LE ROC DU CHATEAU PELLEBOUC 2006

Description & Press Reviews:
Wine Style:  Full Bodied Red

Chateau Pellebouc is owned by Pascale and Baudouin Thienpont who bought the château in 2006 on the recommendation of Nicolas Thienpont. The Thienpont family have 5 generations of Bordealise wine making tradition behind them. They came to Bordeaux from Eastern Flanders in 1842 and have been in the wine business for centuries as both château owners and negotiants.  The Pomerol estates Vieux Chateau Certan and Le Pin (one of the most expensive and most sought after wines in the world) are in Thienpont family's hands today and Nicholas Thienpont manages several other top flight châteaux in Bordeaux – amongst them are Chateaux Pavie Macquin and Bellevue in Saint Emilion.

Château Pellebouc dates from the 13th and 17th centuries and is located between Rauzan and Blasimon in the Entre deux Mers region, just a few miles away from the Saint Emilion appellation.  Le Roc du Château Pellebouc is a Gold Medal winner and it's a superb wine. It has a deep, intense purple colour, with the flavour of red currants, raspberries, blackberries, candied fruits and spice. In the mouth, it is quite powerful in terms of both roundness and balance.  Le Roc du Château Pellebouc will accompany both beef and lamb as well as pork and chicken and is really great with rich casseroles and spicy curries.

The Daily Telegraph - Jonathan Ray
Jonathan Ray at the Telegraph has been running a series of recommendations called Credit Crunch Wines for Christmas and has suggested Le Roc du Château Pellebouc for Boxing Day lunch:

“The cellar is also looking good and, having resolved to drink less but better this year, we should just about survive. Stick with my suggestions and you should too. . .

Claret's the thing for a Boxing Day lunch of left-over turkey . . . 2006 Le Roc du Château Pellebouc  looks the business . . . young, firm and structured”

Considering that this wine has been chosen amongst others selected from Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and Sainsburys, it's breeding stands out. Not surprisingly so – as Le Roc du Château Pellebouc is a real find and marvellous value for money considering its price!

Andrew Barrow - Spittoon
Food magazine Delicious gave away, as with many other magazines, a 2009 calender with a recent issue. Each month displays a recipe, tuned to the season. What fun, thought I, to challenge my food and wine tasting 'skills' in recreating the recipe each month and selecting a wine to accompany. Here then is a wine, a Bordeaux red to accompany January's Baked Venison Sausages with Lentils (recipe on SpittoonExtra).

Le Roc du Chateau Pellebouc - Smooth, rounded, nicely textured. A blend of Merlot (90%) 'for its roundness and balance' plus a little Cabernet Sauvignon (10%) 'to add to the body'. Deeply coloured with flavours of red fruits plus hints of spice. None of that tart, hollow, dusty-dryness you can find in cheaper Bordeaux reds - this has good fruit, a firm structure and lends itself nicely to the food in question; very nicely in fact.

Andrew BarrowScribblings Rating - 88/100 [3.5 out of 5]

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