Make sure to try this wine
Les Hauts de Granget, 2016
3,5 NJP of 5,0 NJP
Les Hauts de Granget, 2016 (18 EUR/19 USD in Sweden), red dry blend wine, Saint-Émilion, Libournais, Bordeaux, France, 3,5 NJP of 5,0 NJP (85 points of 100 points) (17-05-2022 by Nenad Jelisic)
NJ Wines does not usually write about the value for money of the wines, but in the case of this wine we have to. To get such a good wine from Saint-Émilion Grand Cru for 189 SEK is absolutely incredible. Bravo Systembolaget, Wine Affair Scandinavia and Union de Producteurs de Saint-Emilion! It is austere and nuanced. In the aroma of the wine, one will find roasted oak barrels, blackcurrants, cocoa, coffee, blue plums, white pepper, tobacco, cedar and dried herbs. In the flavour of the wine, one will find some bitter dark cherries, dark chocolate, coffee, blackcurrants, tobacco, cedar, blue plums and dried fruits. Its aftertaste is long and austere, and it is characterized by slightly bitter dark cherries, dark chocolate and tobacco. Les Hauts de Granget 2016 has a really good tannin structure, which in combination with a good acidity and a good fruitiness bodes well for the wine's aging potential; at least 5 years i.e., until at least the year 2027. It consists of 83% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon.
A wine that is both austere and nuanced like this one will go really well with venison roast with creamy chanterelle sauce, blackcurrant jelly and Hasselback potatoes or with Boeuf bourguignon with buttery mashed potatoes or with red wine marinated, and thyme and Vegeta (Croatian spice mix) seasoned, lamb chops with oven-roasted, thyme and Vegeta seasoned, finely sliced potatoes in olive oil or with freshly baked baguettes filled with butter and garlic with air-dried ham (Jamon Iberico, Jamon Serrano, Prosciutto Crudo or Prosciutto di Parma) or with (Swedish) meatballs with cream sauce and buttery mashed potatoes, without any berry jam. It should be served at 18 to 19°C in Bordeaux glass, if possible, from Orrefors, Kosta Boda, Spiegelau or Riedel. Another option is to serve it at 16°C (when room temperature is above 20°C or outdoor temperature is above 23°C) and then enjoy it as it begins to open/grow in the glass. Les Hauts de Granget 2016 wins if it is decanted for one to two hours before it starts to be drunk.
The grapes for the wine come from many different vineyards, which belong to the Union de Producteurs de Saint-Émilion in Saint-Émilion (over 700 hectares), and therefore, it is not possible to write about the average age of the vines and it would not be fair to do so either. On the other hand, when it comes to the soil on which the grapes for this wine grow, it can be said that it consists of clay and gravel mixed with sand on limestone. The grapes for the wine are harvested by hand. After very careful selection in both vineyard and winery, destemming and crushing, the grape mass, which consists of crushed grapes and grape juice, is macerated/fermented, in stainless steel tanks. The maceration/fermentation is carried out as follows: 1. cold maceration at a temperature between 10 and 12°C and for a period between 6 and 8 days and 2. fermentation/maceration at a temperature between 28 and 30° C for 12 days. Then the grape mass is gently pressed, and the wine is moved to French 225 litres oak barrels (barrique), 75% new, where it undergoes malolactic fermentation and is aged for several months. Finally, the wine is bottled and then aged for another 1 to 2 months before it is released in the market.
