2017 | Château Couhins | Pessac-Léognan Blanc

2017 Blanc starts off a little closed before revealing scents of fresh lime juice, lemonade and orange blossoms plus hints of wet pebbles, jasmine and white pepper. Medium-bodied, the palate delivers mouth-coating citrus and mineral layers plus a racy backbone, finishing long and chalky.

Producer Information

Château Couhins is a historic estate in the Pessac-Léognan region, just south of Bordeaux. Named a Grand Cru Classé for its Bordeaux blend white wines in the 1959 classification of Graves, the vineyard is currently run by the INRA (the National Institute for Agronomic Research). The estate produces both red and white wines from its 32 hectares (79 acres) of vineyard. The history of the estate (which is intertwined with the neighboring Château Couhins-Lurton) dates back beyond the 17th Century, when both Couhins and what would become Château Carbonnieux were part of one large holding south of Bordeaux. From the mid-18th Centruy to just after the 1955 classification of Graves (ratified in 1959), the estate was held by numerous owners until, in the late 1960s when the owners, the Gasqueton family, began the process of selling the estate. By this stage, André Lurton (who would establish the merchant operation Vignobles André Lurton) had entered a lease agreement for the vineyard, of which little remained. In 1968, the château buildings were sold off and the vineyard was bought by the INRA, which maintained the lease agreement with Lurton. In 1978, the lease ran out and Lurton turned the vines over to INRA. By this stage, however, Lurton had reached a far more significant deal with the INRA and, in 1972, had purchased a small portion of the former estate (although it should be noted that, during this period, only a few hectares of the property remained as vineyard). Nonetheless, this date marks the division of the two estates. Almost a decade later, INRA had finished significant replanting works and established winemaking facilities on their portion of the site. The original Couhins château and buildings were purchased by Lurton in 1992 and the two properties remain neighbors. Although it holds its Grand Cru classé status for its whites, Château Couhins produces both red and white wines. Alongside the "grand vins" of each color, the estate also produces second wines in both red and white: labeled Couhins la Gravette, La Dame de Couhins or Le Moulin de Couhins depending on the market. A third wine, La Ballisque (produced under the Vin de France title) is also made in some vintages. Vineyard (and resulting wine) composition is roughly half Merlot with around 40 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and the remainder given to Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. While the grand vin is often Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant, the second wine often contains a significant proportion of Merlot. Whites are predominantly Sauvignon Blanc with a small proportion of Sauvignon Gris. New oak is used in both the main wines (around 15 percent for the white and around a third new oak for the red). In total, the vineyard is divided into 10 hectares (25 acres) for white varieties with 22 hectares (54 acres) planted to the reds. The soil is predominantly gravels on a clay-limestone base although there are sections of sandy gravels. The estate began conversion to organic viticulture in 2020.

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