Ownership
Rose-Noëlle BORDE et Xavier JEAN
Director
Denis POMARÈDE
Oenologist
Thomas DUCLOS
Presentation
A sunny and warm end of summer 2018 and a little bit of rain towards the harvest period benefitted the phenolic maturity of the CALICEM plot which is now nearly 60 years old. This 2018 vintage is all about control and precision. No search for excess of structure or oak, we instead privileged the fruit touch of these old vines. The finish is long and salivating, the trademark of CALICEM across vintages. We crafted about 2,300 bottles of CALICEM 2018.
Origin
Saint-Émilion Grand Cru.
History
Plot purchased by the JEAN and JOINAUD-BORDE families in 2015.
Estate size
Less than 1 hectare.
Vineyard age
The plot was planted in 1961/1962 and has been exclusively renewed through vine complantations, leading to an average age of almost 60 years.
Yield
Given the high average age of vines in the plot, the yield was equivalent to about 25 hectolitres per hectare in the 2018 vintage.
Production
About 2,300 bottles
Blend
100% merlot.
Vine works
Special attention placed on managing the very old age of the vines. Similar to sister estate Couvent des Jacobins, all vine works are undertaken using the principles of organic-farming.
Harvest
100 % hand harvests on September 28, 2018, with a first grape selection on the plant and a second on the sorting table.
Winemaking
Gravity-based, whole-barrel vinification ('vinification intégrale') in 500-litre barrels for the whole plot. Daily slow manual pigeages for color extraction. Extraction of about 30 days depending on the barrel and based on extensive tasting.
Ageing
Exclusively French oak barrels of 500L from Allier/Tronçais/Bertranges forests. Ageing of about 22 months in oak (including the vinification intégrale). Two rackings during ageing.
Miscellaneous Data
14.5% vol.
Bottled in September 2020.