CHATEAU SANSONNET 2005

Description:
Wine Style: Full Bodied Red

Chateau Sansonnet is a Saint Emilion Grand Cru. The chateau is located at the east of Saint Emilion, on the highest point of the plateau, neighbouring the great classified wines. Sansonnet is a relatively undiscovered estate steeped in history, which in recent years has been producing some very good wine - and is a little gem. Its quality belies its price and offers much better value than more familiar estates from St. Emilion. For this very reason Sansonnet is a favourite of mine and well worth considering when you are looking for a good honest claret.

Sansonnet belonged in the 19th century to the Duke Decazes, Prime Minister of Louis XVIII. In 1892 the property was acquired by Prosper Robin, who built the existing château. The Robin family owned Sansonnet for 4 generations until the d’Aulan family (former owners of Piper-Heidsieck Champagne) took it over in 1999.

The vineyards of Chateau Sansonnet lie on an exceptional terroir which is composed of an argilo-limestone on a rocky subsoil which is only a spade's depth in some places. Sansonnet's wines are a deep crimson purple with notes of raspberries, minerals, cherries, smoke, blackcurrants and coffee. They are medium to full bodied wines which are complex, intense and well balanced. The wine expresses the rocky sub soil when young but deepens and becomes smoother with age. Sansonnet pairs very well with steak, duck and lamb as well as tomato based Italian dishes and rich Chinese cuisine.

Recommended food and wine pairing:
Super with Confit de Canard Pommes Sarladaises (duck confit cooked with potatoes in Sarladaises bacon, parsley, garlic and herb sauce from Sarlat), Confit de Canard aux Lentilles (duck confit cooked in a flavoursome Puy lentil sauce) and Confit de Canard Gastonomique (award winning duck confit from Castelnaudary).

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