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  • Time

    07:04 AM
  • Wine average?

    95 Tb
  • Country Ranking?

    133
  • Region Ranking?

    69
  • Popularity ranking?

    230

History

At the heart of a vast estate containing forests, prairies and vines, Château Olivier sit like a clearing emerging from its woods.

Its beautiful architecture, its bodies of water and the quality of its annex buildings all add up to make an exceptional site in natural surroundings, situated only eleven kilometres from Bordeaux.

 

 

Olivier is a very old seigniory, dating back to the Middle Ages. It is said that the Black Prince enjoyed coming here to hunt, as the surrounding forests were so well-stocked in game.
Since the 19th century, the estate has belonged to an old Bordeaux family in the shape of the Bethmanns.

In 1867, Alexandre de Bethmann was elected mayor of Bordeaux,  then his family acquired Château Olivier, which is still managed today by one of his descendants.

 

Nowadays the Bethmann family is continuing their work at Olivier. Over the last few years, the vineyards of Château Olivier have seen considerable work and investment.

Château Olivier wines received official classification in 1953, for both red and white varieties.

 

 

It has entrusted the estate's general management to Laurent Lebrun, an agronomist and winemaker. Together with Philippe Stoeckle,technical director, Marie France Hairon, administration manager, and Estelle Mirieu de Labarre in charge of sales and marketing, this forms a competent and passionate team.

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Vineyards

Château Olivier is endowed with the rare characteristic of having terroirs which are equally excellent for red and white wines. Across 55 hectares of gravelly terroir over a clay and limestone base, six different grape varieties are grown. An extremely precise geological survey revealed new potential for this terroir, and recent planting has allowed the vineyard to return to its former metes and bounds of the 18th century.

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Winemaking

Rigorous at the vines and thorough in the cellars - these are Château Olivier's mottos. Each step is controlled, from grape harvesting in crates to vinification in stages and aging in barrels. The priority is to allow the aromatic power of each grape variety to be fully expressed, a richness which find a harmonious balance when combined with the structure of Château Olivier wines.

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Inside information

CHÂTEAU OLIVIER'S WINES: TRULY EXCELLENT VINS DE GARDE
Olivier produces seductive, assured, highly engaging wines. A balanced blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon allows them to improve as they age, when they become softer, fuller bodied, with extremely velvety and elegant richness in the lingering finish. Their bouquet, often floral, truly complements the taste. They are the archetype of Bordeaux fine wines.

 

Graves white wines are the best dry white varieties in Bordeaux. They are complex and aromatic. Château Olivier has found the perfect balance between Sauvignon, providing fruitiness and nerve, Sémillon for a rich and elegant wine well suited to aging, and the perfumed refinement of Muscadelle.

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Highlights

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Wine Moments

Here you can see wine moments from tastingbook users.    or    to see wine moments from your world.

 Markus Del Monego MW / BWW2024 Finalist, MW (Germany)  tasted  2 wines  from  Château Olivier . In a tasting of  518 wines 

Primeurs Vintage 2022 Part 2

7m 5d ago

 Markus Del Monego MW / BWW2024 Finalist, MW (Germany)  tasted  3 wines  from  Château Olivier . In a tasting of  525 wines 

The arrivage tasting proved the great quality of the vintage 2020. The promises made in the glass during the en primeur tastings were kept in this tasting session. An excellent vintage with wonderful and convincing qualities.  


 

10m 4d ago

 Markus Del Monego MW / BWW2024 Finalist, MW (Germany)  tasted  2 wines  from  Château Olivier . In a tasting of  745 wines 

This years "en primeur" tasting seemed like a journey in time. Bordeaux is back to a more moderate alcohol level and the style is lighter and more elegant. One could say the wines are reminiscent of the 80s, however made with more experience and the modern techniques today. It is not a powerful vintage. The wines are elegant, however the well made ones have an excellent persistence, depth and length. They offer a convincing potential for a long ageing and promote elegance in Bordeaux again. It is a true vintage of terroir although there is a lot of talk about a vintners vintage. However, terroir was the decisive factor in 2021.


Professor Axel Marchal has presented the 10 key points of this vintage on the occasion of the Union des Grands Crus press tasting:


"1. The start of the growing season was marked by severe frost on the 7th and 8th of April.


2. Wet and gloomy weather in May slowed down the vine growth although a providential window of fine weather helped flowering unfold in ideal conditions in early June.


3. Thunderstorms in June slowed down the onset of water stress.


4: Cool, dull weather in July increased the threat of vine diseases.


5. Véraison (colour change) was observed in mid-August, while vine growth had not stopped yet.


6. Thanks to a cool summer, the dry white wines are brilliant, lively and aromatic.


7. The wonderful Indian Summer allowed the red grape varieties to ripen in ideal conditions and preserved aromas.


8. The Merlots are fresh and aromatic while the Cabernets from the finest terroirs are well-structured with good balance.


9. The development of Botrytis cinerea in Sauternes was delayed by the cool summer and eventually triggered by rainfall in mid-September.


10. Despite low yields, the botrytised sweet white wines are of excellent quality."


It will be exciting to see the evolution of this vintage which produced in many cases yields on a very low scale. Arguably it will be a vintage praised for it finesse in the future. A vintage rated on finesse and persistence rather than on sheer power and opulence.

