Chateau Marjosse Pierre Lurton Cuvee Palombre White 2020 - Bordeaux, France

92/100 James Suckling 
93/100 James Sucking (2019 vintage)
92/100 Jean Marc Quarin (2019 vintage)
90/100 Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider (2019 vintage)
16.5/20 Jancis Robinson (2019 vintage)

Owned by one of the world's most famous winemakers, Pierre Lurton - president of two of Bordeaux's best-known chateaux, the Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) owned Château Cheval Blanc and Château d’Yquem.

James Suckling, ''..I like the density and concentration, with a delicious creaminess undercut by herb and spice...Almonds, fennel, yoghurt, grapefruit and pear skins on the nose, with some cloves and white pepper.''

Jancis Robinson "Cuvée Palombe, a startlingly rich white based on 45- to 70-year-old vines named after a pigeon. The blend is a third each of Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc and the more perfumed Sauvignon Gris but seems to me to be dominated by the lovely beeswax and lanolin flavours of fully ripe Sémillon, a grape variety more often encountered in sweet white bordeaux. I originally tasted the wine at room temperature when it seemed almost fat, until a nice cooling breeze of Sauvignon Blanc blew across my palate on the finish. The wine benefited from being restored to the cellar before I tasted it a second time, when it was, again, such a welcome and characterful contrast to the technically perfect Sauvignon-dominated style that has become typical of Bordeaux Blanc." (2019 vintage)


James Suckling, "..Focused and elegant...A medium-to full-bodied white with complex aromas of dried lime, apricot, green mango, flint and toast. It’s textured and creamy with crisp acidity and flinty, subtly smoky layers." (2019 vintage)

Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider "Flowers, lemon rind, spearmint and honeysuckle notes are all over the place. Fresh, forward, fruity and with a creamy, yellow, citrus rind finish, with just a drizzle of honey, you can enjoy this on release." (2019 vintage)

Château Marjosse is owned by French 'wine royalty', Pierre Lurton - president of two of Bordeaux’s best-known châteaux; the Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) owned, Château Cheval Blanc and Château d’Yquem, Château Marjosse. Pierre Lurton comes from two of the great Bordeaux families. His father Dominique was the youngest son of the paterfamilias François Lurton; his uncle André Lurton who founded the eponymous wine company; his many cousins run châteaux from Pauillac to Pomerol. His mother is from the famous Lafite family.

The influential Club Enologique asserts that Pierre is the most accomplished wine personality of his famous family. Trained as a doctor but swapping his studies for wine making after four years. At 23 he took over Clos Fourtet in St Emilion, one of the fine Lurton properties, and in 1991 he was appointed head of Château Cheval Blanc (it was bought by Bernard Arnault of LVMH in 1998); in 1999 he took on Château d’Yquem, which had just been added to the Arnault portfolio.

Club Enologique describes Pierre Lurton as having the world’s most corporate wine job. "However he divides his time between two of the world’s most exalted wine properties, but comes down to earth in Entre-deux-Mers, the leafy, unpretentious appellation to the east of Bordeaux at Château Marjosse."

The Château Marjosse estate is located in Entre-deux-Mers, on the right bank of Bordeaux. Initially owned by the wine merchant Bernard Chénier, Château Marjosse was acquired by the Deleuze family, who, in 1990, gave some plots to Pierre Lurton to rent. In 1992, Pierre Lurton, who grew up in Château Reynier, neighbour to this magnificent Chartreuse, moved to a second home in Château Marjosse and, over successive years became the owner of the entire vineyard, as well as the Chartreuse in 2013.

Decanter "Since Lurton bought Château Marjosse in 1994, the estate has improved beyond recognition. Pierre's father, Dominique Lurton, also made over a further 30ha so that, under the Château Marjosse label, Lurton now exploits 42ha of vineyard, six hectares of white and 36ha of Bordeaux red – a total of 300,000 bottles a year. Pierre insists his wine is Bordeaux and not Bordeaux Supérieur because ‘my wine is only supérieur in the bottle’. His objectives are ambitious. As the quality of the terroir with clay-limestone soil is similar to some of the better areas in Saint-Emilion, he hopes to prove that wines from this area can rival those from more prestigious regions."

