2012 Chateau de Birot Cotes de Bordeaux is sold out.

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    2012 Chateau de Birot Cotes de Bordeaux 750 ml

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    The Fourniers go out strong in a “Merlot year”

    When we hear about all the foreign money streaming into Bordeaux, it is easy to picture newly-minted Chinese billionaires snapping up all the First Growths they can get their hands on. But every so often we are reminded that the whole region, from the Grands Châteaux on down, are affected.

    Case in point is Château de Birot, located in Cadillac AOC, which sold in late 2014 to one of China’s largest hotel groups. This exceptional site and elegant château on a plateau overlooking the Garonne has produced stunningly high-value Right Bank Bordeaux since 1989, under the guidance of the Fournier family.

    Fournier is a well-known name on the Right Bank. For the bulk of the 20th century, the famille Fournier owned St. Émilion Premier Grand Cru Classé estate Château Canon, where the deft touch of Eric Fournier drew raves. Robert Parker himself noted how, on the Fourniers’ watch, Canon “attained a quality that equals that of the St. Émilions like Cheval Blanc and Ausone” at “nowhere near these other wines in price.”

    The Fourniers owned both Canon and Birot until 1996, when they sold Canon to the Chanel family and turned their focus to Château de Birot. Their knack for producing great value was not limited to the high end, and it showed at Château de Birot, which now has long enjoyed a reputation for punching well above its weight, quality-wise.

    In 2010, Eric Fournier handed control of Château Birot to his son Arthur, who has stayed on as winemaker through the ownership change. But the 2014 sale meant that Château Birot’s 2012 vintage was the last to be vinified and bottled completely as a Fournier family operation.

    The family run ended on a high note. 2012 was a “Merlot year” in Bordeaux — one whose weather patterns favored the early-ripening grape, which played right into the Fourniers’ mission of producing an outstanding and overachieving Right Bank wine.

    The 2012 Château Birot is garnet/purple from core to rim. An aromatic, expressive nose of plum and blackberry melds into spiced and toasted notes. The body is full, fresh, and gives way to a finish of firmness and good length. Drink now-2020.