Le Puy - Bordeaux 'Barthelemy' Red 2021

Grape

Merlot (85%), Cabernet Sauvignon (15%)

Tasting notes

2021 was not an easy year in Bordeaux, and Château le Puy, farming biodynamically, adding nothing, removing nothing, had nowhere to hide. The result, from the single limestone plot of "Les Rocs," is a wine that wears the vintage's difficulty as a virtue. Deep purple in the glass, almost ink-dark, it opens with an aromatic profile that feels more Burgundian than Bordelais: blood orange, ripe plum, and liquorice up front, giving way to caramel, vanilla, and a whisper of cocoa after time in the glass. Twenty-four months in seasoned oak has left its mark gently. On the palate, the contradiction resolves beautifully: there is real depth here, morello cherry and blueberry carrying the mid-palate, yet the weight is silky, almost light-footed, driven by the vintage's lively acidity. The finish is long and distinctly mineral, with a saline, powdery quality that lingers and lifts. This is Bordeaux unguarded: precise, alive, and entirely itself.

About the Winery

Owned by the Amoreau family since 1610, Le Puy overlooks the Dordogne valley on the same geological plateau as Saint-Emilion and Pomerol, once called the ‘Plateau of Wonders’. Le Puy was originally built at the beginning of the 17th century and later extended in 1832 by Barthélémy Amoreau. 

There are 35 hectares of vines spread over three plots with soils made of clay, limestone and silica. It’s quite common to find some sharpened flints between the vines as some parts used to be battlefields in medieval times. The soil type varies but is principally a mix of clay, silex and limestone, with very high acidity levels. 

The average age of the vines is 50 years and no synthetic treatments have ever been used at the estate, which is certified biodynamic. Harvest is manual, the grapes are entirely destemmed and the cuvaison is long, continuing for two to four weeks. The “elevage” of the Le Puy wines is done according to the lunar rhythm. The wines are neither fine nor filtered before bottling. Jean-Pierre Amoreau and his son, Pascal, oversee the vineyards and vinification.