Sommeliers International "At Château Marjosse the land possesses yet another specific feature, known locally as “la Boulbène”, a silty-clayey texture that has developed on ancient alluvions. The fertility of these soils no longer needs to be proved, because, by chance, they are also found in Saint-Emilion, a terroir that is extremely familiar to the man who manages “Cheval Blanc” …. Pierre Lurton. Assisted in this transformation by Consultant-Oenologist Pascal Poussevin, whose recommendations range from vine growing to wine-making, Pierre Lurton’s estate has now reached its cruising speed … Beyond the fabulous adventures he experiences in his role as manager of Châteaux d’Yquem, Cheval Blanc, as well as estates in South Africa, Latin America and in Australia … it is undoubtedly with “the salt of this land here in the Entre-deux-Mers” that his years of quest for perfection will be revealed. It is clear that this region needs winegrowers of such calibre, those who possess a sixth sense and, using techniques that almost resemble intentional alchemy, transform the grapes they touch into wines that exude the unique character of a specific area."

The Entre-deux-Mers region, nicknamed by wine experts as “Little Tuscany”, is unique and jealously protected by its inhabitants. "There are fifteen appellations that constitute the Entre-deux-Mers. The most well-known of them all, reputed for its dry, lively white wines, is certainly the one which bears the name of this region! The Entre-deux-Mers cultivates a certain speciality in producing white wines, due to its basic geological assets, possessing gravelly-limestone soils, upon which Sémillon, Sauvignon, Muscadelle and even Ugni Blanc grape varieties are planted. But the variety of soils and sub-soils associated with such a complex landscape provides a diversity of terroirs … These are favourable for producing red wines, that are regrettably not sufficiently well-known, but highly prized for the complexity of their aromas, their deep, vivid colour, as well as the concentration and elegance of their tannins." Sommeliers International.

Bordeaux, in the southwest of France, needs little introduction as one of the world's most famous, prestigious and prolific wine regions. Its three trump cards are diversity, quality and quantity. The majority of Bordeaux wines (nearly 90 percent of production volume) are the dry, medium- and full-bodied red Bordeaux Blends that established its reputation. The finest (and most expensive) of these come from the great châteaux of the Haut-Médoc and the Right Bank appellations Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. The legendary reds are complemented by high-quality white wines, both dry styles (particularly from Pessac-Léognan) and the sweet, botrytized nectars of Sauternes.

Sauvignon Gris is a pink-berried mutation of the Sauvignon Blanc grape. It most likely originated around Bordeaux, but has found itself quite at home in Chile. Sauvignon Gris is thinly scattered across other parts of the wine world, including Uruguay, New Zealand, the United States and Switzerland.

Its popularity among growers was historically severely limited by its low yields; in France in 2009 there were (officially) only 463 hectares (1144 acres) of vines. However plantings may be on the increase, in the Loire, in Bordeaux to add body to Sauvignon Blanc, and elsewhere around the world. While the clone is not legally permitted in some Loire appellations – such as Sancerre – it is generally agreed that Sauvignon Gris vines are present in a good number of vineyards in such zones.

Sauvignon Gris is less aromatic than its Sauvignon Blanc sibling, but certainly capable of producing interesting wines. Wines produced from Sauvignon Gris tend to be richer and more voluptuous in texture than Sauvignon Blanc, with ripe fruit flavors of mango and melon as well as citrus notes. The wines are usually dry and tend to have some of the herbaceous notes so typical of the Sauvignon family. The type of color mutation seen in Sauvignon Gris is a naturally occurring phenomenon and reasonably common. For example, Roter Riesling is a pink-skinned mutation of Riesling, Chardonnay Rosé is a mutation of Chardonnay and Pinot Gris is a light-berried variant of Pinot Noir. Sauvignon Gris is also often blended with Sauvignon Blanc, including examples where the former is a minor (usually uncredited) component of New World varietal Sauvignon Blanc wines.

The Sauvignon Blanc taste is one of the most identifiable in the world of white wines for a few reasons. First, it always has crisp, high acidity. Second, it has a chemical compound called pyrazine which gives grassy, herbal or bell pepper flavors. When grown in cooler climates or picked early, the herbaceous green character is most prominent. In warmer climates or allowed to hang longer on the vine, the pyrazine character diminishes in favor of riper fruit flavors ranging from grapefruit, to passion fruit and guava.

Sémillon is one of the wine world's unsung heroes. The gold-skinned grape produces France's most famous and revered sweet wines, notably Sauternes, and some of the greatest dry white wines of Australia - particulary those in the Hunter Valley.