Bordeaux, France

Domaine de l’A is Stéphane and Christine Derenoncourt’s brilliant home estate in Castillon, just outside St. Emilion.

Stéphane is one of Bordeaux’s top consultant oenologists, and of global renown. He is best known for producing the wines at a string of superstar properties including Domaine de Chevalier, Clos Fourtet, Clos de l’Oratoire and Chateaux Pavie-Macquin, Canon-la-Gaffelière, Smith Haut Lafitte, Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Prieuré-Lichine and Beauséjour Duffau-Lagarrosse.

Stephane and Christine purchased 2.5 hectares in the commune of Sainte-Colombe, Côtes de Castillon in 1999. Today they have 11 hectares, divided among various parcels, the majority on a south-facing slope with tuffeau limestone soil (to which Stephane attributes his wine’s floral aroma). The average age of the Merlot (70%) and Cabernet Franc (30%) vines is 55 years old. The domaine is organic but (for the time being) uncertified. Yields are tiny: 28 hectolitres/hectare in a generous vintage. Owing to its scale, undulating vineyards and the ethereal character of its wines, the domaine has a distinctly Burgundian vibe.

This one of those estates where the quality massively outperforms the expected level of the appellation, thanks to some special terroir, and the genius of the winemaker.