Description
Château Saransot-Dupre, Listrac-Médoc
It doesn’t matter how many direct-import Bordeaux gems we land and offer on SommSelect: Each one generates the same amount of excitement and, yes, awe. I don’t know about you, but I’m awed by the sheer volume of exceptional, consistent, age-worthy wine we can acquire from Bordeaux and get to market in the $30 range. Bordeaux is simply unparalleled in this regard, and, despite the steady diet of bangers we’ve been serving up year after year, we’ve never showcased a château from Listrac-Médoc.
That changes today with this brooding, polished, mineral beauty from Château Saransot-Dupré, an estate known as perhaps the best in its appellation and one of only 56 Médoc properties to carry the Cru Bourgeois Supérieur designation. Situated at the highest point on the Médoc peninsula, between Moulis and Saint-Julien, Listrac is one of the region’s coolest and most limestone-rich terroirs which puts Merlot on center stage. However, in Saransot-Dupré’s Grand Vin you’ll also find an unusually high percentage of Petit Verdot lending this 2018 an immensely satisfying bass note of black fruit and licorice. Yes, I’m in awe of how much wine Saransot-Dupré packed into the bottle at this price—and you will be, too!
Like most châteaux in Listrac, as well as in neighboring Moulis, Saransot-Dupré’s land holdings lie further away from the Gironde Estuary, where the soils transition from sandy gravel to more clay-limestone. And while elevations in Listrac are hardly dramatic, it is referred to as “the roof of the Médoc,” with marginally cooler conditions thanks to greater exposure to Atlantic air currents. Given the soil composition and micro-climate, the earlier-ripening Merlot has traditionally dominated here, but ultimately the full complement of classic varieties are in play here.
The handsome Saransot-Dupré property has been run by successive generations of the Raymond family for about a century now, although the Raymond name goes back even further in the Listrac area (the first Raymond to purchase vineyards in Listrac was Guillaume Raymond, a barrel-maker, who acquired his first parcel in 1756). The estate is currently overseen by Yves Raymond, who, like many small-scale proprietors in Bordeaux, maintains 17 hectares of vines in one contiguous block. Raymond describes the soil composition as clay-limestone, with some silt and coarse sand.
Raymond further notes that Saransot’s “unusual” varietal makeup in its vineyards represents a “return to [its] roots,” in that it reflects the mix that existed in Listrac at the time of the appellation’s official codification in 1957. Merlot tops the list at 59%, followed by Petit Verdot (17%), Cabernet Franc (15%), Cabernet Sauvignon (8%), and the mostly lost to history Carmenère (1%). Average vine age is about 30 years.
While the warm, dry 2018 vintage produced a wine of considerable concentration, Saransot-Dupré’s rendition also displays lots of mineral grip, tension, and savor. Petit Verdot lends the black raspberry and cassis notes that might have otherwise come from Cabernet Sauvignon, a core of luscious fruit that is nicely framed by crushed-gravel minerality and a healthy whiff of cigar tobacco. Although it was aged in 30% new French oak, a few years in bottle have allowed it to integrate beautifully—this wine is all about saturated fruit and rocky earth, without any excess oak-derived “makeup.” There’s balance there, too, which bodes well for further aging, but I’m inclined to drink this one now and often: Decant it 30 minutes before serving at 60-65 in Bordeaux stems and you’re good to go. Get a good char, sear, crust, etc. on whatever you cook to go with this deeply savory red. It’s a pound-for-pound value champ you won’t soon forget.
