Mathilde de La Fleur Morange, Saint-Emilion 2010

One of Saint-Emilion’s original “garagiste” wineries of the late 1990s, Château La Fleur Morange was promoted to Grand Cru Classé status in the 2012 classification of the appellation. The estate was established by carpenter Jean-François Julien and wife Véronique.

The property covers just over 3.5 hectares (8.6 acres) in Saint-Pey-d’Amens, on unassuming, sandy alluvial land on the plain a few kilometers south of the more prestigious terroir of the Saint-Emilion plateau. Indeed, the commune of Saint-Pey-d’Amens is on the very southeastern edge of the appellation.

Despite its location, Julien insists the soil makeup on his plot is an iron-rich clay-limestone combination worthy of greater consideration. Furthermore, La Fleur Morange is not the only estate on the Saint-Emilion plain to garner rave reviews – Château Teyssier lies only four kilometers (2.4 miles) due west while fellow Grand Cru Classé Château Quinault l’Enclos also sits on alluvial land 12km (7.4 miles) to the west in the suburbs of Libourne.

The first vintage of Château La Fleur Morange was in 1999 and, made in a garage, only 900 bottles of the wine were produced. A 93-point score for the 2000 vintage from US critic Robert Parker, however, propelled the enterprise into stardom and the wines boast a cult following and continue to be critically well-received.

Taste: The wine is a blockbuster, a delicious, hedonistic st.-Emilion fruit bomb with loads of blackberry, raspberry, black currant and cherry notes intermixed with some cedar wood, forest floor and a touch of toast.