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Rising Star of the Right Bank

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2012 Domaine Émile Grelier Bordeaux 750 ml

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  • Curated by unrivaled experts
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  • Temperature controlled shipping options
  • Get credited back if a wine fails to impress

One of 2012’s Last Great Bargains

The 2012 Domaine Émile Grelier is FLAWLESS—sweet and supple but with good energy, plum, mocha, and spices—the most compelling Right Bank bargain of the vintage. It’s what Robert Parker was getting at in the Wine Advocate vintage report entitled “The Bottled 2012: Bordeaux 1998, 2001, 2006 - Déjà Vu?” when he extolled the virtues of the top châteaux of the Right Bank: “Low yields and a rather surprising ripeness (alcohol levels run from 13.5%-15% across the board) was not far off the record level of alcohol achieved in the two great vintages of 2009 and 2010.” That vintage’s promise was realized by the brightest young star practicing organic viticulture just due north of Saint-Émilion, Domaine Émile Grelier.
 
Domaine Émile Grelier—guided by the ingenious couple of Delphine and Benoit Vinet—honors Delphine’s grandfather, whose legacy of stewardship of both nature and local Bordeaux traditions is well-tended by his heirs. The centerpiece of that inheritance is the 20-acre plot the couple continue to farm organically on south-facing slopes, sandy, blue clay soils. Cover crops between the rows attract birds and bees swarm to the beehives. The densely planted vines only yield one grape, Merlot, for one wine, the Domaine Émile Grelier Grand Vin de Bordeaux, the perfect expression of terroir and vineyard protocol. Wild-yeast fermented in cement, the resulting wine is full of dark but bright plum and red fruit notes, with a gorgeously balanced frame ending with earthy accents.
 
There are several reasons why Delphine and Benoit have leapfrogged over much of Saint-Émilion satellites on their way to Right Bank stardom. One is the meticulous sorting in the vines and then again on the sorting table. Another is allowing the wine to rest for 18-24 months, in cement until bottled, unfined and lightly filtered. But fittingly, the Michelin-starred ascent of Domaine Émile Grelier probably owes most to the respect for nature pioneered here by Delphine’s grandfather. That tradition was unimaginably rewarded in the magical harvest of 2012.