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Wine Tasting Adventure

2025 Château Coudray-Montpensier, Chinon - Liberty

£11.49 GBP
£11.49 GBP

Château Coudray-Montpensier in Chinon, has an impressive history dating back to the Middle Ages (1090 AD). The castle was built during the 14th century and in 1429, during the Hundred Years’ War, Joan of Arc stayed in the castle’s tower. There, she had waited for an audience with King Charles VII of France, to organise an attack against the English and relieve French troops at the siege of Orléans. Today the property is owned by Dr Christian Feray of Château Moncontour, who purchased Château Coudray-Montpensier in 2005. It has since experienced significant restorations under Christian’s watchful eye.

The property comprises 34 hectares of Cabernet Franc vines, planted on the left bank of the Vienne River on a combination of clay, limestone and sandy soils. After harvest, the grapes are cold macerated for 10 days before fermentation in stainless steel. Unoaked to preserve its bright fruit character, Château Coudray-Montpensier is brimming with vibrant aromas of blackcurrant and redcurrant fruit, carried by a bright acidity onto the lingering finish.

Château Coudray-Montpensier has 34 hectares of Cabernet Franc vines planted on the left bank of the river Vienne. Soils are varied, with pockets of clay, limestone and sand. The vines are on average 11 years old and the grapes are harvested by hand.

The 2024 vintage got off to one of the earliest starts ever, with temperatures in February and March 1.5˚C above average. This led to an early budburst, causing worries over potential frost, but the relatively warm spring meant there were few frost-fighting nights. June and July saw the highest recorded rainfall in the past 10 years, but it did not come all at once. Every few days, just as things were beginning to look up, it would rain again. As a result of a challenging year, the volumes were in line with the average but the quality is high.

Upon arrival at the winery, the grapes were destemmed and underwent a cold pre-fermentation maceration on the skins to maximise the extraction of aromas and soft tannins. Fermentation took place in stainless-steel tanks at controlled temperatures in order to retain the bright fruit character of the wine. Unoaked, the wine was kept in stainless-steel until bottling.

This wine is garnet red in colour with purple reflections. The nose opens with aromas of ripe red and black fruit mixed with hints of liquorice. On the palate, the tannins are velvety smooth and intense flavours of blackcurrant are carried by a bright acidity onto the lingering finish.