1y 6m ago

 Markus Del Monego MW / BWW2024 Finalist, MW (Germany)  tasted  2 wines  from  Château Olivier . In a tasting of  650 wines 

2020 – the paradox vintage 


2020 began with mild temperatures even breaking temperature record highs at the beginning of February. These conditions led to a premature budbreak. Budding developed unevenly, very much depending on the locations although the coo and humid weather in April had not a very significant impact on slowing down the growth of the vines. Finally all the vines came into bloom at the end of May without any significant coulure or millerandage. At the start of June, frequent rain intensified the pressure of mildew. From mid-June, the weather changed. The whole Bordelais saw a period of very dry weather for two months. However, the earlier accumulation of water reserves prevented water stress. Around July 18 a heat wave began to build up but the cool nighty prevented water stress on the wines again. The veraison started at the end of July and went on till the beginning of August. The heatwave in August accentuated water stress, but shorter rainy episodes avoided a complete block. The dry and sunny weather in September encouraged the grapes maturity and harvest started on September 10 with a rather mild weather. Towards the middle of September, rain prevented the fruits from wilting but as its frequency was quite concerning, the haves was pushed forward. "Le diabolique" is the title given to this vintage by Véronique Sanders. It is a very special French word, which is not correctly translated with “diabolic” in English. In France, the expression means to overcome the devil. And the vintners succeeded. 2020 is clearly a vintner’s vintage which asked a permanent reinvention of the wineries, struggling hard with this difficult vintage. However, the vintage surprises with excellent wines, exemplary freshness and elegance and very dense structure. In former times it was said that the vine has to suffer to make exquisite wines, in this vintage the people have suffered to make a great wine. The first part of notes for this tasting with over 800 wines you will find today. More notes will follow over the coming days.

2y 6m ago

 Markus Del Monego MW / BWW2024 Finalist, MW (Germany)  tasted  2 wines  from  Château Olivier . In a tasting of  28 wines 

The Crus Classés de Graves sent over an impressing series of wines, which have confirmed the outstanding quality of the Pessac-Léognan region in this vintage 2019. Freshness was reigning in the white wines tasted today. The red wines will be tasted tomorrow, so there is much more to come......The red wines of th Crus Classés de Graves were exellent showing the hight standard of this vintage.

3y 6m ago

 Markus Del Monego MW / BWW2024 Finalist, MW (Germany)  tasted  1 wines  from  Château Olivier . In a tasting of  7 wines 

Primeurs in difficult times


When I was visiting Bordeaux early March, Corona was a threat on the horizon and France has been more concerned by a strike of the air traffic control. However, I was travelling to Bordeaux and had the chance to get some first insights to the 2019 vintage. I was very much looking forward to the “en primeur tastings” which were scheduled for March 26, 2020 but the tastings were cancelled mid-March. Immediately I contacted the different associations and wineries in Bordeaux and asked for samples. The result was a small number of wines which arrived in Essen before the shutdown of France made shipments rather complicated. These first samples of the vintage 2019 were tasted under pristine conditions to assure a fair and equal assessment of all qualities. In fact, the samples proved right the opinion of some of Bordeaux’ leading figures. Bruno-Eugène Borie from Château Ducru-Beaucaillou sees 2019 in a line with the excellent vintages of 2016, 2010, 2009 und 2005. Henri Lurton talks about his best vintage, along with 2016, he has ever vinified at Château Brane-Cantenac. Philippe Dhalluin from Château Mouton-Rothschild asses the vintage as rich and abundant in quality and in quantity. After some smaller crops they came back to an average production. Emmanuel Cruse from Château d’Issan sees that 2019 has a lot in common with 2016 yet preserving more freshness. It is a very good vintage but appearing at a very difficult time on the market.


In fact, the start of this vintage was very positive. Enough precipitations during winter were retained by soils like chalk and clay. Vineyards on these water retaining soils had a huge advantage in the future growing period. With exception of a wet June, the vintage has taken advantage of a rather dry climatic condition, which prevented diseases in the vineyards to a huge extend. No chance for powdery or downy mildew. Even the heat waves were not really harming the vines as rain set in, always at the last moment but still early enough to prevent massive water stress and a slow-down of the maturity. The late physiological maturity brought a lot of alcohol, but the wines show more freshness as in the previous years. Fabien Teitgen, Winemaker of Smith-Haut-Lafitte relates this freshness to the good acidity “due to cool night temperatures during the ripening period”. This fact is also good news for white wines. „They are the big surprise “, says Olivier Bernard of Domaine de Chevalier. At Château Coutet in Barsac, Philippe and Aline Baly were harvesting in three passes with a total of 19 harvesting days. They judge the conditions as rather ideal: “These climatic conditions have generated a harvest whose quality is indisputably present.”


Same samples made their way to Essen and I have tasted them. Some more samples are announced and will hopefully arrive during the current week. There will be a weekly update of my tasting notes, whenever samples will arrive.


Unfortunately, 2019 arrives in a tough time, the Corona virus puts the world in fear and makes trade more and more difficult. Trade barriers and new customs duties create a challenging frame for this vintage. However, we should not forget one thing: there are wonderful 2019s waiting for us, wines with ageing potential and charm which will survive every crisis.

3y 8m ago

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