Chateau Couhins 2020

A white Cru Classe de Graves with a perfect balance between volume and freshness

The estate

Chateau Couhins is first found in archives from the 18th century. This property originally brought together two former Graves wine estates. An integral part of the INRA (National Institute for Agronomic Research) network, Chateau Couhins has dedicated its know-how and vineyard to viticultural research and innovation.

The vineyard

Today, the Chateau Couhins vineyard accounts for 10 hectares of white grape varieties planted around the commune of Villenave d’Ornon at the gates of Bordeaux, on the white Pessac-Leognan appellation. The vines are planted in a mosaic of terroirs, formed by a low outcropping, a clay-limestone base and sandy-gravelly soils. Sauvignon Blanc is the king of the vineyard, occupying 90% of it. Sauvignon Gris takes up the rest of the vines. To preserve this precious terroir, the estate uses environmentally friendly viticulture and is certified as a High Environmental Value operation. Chateau Couhins is currently converting to organic farming.

The vintage

The 2020 vintage was a vintage which will remain etched in everyone’s memory. The year opened with a particularly rainy and very mild winter, followed by a hot and humid spring. This led to an early budding as well as a flowering which was also somewhat ahead of time. As in the previous year, the end of the spring season reversed the trend with dry and cool weather until mid-July. The following summer was well above the seasonal average. Water stress caused berries to decrease in size. To harvest the grapes at the best possible time, the harvest at Chateau Couhins began on August 24 with the Sauvignon and ended on September 29.

The winemaking and ageing

After the manual harvesting by successive sorting in crates, the grapes are taken to the cellar. A cold, pneumatic pressing under inert gas is carried out for the whole harvest, followed by sustainable settling. Fermentation takes place in barrels, wooden tuns and stainless steel vats. To finish, the wine ages for 9 months in barrels and in stainless steel vats on its lees with regular stirring.

The blend

Sauvignon Blanc (93%) and Sauvignon Gris (7%).

The tasting

Nose

The aromatic bouquet is perfectly ripe, supported by fruity notes of citrus, pineapple and peach.

Palate

Chateau Couhins 2020 is a wine with great salinity and is very well-balanced between volume and freshness. This great, textured white wine has tremendous length.