The oldest Merlot vines in St. Emilion, as well as in all of Bordeaux
Chateau La Fleur Morange Mathilde, located in the extreme eastern sectors of St. Emilion is owned by Jean-François Julien. Part of what makes the wines of La Fleur Morange Mathilde so interesting is, the estate has some of the oldest Merlot vines in St. Emilion, as well as in all of Bordeaux!
They have vines dating date back more than 100 years! When you look at the quality of the wines coming from La Fleur Morange, and you consider the price, especially for the Mathilde, truly this is a wine well worth the trouble to seek out.
From the 3.45 hectare vineyard, the estate makes two unique Bordeaux wines. La Fleur Morange is produced from a tiny, 1.5 hectare section that includes their vines that are over 100 years of age!
The rest of the vineyard produces the fruit that is used in Chateau La Fleur Morange Mathilde. Mathilde was named after the owners daughter. Many of the vines used to grow fruit for La Fleur Morange Mathilde are close to a very impressive 50 years of age.
The vineyard used to produce Fleur Morange Mathilde is planted to 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc with a terroir of clay and limestone soils. The oldest vines are located in the clay rich soils of St. Peyd’Armens, on the far-east side of the Saint Emilion appellation.
Although there is more sand in the terroir where the grapes are planted for use in La Fleur Mathilde. The owner, Jean-Francois Julien personally plows every other row in select blocks, leaving a cover crop on the alternate rows.
To produce the wine for Chateau La Fleur Mathilde, after the grapes are harvested by hand, as well as being manually destemmed. Next, the berries see a five-day cold soak at 3 degrees Celsius.
The vinification of Chateau La Fleur Mathilde takes place in small, truncated, double walled, stainless steel, conical shaped tanks. Everything in the cellar moves by gravity. Malolactic fermentation takes place in barrel.
Maceration on average lasts about 25 days. They preform microbullage under the cap during maceration, and while the wine is aging in barrel. La Fleur Morange Mathilde is aged in 50% new, French oak barrels for an average of 8 months, where it remains on its lees.
Chateau La Fleur Morange Mathilde needs some time before it can be enjoyed. Young vintages can be decanted for an average of 1-2 hours. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume.
Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment. Chateau La Fleur Morange Mathilde is usually better with at least 6-8 years of bottle age. Of course that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage character. Chateau La Fleur Morange Mathilde offers its best drinking and should reach peak maturity between 7-20 years of age after the vintage. ( Source: thewinecellarinsider.com)
