Château Monbrison: Tasting & Drinking
I admire the grit and determination shown by the Vonderheyden family in the resurrection of this estate. While other properties in Margaux dally with viticultural philosophies, or choose which music to play to the wines as they mature in the cellar, here at Château Monbrison the work has been much more at the winemaking coal face. Vineyards have been replanted, cellars rebuilt and oak barrels purchased for the first time. There can be few proprietors working in this appellation today who recall the move from aging wine in cuve, to élevage in barrel, for the first time, but that has been part of the story here during the last couple of decades. It has surely been an uphill battle. Meanwhile, all around them, the ‘big guns’ of the appellation are breathing down the necks of the proprietors, buying up neighbouring vineyards, just as they do in Pauillac and elsewhere in Bordeaux.
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