Chateau des Antonins Bordeaux Superieur
Deep ruby in colour, the wine develops a beautiful complexity on the nose revealing aromas of black cherry and blackcurrant with a toasted background and accents of blond tobacco.
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Chateau des Antonins Bordeaux Superieur is a full-bodied, ruby-coloured wine that offers a rich and complex tasting experience. The aromas are dominated by red fruit, with hints of black cherry, blackberry, and blackcurrant, complemented by subtle notes of spice, cedar, and tobacco.
On the palate, the wine is smooth and well-balanced, featuring approachable tannins that have been softened through extended maceration and micro-oxygenation techniques. This process enhances the depth of flavour and body of the wine while maintaining a round and smooth texture.
The wine’s flavour profile includes a mix of dark fruits such as plum and blackcurrant, along with earthy undertones. The finish is characterized by bright acidity and a lingering presence of spice and fruit, making it an excellent pairing for a variety of dishes, including Sunday lunch, home-cooked lasagne, or a cheese board. Overall, Chateau des Antonins Bordeaux Superieur is a delightful and accessible Bordeaux that combines traditional winemaking techniques with modern sustainable practices
Chateau des Antonins Bordeaux Superieur is a meticulously crafted wine, reflecting the estate’s commitment to traditional winemaking techniques combined with modern sustainable practices.
Grape Blend and Vineyards
The Chateau des Antonins Bordeaux Superieur is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc. Specifically, the 2019 vintage is composed of 55% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Cabernet Franc. The vines are planted on clay-gravel soils on the left bank of the Garonne, south of the Graves appellation, which contributes to the wine’s powerful and pure fruit concentration.
Production Process
Destemming and Maceration: The grapes are destemmed before undergoing maceration on their skins for between 20 to 30 days. This process involves regular pumping over to ensure a gentle extraction of color, tannins, and aromas.
Fermentation
Fermentation takes place in stainless-steel tanks at controlled temperatures between 27 and 30°C. This controlled environment helps in maintaining the integrity and freshness of the fruit flavors256.
Aging
Unoaked
Unlike some Bordeaux wines, Chateau des Antonins Bordeaux Superieur is not aged in oak barrels. Instead, the final blend is kept in stainless-steel tanks prior to bottling. This approach preserves the wine’s fruit-forward character and avoids the influence of oak.
Bottling:
The wine is bottled relatively soon after fermentation, typically in the April following the harvest. For example, the 2019 vintage was bottled in April 2019
Sustainability
The vineyards at Chateau des Antonins are managed sustainably, using cover crops between vine rows to promote biodiversity, avoid soil erosion, and encourage soil aeration. This sustainable approach ensures that the natural attributes and qualities of the terroir are retained and expressed in the final product.
Located southeast of Bordeaux, Château des Antonins is a family-run estate steeped in history. Built in the 13th century, the estate owes its name to the ‘Antonins’ monks who lived there for 500 years. Many of these original buildings still survive today, including a toll bridge, chapel, monastery and windmills. Phylloxera destroyed the vineyards in the late 19th century. Yet, the de Roquefeuil family, who have owned Château des Antonins since the 1850s, gradually replanted and today the estate encompasses 38 hectares of vines.
In 1985, Geoffroy and Martine de Roquefeuil took over and transitioned to sustainable farming practices. Their son Antoine joined as head winemaker in 2016, after a period spent honing his craft in New Zealand. The estate’s vineyards are located on the left bank of the Garonne River, five kilometres from Graves. Just seven hectares are planted with white grapes, split between 80% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Semillon. These vines lie on predominantly sandy-loam soils, lending elegance and lifted acidity to the white wines. The remaining 31 hectares are planted with 65% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc on clay-gravel soils, resulting in approachable red wines with excellent fruit concentration.
Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc has proven to be very robust and produce good quality red wines in a range of climates. This is a clue to its diversity of tastes. From tart red fruit flavours in cooler climates such to more dried fruit flavours and fuller bodied wines in warmer areas such as Tuscany and California. You’ll also find a mixture of savoury, tart, and herbal flavours in moderate climates, such as Bordeaux.
Cabernet Sauvignon
World-renowned and well-travelled, cabernet sauvignon wines makes some of the world’s finest red wines, working either on its own, or blended with other varieties.
While many grape varieties are known for their friendly fruit aromas, cabernet sauvignon’s success as a fine wine lies in its subtleties: secondary, complex flavours that have the potential to develop deliciously in bottle over time. For this reason, cabernet is often seen as quite a ‘serious’ red wine designed for cellaring and keeping for many years. However, you can certainly find younger, fruitier styles to help you explore the flavours of this iconic grape.
Merlot
Merlot is characterised by its soft texture and easy, fruit-forward character ? think ripe plums, summer fruits and touches of vanilla and spice. Brilliantly versatile, it’s the grape behind lots of good-value anyday reds as well as some of the most expensive wines in the whole world. On its own, it produces juicy, soft, plump reds, but also plays an important role in blends, especially with cabernet sauvignon; here merlot’s friendly, fruity flavour counterbalances cabernet’s more obvious tannins and structure.
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The Country
French wine, steeped in history and tradition, offers a rich tapestry of flavors and styles. Bordeaux’s iconic red blends—Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot—create wines with structured tannins and notes of blackcurrant, plum, and cedar. Burgundy’s Pinot Noir and Chardonnay yield velvety reds and crisp whites. Champagne sparkles with toasty brioche and citrus. The Rhône Valley boasts bold Syrah, while Alsace’s Riesling and Gewürztraminer express floral aromas. From Provence’s pale rosés to Corsica’s sun-kissed Vermentino, each bottle tells a story. Santé!
The Region
Nestled along the Garonne River, Bordeaux produces iconic red blends. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot dominate, creating wines with structured tannins and notes of blackcurrant, plum, and cedar. Sip a Château Margaux or Pomerol for a taste of Bordeaux’s elegance.
The Producer
Located southeast of Bordeaux, Château des Antonins is a family-run estate steeped in history. Built in the 13th century, the estate owes its name to the ‘Antonins’ monks who lived there for 500 years. Many of these original buildings still survive today, including a toll bridge, chapel, monastery and windmills. Phylloxera destroyed the vineyards in the late 19th century. Yet, the de Roquefeuil family, who have owned Château des Antonins since the 1850s, gradually replanted and today the estate encompasses 38 hectares of vines.
In 1985, Geoffroy and Martine de Roquefeuil took over and transitioned to sustainable farming practices. Their son Antoine joined as head winemaker in 2016, after a period spent honing his craft in New Zealand. The estate’s vineyards are located on the left bank of the Garonne River, five kilometres from Graves. Just seven hectares are planted with white grapes, split between 80% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Semillon. These vines lie on predominantly sandy-loam soils, lending elegance and lifted acidity to the white wines. The remaining 31 hectares are planted with 65% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc on clay-gravel soils, resulting in approachable red wines with excellent fruit concentration.
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