{"product_id":"2018-chateau-les-grandes-murailles","title":"2018 Château Les Grandes Murailles","description":"\u003cp\u003eChâteau Les Grandes Murailles was one of Saint-Émilion’s smallest classified estates, a little vineyard on the upper plateau immediately outside the medieval town. Its name refers to the remains of a Dominican monastery wall that still rises beside the vines, making the property’s history physically visible within the landscape.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe vineyard sits on Saint-Émilion’s limestone plateau, where a layer of clay rests over porous limestone. The clay retains moisture and supports Merlot through dry periods, while the fractured limestone stores and gradually releases water. This combination gives the wine ripe fruit and breadth without sacrificing the freshness, chalky tension and fine tannins associated with the plateau.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 2018 carried Grand Cru Classé status under the Saint-Émilion classification then in force. Saint-Émilion Grand Cru is the appellation, with stricter production rules than basic Saint-Émilion. Grand Cru Classé was an additional official rank awarded to the estate and periodically reassessed. Les Grandes Murailles remained a separate classified wine through the 2021 vintage before its vineyard was incorporated into neighbouring Clos Fourtet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe wine is made entirely from old-vine Merlot. The grapes were harvested by hand and the wine matured through a combination of French oak and amphora. Oak develops structure and aromatic complexity, while the neutral clay vessel preserves fruit and allows the limestone character to remain clear.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe warm 2018 season produced a deeply coloured and concentrated wine. Black raspberry, plum and black cherry lead into violet, liquorice, cocoa and crushed chalk. The palate is rich but controlled, with supple Merlot fruit, fine-grained tannins and a persistent mineral finish.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLes Grandes Murailles 2018 captures an unusually small and historically distinctive section of the Saint-Émilion plateau. Its scale, classified status and disappearance as a separate bottling after 2021 give the wine an additional significance beyond the quality of the vintage itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRoast beef, lamb cutlets, slow-cooked beef cheek, delicate duck preparations such as cassoulets, aged cheese platters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eServe: 16–18 °C\u003cbr\u003eDrink: 2025–2042\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bricchi and Barrett","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48015002435735,"sku":null,"price":265.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0722\/2899\/5223\/files\/Murailles.png?v=1783993821","url":"https:\/\/bricchiandbarrett.com.au\/products\/2018-chateau-les-grandes-murailles","provider":"Bricchi and Barrett","version":"1.0","type":"link"}