since 1996 and have completely refashioned the estate with equipment worthy of a grand cru and adopting an approach to winemaking inspired by love, creativity and foresight.

Terroir : The soil is composed of sandy gravels with large pebbles from the quaternary. This very deep layer of gravels provides effective drainage and also contributes to warming the ground and then to the ripening of the grapes. 

Winemaking : Ripeness is checked every day by tasting and by analysing the grapes. On the great day, the harvested fruit is screened twice on sorting tables. 8 pairs of hands get busy, picking out the fragments of vegetation and foreign bodies that remain. The juice from the transporter and the sorting tables is then put aside. In the winery, there are thirty temperature-regulated stainless steel tanks of different sizes ranging from 88 hectolitres to 200 hectolitres. For more than ten years, the winery has adopted the practice of letting the must settle from fruit that was mechanically harvested. The grapes are also allow to macerate for six to eight days at 4 to 5°C (39 to 41°F) prior to fermentation. The equipment enables the winery to regulate the vinification temperature according to the condition of the fruit. Further maceration after fermentation finishes lasts for two to three weeks and contributes colour stability to the wine while improving the quality of its tannins.The ambition is to produce balanced wines that are characteristic of the appellation and representative of the South Medoc terroir. 

2018 Vintage :

After a rainy winter and a mild and wet spring, the vegetative cycle of the vine was interrupted by a very strong onset of mildew. Plenty of work was carried out by the technical teams at Château Cambon La Pelouse to save the vines. The radical change of climate at the beginning of July allowed for the best. The harvest took place under perfect conditions, yielding beautiful Merlot and Cabernet.

A beautiful reference of the Haut-Médoc, Château Cambon La Pelouse is located on the Left Bank of Bordeaux. The vineyard covers 39 hectares of vineyards, planted on gravel and Quaternary sand soils. Since 2018, Château Cambon La Pelouse has had a HVE level 3 certification.

Cambon La Pelouse is gorgeous in 2018. Pliant, creamy and enveloping, the 2018 is already quite delicious, even in the early going. Sweet red cherry jam, mocha, licorice and spice build as this super-expressive Haut-Médoc Cru Bourgeois shows off its alluring personality. In 2018 Cambon La Pelouse offers tons of appeal. The blend is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot.

The beautiful ripeness of the fruit with its freshness show promise of a great vintage for Château Cambon La Pelouse 2018.

Awards:

92 Decanter

92 Wine Advocate

92 James Suckling

91 Wine Spectator

91 Vinous Media