Chateau Saintayme 2021

Château Saintayme lies in Saint-Étienne-de-Lisse, a village within Saint-Émilion Grand Cru on the right bank of Bordeaux. The vineyards were leased and shaped by Denis Durantou, the acclaimed winemaker behind Château Les Cruzelles and Château Chenade, and the wine remains in that plush, precise idiom. This is a red made wholly from Merlot, the grape that thrives on the cooler, water-retentive clay and limestone soils of the right bank, which slow ripening and lend the fruit its fleshy texture and depth. After fermentation the wine spends fourteen months in barrel, where slow oxygen exchange through the oak softens and knits the tannins while adding measured spice and a cocoa tone; malolactic fermentation rounds the acidity into a broader, creamier shape. It is deep ruby in the glass, with aromas of ripe plum, dark cherry and cocoa framed by cedar and clove from the wood. The palate is supple and structured, the tannins fine-grained, with a savoury tobacco note on a long finish. Serve at 17 to 18 degrees and decant an hour ahead. Suited to roast lamb, beef and game.