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Millésime 2017

Millésime 2017
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Château Charmail 2017

The 2017 Charmail vintage has a charming and approachable personality, marked by its elegance and subtle complexity. Despite the challenges faced during the growing season, this vintage emerged with a bright and fresh character, offering juicy fruit flavors balanced by well-integrated tannins. It's a vintage that surprises with its density and precision, proving that even in a year of adversity, excellence can be achieved. The 2017 Charmail is versatile, making it suitable for both casual enjoyment and more refined occasions, always delivering a pleasant and balanced experience.

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Tasting notes

A Year of Innovation

  • Appearance: Bright ruby with purple hues.
  • Nose: Fresh aromas of red berries—raspberries and cranberries—combined with floral hints of violets and herbs like sage.
  • Palate: Light and fresh, with smooth tannins and juicy red fruits on the palate. The wine showcases elegance and balance, with a touch of minerality and a subtle spice finish. This vintage saw the first introduction of aging in concrete egg-shaped vats, adding a unique texture.
Key wine facts
  • Country of Origin: France
  • Region of Origin: Bordeaux, Left bank
  • Appellation: Haut-Médoc
  • Varietals: 40% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, 8% Petit Verdot
  • Type: Red Wine
  • Alcohol Content: 14% ABV
  • Vine Age: 32 years
  • Terroir: Clay gravels
  • Viticulture: Soil work, Manual leaf stripping, Green harvest
  • Harvest: 100% Manual, from September 18th to October 2nd 2017.
  • Vinification: Cold pre-fermentation maceration (15 days at 5 degrees), extraction at a maximum of 26 degrees, stopping extraction around a density of 1030.
  • Aging: 12 months of aging in French oak barrels, with 30% new barrels and 70% barrels that were used for the previous vintage.
  • Oenologist: Hubert de Boüard
  • Production: 166,000 bottles of 1st wine

Poured at

  • Critic

    Reviews

    Jeb Dunnuck
    91

    “From an estate nest to Sociando Mallet, north of Saint-Estephe, the 2017 Chateau Charmail is brilliant stuff and certainly an outstanding wine. Showing a medium-bodied, elegant profile as well as perfumed cassis fruits and hints of earth, it’s not a blockbuster, but it has an outstanding mid-palate, terrific balance, and a great, seamless finish. A blend of 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, aged 12 months in one-third new French oak, it’s well worth a multi-bottle purchase and will drink well for 10-15 years.”

  • Critic

    Reviews

    James Suckling
    90

    “This has a very fresh and violet-like, floral nose with purple fruit. The palate has assertive tannin and a swathe of vivid and quite concentrated flavors of blueberries and plums. Drink or hold.”

  • Critic

    Reviews

    Wine Enthusiast

    “This wine is generous and structured, still young with its tannins while promising a good future. The blackberry flavors and acidity already show the fruitiness balancing the tannins. Drink from 2022.”

From Vine to Wine

Viticulture
Chateau Charmail Viticulture

2017 was a year of extremes, with the infamous frost in late April severely affecting many vineyards in Bordeaux. Fortunately, Château Charmail’s proximity to the Gironde estuary provided a protective buffer, sparing much of the estate from the worst damage. Summer brought dry conditions with sporadic rainfall, allowing the vines to regain their balance. The clay-limestone soils retained enough moisture to sustain the Merlot through the hot spells, while the well-drained gravel plots ensured the Cabernets flourished despite the challenging conditions.

Harvest
Chateau Charmail Harvest

The harvest in 2017 was relatively early, beginning on September 18th, and was marked by careful precision. The earlier ripening Merlot came in first, followed by the Cabernets and Petit Verdot. Despite the challenging year, the grapes were harvested in excellent condition, thanks to rigorous sorting in both the vineyard and the winery. This ensured that only the best fruit made it into the final blend, resulting in a vintage with vibrant freshness and elegance.

Vinification
Chateau Charmail Vinification

In 2017, vinification focused on extracting purity and elegance from the fruit. Cold maceration lasted for 10 days, followed by fermentation at moderate temperatures. The aim was to capture the delicate aromatics and finesse of the vintage, with minimal intervention. The result is a wine that expresses the fresh, fruity character of the year, with well-integrated tannins that promise graceful aging.

Aging
Chateau Charmail Agin

The 2017 vintage marked a turning point in Château Charmail’s aging process. For the first time, 3% of the wine was aged in concrete egg-shaped vats, while the remaining 97% was aged in 225L oak barrels, with 33% new oak. The concrete eggs allowed the wine to evolve more naturally, preserving its vibrant character, while the oak added depth and complexity. This blend of aging techniques resulted in a balanced wine with both freshness and complexity, showing Charmail’s innovative spirit alongside its commitment to tradition.

Millésime
2017
Pairs well with
Roasted Chicken with Herbs de Provence
Vegetable Ratatouille
Pork Tenderloin with Apple Compote
Seared Tuna with Sesame and Soy Glaze
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