Intrigue Mélange

Intrigue is a left bank Bordeaux-style wine inspired by the Pessac, Graves wines of Château Haut-Brion.

Château Haut-Brion grows grapes on one hundred and twenty acres of vineyards in the Pessac, Graves appellation just north of Graves in the Bordeaux wine region of France and is a left bank wine.

Although grapes are thought to have been grown on the property since Roman times, the earliest document indicating cultivation of a parcel of land dates from 1423.

The chateau traces its heritage back to the original Pessac-Leognan vineyard planted in 1521 and is one of only four to receive the highest rank of Premiers Grand Cru status in the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 . The superior vintages are blended to the following general specification:

• 44% Cabernet Sauvignon
• 45% Merlot
• 11% Cabernet Franc

In 1787, Thomas Jefferson, then American minister to France, came to Bordeaux. On May 25 he visited to Haut-Brion, describing the terroir, "The soil of Haut-Brion, which I examined in great detail, is made up of sand, in which there is near as much round gravel or small stone and a very little loam like the soils of the Médoc"

Haut-Brion was the world’s first wine to receive a professional review and the first recorded first-growth wine to be imported to the United States, when Jefferson purchased six cases during the travels and had them sent back to his estate in Virginia.

We created Intrigue as an homage to Haut-Brion. Since Intrigue is less than 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, under US laws it must be labeled "red wine" so we called it a Mélange.

Intrigue ~ to arouse interest by fascinating or compelling means.

Why "Intrigue" ~as the first "Claret" Haut-Brion wines became the world's first luxury brand intriguing to the rest of the world who then began to appreciate fine Bordeaux wines.