Towards the end of the 19th Century, the vineyard “La Maqueline” (now the Cazenove vineyard) was part of a larger estate owned by Nathaniel Johnston (then, and now a large Bordeaux négociant house) that encompassed the 5th growth Château Dauzac. Though only 3 miles from the town of Margaux, the 27 acre vineyard “La Maqueline” was only classified as Bordeaux Supérieur though only a short walk from Dauzac. The vineyard, long in decline during most of the 20th Century, was purchased in 1989 by Mme Wilhelmina de Cazenove van Essen and her children who then proceeded to restore it to its original splendor. Only the best parcels of the estate were planted to Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.

Low yields, high planting density and meticulous care of the vines produce a high quality fruit from the dry “palus” soils that typify the terroir. Each of the three grape varieties is vinified separately in stainless steel vats with a long (~25 days), temperature-controlled fermentation on the skins for greater extraction of flavors. The wine is then aged in a mix of new and older oak barrels for finesse and complexity.

This deeply colored ruby red wine shows a bouquet of ripe black currants and raspberries. The wine has an expressive and balanced fleshy structure of fruit and ripe silky tannins with an extraordinarily long finish that persists.

This property has an interesting history with the US. At the end of the 18th Century, Theophile de Cazenove-Van Jever, a Huguenot and Dutch minister to the new US, and ancestor of the current Cazenove family, led a colony of Hollanders to Central New York State who settled and named their village “Cazenovia”, which is still in existence to this day. Theophile de Cazenove-Van Jever became an American citizen in 1794 and his portrait now hangs in the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C.