Le Fougueux de Couronneau SSA AOC 2022 Organic Wine

Nutritional information per 100 ml

Contains negligible amounts of fat, saturates, protein and salt.

Merlot

This red grape with its soft, fruity, plummy and full-bodied aromas ranks third among the world's most popular red varieties. A good two thirds are grown in its French homeland. There, it is vinified on its own or lends blends full structure and early drinking readiness. Merlot is one of the six principal grape varieties permitted for Bordeaux wine production. It forms a particularly successful partnership with Cabernet Sauvignon. Blends of these two varieties promise full-bodied wines with soft structure and good ageing potential. Its name probably comes from a bird, the blackbird. The word 'merle', from which Merlot derives, means blackbird. This may suggest that these birds are particularly fond of stealing grapes from Merlot vines. Merlot makes no exceptional demands on site or climate, which may explain why, with 260,000 hectares worldwide, it is among the most widely planted wine grapes.

2020 vintage

91 points ORGANIC WINE AWARD INTERNATIONAL Autumn 2021

Powerful and concentrated with impressive structure.

Château Couronneau

When Bénédicte and Christophe Piat first visited the estate on the eastern edge of AOC Bordeaux in 1994, they were immediately captivated despite the poor state of the buildings. Having decided to become winegrowers and settle there, the couple refused to be discouraged by collapsed walls. After three years of restructuring and hard work, they decided to farm the entire estate organically.

With the conversion to organic farming over 30 years ago, innovative methods were devised and developed for sowing, soil cultivation, optimising treatments and preventing disease. The vines’ needs have taken priority ever since. Despite technical difficulties and prejudice against organic practices at the time, they held to their convictions and moved to biodynamic agriculture in the 2000s. Initial trials convinced the couple through their regenerative and positive effects on the plants.

The estate’s success rests on the commitment of the people who work there. Their second son, Grégoire, recently joined the adventure and now works at the estate.

The Château Couronneau estate has also seen numerous experiments in its cellar, from amphorae to sulphur-free wine, from carbonic maceration to maturation at sea: there are no limits to the search for aromas. The cellar gives creativity free rein while keeping risks under control, producing high-quality, natural and original wines.