Chateau Bouscaut

The history of Chateau Bouscaut dates back to the 16^th century, but it was then under the name of Haut Truchon. A fire devastated the estate except the tower at one end and the cellars in 1960, leading to a complete reconstruction of the buildings.

It was only during the 20^th century that Bouscaut developed a strong reputation, turning out some good wines between the two World Wars. During that time the owners acquired the neighbor Chateau Valoux. The estate was part of the 1959 Graves classification, during the tenure of Victor Place.

He sold the property in 1968 to a group of American investors, which spent little more than a decade, renovating the chateau and vineyard. In 1979 the Americans sold the property to Lucien Lurton, whose family remained at the helm till today, with Lucien’s daughter and son-in-law Laurent Coglombes taking over in 1997.

Under the Lurtons there was continual development, with a new circular vat room. In 1999 the nearby Chateau Lamothe-Bouscaut was acquired, with new fermentation room and new cement tanks, added in 2002. The vineyards consist of clay and gravelly soil over limestone rock, with a total of 54 hectares.

Majority of the vines are red, with 47% hectares of 55% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Malbec. Remaining 7 hectares are equally split between Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. The planting density is 7200 vines per hectare, with average age of vine approaching 40 years, but there are some over 100 years of age.

Manually harvested, the must is fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel and cement vats for reds, and a cooler ferment in oak for the whites. The reds see up to 18 months in oak while the whites up to one year with regular batonnage. The grand vin is Chateau Bouscaut with 8000 cases for red and 2000 cases for white. A second wine Les Chenes de Bouscaut is available.

I have recently tasted the 2008 vintage of both the red and white, and below are my tasting notes:

Appearance

Bright and clear, it has medium intensity ruby color, with garnet/brownish rims.

Nose

Clean, with medium intensity aromas showing black fruit of plum, cassis and some dark cherries, sweet spice of cloves, pungent spice of licorice, MLF notes of cream, animal notes of meaty, maturity notes of tobacco. The wine is developing.

Palate

Dry with medium (+) acidity, high tannin which is quite gripping on texture, the wine has medium (+) alcohol, with medium body and medium intensity flavors of black fruit such as plum, dark cherries and blackberry, sweet spice of cloves, oak notes of toast, maturity notes of sweet tobacco. The wine has a medium finish.

Conclusion

First impression I got when tasting this wine is that it is a right bank, with a high proportion of Merlot in the blend. It came to me in big surprise that it is in fact from the left bank, and more so from Pessac-Leognan. The wine is of acceptable quality, with reasonably concentrated nose showing fair degree of complexity. The palate is a bit disappointing for me, with too much tartness and a rather non-typical style from the commune. But otherwise the wine is still of reasonable on the flavor intensity and length. Ready to drink now, it can benefit from further ageing of another 2-3 years.

Appearance

Bright and clear, it has medium intensity gold color, with legs.

Nose

Clean, with medium (+) intensity aromas showing ripe green fruit of custard apple and gooseberry, mineral notes of waxy and lanolin, floral notes of nectarine, dairy notes of butter, maturity notes of honey. The wine is developing.

Palate

Dry with medium (+) acidity, the wine has medium alcohol, with medium (+) body and medium (+) intensity flavors of green fruit of ripe pear and gooseberry, maturity notes of honey, dairy notes of cream, herbaceous notes of straw. The wine has a medium finish.

Conclusion

Good quality Pessac-Leognan showing a typical Bordeaux white style, with fairly intense nose showing good complexity, the wine has good acidity and structure, with a freshness of fruit balancing well with oak and other development characters, having good concentration and a reasonable length on the finish. The wine is ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 2-3 years.