Chateau Lanessan 2012

Chateau Lanessan is a producer in Bordeaux's Haut-Medoc appellation. It makes Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant blends from 45 hectares (110 acres) of vines in a single plot bordered by Chateau de Sainte Gemme and Chateau Lachesnaye. All three are owned by the Bouteiller family, which has owned Lanessan for eight generations. The estate has documentation dating back to the early 14th Century, but the chateau as it stands now was built in 1878. As a wine producer it was highly regarded early in its history. During the early 19th Century it was considered unofficially as one of the Fourth Growth estates of the Medoc, being named specifically in an 1815 copy of the Bordeaux directory Cocks & Feret. Lenessan however did not submit any wines to be classified in 1855, believing that its reputation was secure and that there was nothing to gain. It was considered a Cru Bourgeois Superieur until that classification was annulled in 2007 and replaced with the single-tier Cru Bourgeios designation in 2010. The vineyard is planted roughly 60 percent to Cabernet Sauvignon with smaller amounts each of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Since 1999 a second wine has been made labeled Les Caleches de Lanessa and a third wine labeled Voyage de Lanessan. The second two wines are made from younger vines with higher amounts of Merlot in the blend.