Saint-Émilion Grand Cru · Estate MMXXVI
Tetre
Rotebouef
A celebrated expression of Saint-Émilion craftsmanship, where tradition, terroir and time converge in every bottle.
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A celebrated expression of Saint-Émilion craftsmanship, where tradition, terroir and time converge in every bottle.
Five point seven hectares on the limestone côtes of Saint-Émilion. A single south-facing amphitheatre, tended by the Mitjavile family since 1978, and rendered each year into one wine of rare perfume and depth.
Each vintage is bottled by hand at the estate, sealed under the same crimson capsule that has marked the house since François Mitjavile's first cuvée. One wine, every year, and no second label.
The vineyard forms a natural amphitheatre on the edge of the limestone plateau, every row leaning south into the light. Beneath it, cool clay over a bed of limestone holds the wine's freshness in reserve while François Mitjavile waits, vintage after vintage, for the latest possible harvest.
Old vines, low yields, and a refusal to follow fashion have made these few hectares one of the most singular addresses on the Right Bank.
Little equipment, dirt on the cellar floor, limestone in the walls. The interventions are few, and each is a decision made by taste rather than recipe.
Picking is among the last in the appellation, fruit carried to the very edge of ripeness, the source of the wine's perfume and velvet.
Fermentation in traditional cement vats; the softening malolactic happens in wood, knitting fruit and oak together early.
Around twenty to twenty-four months in new barrels, a frame, never a flavour, that disappears into the whole.
Racked and judged by the palate, bottled at the estate under the crimson capsule. One honest rendering of the year.
A singular, exotic Saint-Émilion that seems to exist in a world entirely its own.
A natural sun-trap on the côtes, in its finest years Saint-Émilion's answer to Musigny.
Sensuous, silky and vibrant, with a finish that runs past fifty seconds.
A small circle with first claim on the estate's most limited bottlings, and a standing invitation to the slope itself.
First claim on each new vintage, before it reaches the trade or the table.
Secure the wine from barrel, at first release, in the format you choose.
Access to older vintages held and cellared at the estate, released to members alone.
Two members' tastings each year on the slope, with a guest, including pre-release and mature wines.
First refusal on the grand formats, made in tiny quantity and rarely seen.
The estate is small and the welcome personal. Tastings are arranged in advance, a chance to stand where the amphitheatre opens below you, see the concrete vats and the limestone in the cellar walls, and taste the year as it stands.
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