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Wine Description
The Story
With a legacy that dates back to the 17th century, Château Simard is located near the ancient and beautiful town of Saint-Émilion, home to the Right Bank’s most prestigious estates. Among the most renowned of these is Château Ausone — one of only two properties classified in 1955 as Saint-Émilion Premiers Grands Crus Classés A. Château Ausone’s proprietor, Alain Vauthier, inherited Château Simard in 2008 when his uncle, Claude “Coco” Mazière, passed away. The château has been in the family since 1954.
A quintessential Saint-Émilion producer, Château Simard’s vineyard is surrounded by the region’s first-growth vineyards. The 40-hectare (98.84-acre) gently sloping vineyard is marked by predominantly clay soil mixed with sand and gravel, and a deep water table, forcing the vines to grow far into the ground. It is planted to Merlot and Cabernet Franc vines that average 35 years in age. The vineyard manager is Laurent Vallet. Pauline Vauthier is the general manager.
Château Simard produces only one wine. It is classically elegant, with a refined style that results not only from the excellent vineyard location, but also from traditional winemaking methods employed at the château and the number of years the wine is aged in the cellars. The wine is ready to drink when released and does not require the additional bottle aging that is typical of Bordeaux.
Vintage 2022
Bordeaux 2022 vintage will stay in the memory of the world of wine as the exceptional vintage which kept a lot of surprises. The year started well with bud break at a normal date, so the frost in early April did not too much damage. The flowering started in mid-May and in optimal conditions. June brought stormy rains which were able to partially reconstitute de water reserves of the soil, however hail fell locally with sometimes very important damages. The fruit set took place a hydric limited context, which determines the small size of the berries. Veraison begun in mid-July in hot and dry conditions. August was hot however it kept a contrast of day and night temperatures, therefore the conditions for ripening the grapes were perfect. The white wines were harvested at a historically early date already in August. Also the reds were harvested very early at the beginning of September. Good news for the noble sweet wines: botrytis developed thanks to rain in early October and resulted in wines of great purity.
