Grand Village Rouge 2022

Grand Village is the family home of the Guinaudeaus, who also own the celebrated Château Lafleur, and this Bordeaux Supérieur is worked by the same team. The estate sits at Mouillac, across from Fronsac, on clay soils that suit Merlot and give the wine its round, fleshy core. Merlot leads the blend, with a smaller share of Cabernet Franc adding lift, red fruit and a leafy, savoury edge. The clay stays cool and holds moisture, feeding steady ripening and the ripe dark fruit that marks right-bank Bordeaux. The wine ages twenty months in French oak, where slow oxygen exchange knits the tannin together and adds a cedar and cocoa frame around the fruit. The colour is deep ruby. The nose shows ripe plum and black cherry over tobacco, cedar and a touch of earth. The palate is medium to full bodied, with fine-grained tannin, fresh acidity and a long, savoury finish. This drinks well now and will hold for several years. Decant it thirty minutes ahead and serve at 16 to 18 degrees. It suits roast beef, lamb and game.