Château Les Roches Gaby 2012

Think of how you met your best friends. What were the common interests which still provide the invisible glue that bonds years later? The nightclubs, the art, the books, the records nobody had heard of. The antics, the trousers, the nights you'll never tell your kids about. The guitars! The rock and the roll! The boules!! The... sorry, what was that last one... the boules?

Over in Château Gaby, winemaker Damien Landouar and owner David Curl bonded over their mutual love of wine, of rock music, of Château Gaby and of boules! And now, between them, they've rejuvenated a historic winery and made a range of award-winning wines like this plush, elegant, approachable red that's perfect at a table full of your nearest and dearest. And it's even more fun than pétanque!

Château Gaby was established in the village of Fronsac, in the department of Gironde, in 1660, and some of its wines were among the first barrels of Bordeaux to be shipped to London for sale at Christie's auction house. The château has been reinvigorated since the early 2000s while former owner Antoine Khayat and current owner David Curl have replanted and regenerated the winery to return Gaby back to its full potential.

Damien Landouar took responsibility for winemaking at Gaby in 1999, and since then has been moving towards a terroir-driven, minimal intervention philosophy. Efforts are focused chiefly on careful pruning and the management of soils and vines without weed killers or pesticides. Today Damien aims to make complex and persistent wines, serious but approachable and engaging.
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Damien Landouar has been making award-winning wines at Gaby since 1999, but has no formal qualifications. He learnt all his secrets and nuances from Jean-Pierre Gasteuil at Chateau Gazin in neighbouring Pomerol, and he has been building on this homespun wisdom ever since. Gaby's current owner, David Curl, befriended Damien over a love of the drink and rock music, and the two of them are leading Gaby to ever-increasing acclaim..

Grapes are hand harvested at optimal ripeness, hand sorted and fermented in cement vats, using reduced sulphite levels and wholly indigenous yeasts. This Merlot-heavy red is pumped over daily to ensure even maceration, and following fermentation it is aged for 16-18 months in French oak barrels (50% new and 50% older). Finally, it is bottled without filtration or dairy products two years after harvest..

Les Roches has plush aromas of red fruit which concentrate on the palate alongside minerality and round, juicy tannins, which give it an elegance that lends it to drinking young.