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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 2003
2003 was the hottest vintage ever seen in Bordeaux. The most successful châteaux have passed their exceptional 2000s and some claim to have made their greatest wines in living memory.
Very dry and extremely hot summer days and nights (16 days > 95°F compared to 2 in 2000, 6 in 2005, 4 in 2009). Need to eliminate the superscript here. I can't figure out how to do it.) The deeply colored reds, low acidities and high tannins are a departure from the classic Left Bank profile. St.-Estèphe and Pauillac are the most successful. The reds have largely reached their peak. It remains a controversial vintage, with opinions sharply divided as to its intrinsic quality. The white grape harvest began in mid-August. Rich, fatty whites, some acidified, not for long storage.
The extreme summer heat presented winemakers with a significant challenge. Sugar levels increased dramatically in late summer as some growers took the plunge and harvested early to preserve acidity. However, winemakers who waited until their grapes were fully ripe were rewarded with rich, concentrated, dark-colored wines displaying astonishing depth of fruit and plenty of complexity.
Generally speaking, the great wines of 2003 come from the northernmost communes of the Médoc: and in particular from Pauillac and Saint-Estèphe. Highlights include Lafite, Latour, Pichon Baron, Montrose and Cos d’Estournel. Quality was more uneven in the south of the Médoc although Château Margaux, true to form, produced one of the wines of the vintage.
The right bank properties of St Emilion and Pomerol, where temperatures were even warmer, produced inconsistent wines and volumes were massively reduced. Vieux Château Certan, which usually produces 4,000 cases per year, only produced 800 last year. Estates that have resisted this model and produced exceptional wines include Figeac, Ausone, Fetyit Clinet and Angelus.
Graves and Pessac-Lèognan fared better, but many châteaux produced wines that were alcoholic and expansive, but lacked the fresh, linear fruit core that distinguished the best of 2003. The exceptions are Haut-Bailly, the powerful and concentrated Domaine de Chevalier, and of course the thoroughbred stable of wines from Haut-Brion and La Misson Haut-Brion.