Les Asteries - Saint Emilion 2011
Price: $155.00
Producer | Les Asteries |
Country | France |
Region | Bordeaux |
Subregion | Saint-Emilion |
Varietal | Bordeaux Blend |
Vintage | 2011 |
Sku | 56507 |
Les Asteries Description
LES ASTERIES was the first of the micro-cuvée wines in our ‘Single Vineyard Series’ based on the côtes that hug the town of Saint Emilion – the land of the Saint-Emilion Grand Crus Classés. The vines survived the frost of 1956 and date back over eighty years. Prior to our purchase they were a component of CHATEAU FONROQUE.
LES ASTERIES exhibits a fantastic mineral quality which is in keeping with a belt of terroir that passes through from CHATEAUX BELAIR, CANON, and CLOS FOURTET. We named the wine LES ASTERIES after the hardest form of limestone – calcaire à astéries – on which the vineyard is situated. It is unlike any other wine that we make.
Wine Spectator: 93 Points
Exhibits gorgeous fruit, with exotic plum, blackberry and loganberry notes seamlessly layered, carried by a well-embedded charcoal note and backed by a surprising floral lift on the finish. This is dense, but has impressive cut and drive. Another Teyssier cuvée that has come along well since the barrel tasting. Best from 2016 through 2026. 300 cases made.
–JM
Wine Advocate: 93 Points
This single vineyard cuvee from Jonathan Maltus is planted with 80-year-old vines that somehow survived the famous frost of 1956. Rooted in a thin layer of clay over limestone, they have produced a sensational dense ruby/purple-colored 2011 offering fragrant notes of forest floor, spring flower, lavender, creme de cassis, and a subtle touch of smoke. Broad, savory, rich and brilliantly executed, this wine can be drunk now or cellared for 12-15 years. The composition is 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc.
Vinous Media: 92 Points
Good bright ruby-red. Deep, perfumed nose combines fresh blackcurrant, graphite, minerals, dark chocolate and peony. Dense, sappy and bright, with penetrating red berry and dark cherry flavors that start taut and linear, then fatten with aeration. Finishes long and pure, with firm, nicely integrated tannins and bright acidity. I love the pure, floral red-berry freshness this wine delivers almost every year. "It's all thanks to the thin clay over hard limestone," owner Jonathan Maltus. "Les Asteries really is the most Euro-style wine I make, and find that those who love it usually like it year after year." Superb wine.
-- Ian D'Agata