Seraphine

Regarded as two of the true rising star Chateaux of Pomerol and Saint Emilion, Charlotte Krajewski, daughter of owner Martin Krajewski, has overseen winemaking at these properties since 2017 as the Technical Director and Chief Winemaker after previously travelling and working extensively in France, Australia, USA and more latterly New Zealand. The small 6-hectare property of Clos Cantenac planted on deep gravels, clay, and sand over broken limestone, yields two wines annually, Clos Cantenac and a second wine, Petit Cantenac, while the prestigious 2.2-hectare Pomerol property of Chateau Seraphine, planted on 40-million-year-old blue smectite clay, produces wines with incredibly opulent, sensual, and hedonistic characteristics yet remains eminently cellar worthy. In Neal Martin’s recent Vinous.com ‘in-bottle’ review of the 2022 Pomerols, Chateau Seraphine featured in the top 8 highest scoring wines alongside the likes of Chateau Petrus, Le Pin and Trotanoy.

The 2024 vintage was yet another rollercoaster ride and a very complicated viticultural year in Bordeaux. A very wet year, especially during the autumn and winter months, this wasn’t however the whole story as appellations like Pauillac, for example, experienced less rain than its 10-year average. After the drought affected vintages of 2018, 2020 and 2022, the 2024 growing season got off to a promising start before the onset of spring brought hail and the early signs of what was to become a season-long battle with mildew disease pressures. A grey and gloomy May saw cool temperatures that slowed vine growth and resulted in uneven flowering, especially for the Merlot vines. But as summer finally arrived in late June, the mood shifted. Drier, sunnier conditions settled in through August and into September, bringing with them a welcome window for ripening, particularly beneficial for Cabernet Sauvignon, which was harvested in improved conditions right up into mid-October.

Clos Cantenac Petit Cantenac 2024, Saint Emilion Grand Cru, 13% Abv.

In 2024 the Petit Cantenac is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc and as with many cooler Bordeaux vintages, the aromatics are packed with delightful crunchy berry fruit notes that definitely err towards the red fruit spectrum. Bright and perfumed, there are layers of raspberries, red cherries and earthy red currants and a delightful sweet ceder spice hint along side dried herbs, graphite and crushed limestone minerality. On the palate, the wine is pure, crunchy, and bright but also incredibly lithe, fresh, and light on its feet, with a mouth-watering succulence of bramble berries, tart red plums, and a medley of red summer berries underpinned by fine grained mineral tannins and an intricate lattice work of tangy lemony acidity. At the heart of the wine is the signature polish and balance that you find on all the Clos Cantenac wines, engendering a real sense of attention to detail. A cooler, more classical expression of Saint Emilion that drinkers will find hard to resist in its youth. (12,000 bottles produced.)

(Wine Safari Score: 91-93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Clos Cantenac 2024, Saint Emilion Grand Cru, 13.25% Abv.

This Saint Emilion Grand Vin from Clos Cantenac is a 100% Merlot that will be aged for 12 months in 40% new oak barriques and 60% in second and third passage barrels. The aromatics on this embryonic wine are lifted and perfumed, indeed quite striking and fresh, painting a picture of a summer garden in bloom with notes of violets, peonies, and white blossoms over a melange of red and black berries, black currants, black cherries and freshly picked blueberries. The florality is further enhanced with delicate hints of briary, dry tobacco leaf, Asian baking spices and hints of cinnamon, clove and cedar oak spice. The palate is cool, fresh, and racy with tart black currant and black cherry notes gently underpinned by crisp linear acids, fine grained limestone mineral tannins and a well delineated, taut finish. A cool climate, energetic vintage full of restrained classicism, this wine will be deliciously mouthwatering and accessible on release but also worthy of beneficial medium-term cellaring. (6,000 bottled produced.)

(Wine Safari Score: 92-94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

L’Innocence de Seraphine 2024, Pomerol, 13.25% Abv.

In 2024, the L’Innocence de Seraphine second wine is a blend of 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Franc and offers up a complex aromatics of potpourri, pressed violets, sweet cedar, pithy black cherry, macerated black berries, herbaceous dried tobacco leaf, graphite and exotic hints of Asian spices and Sichuan pepper. The palate shows a well-balanced textural tight knit elegance but also an overt mineral restraint together with notes of spicy black berries, salty liquorice, vanilla pod spice and dry powdery graphite tannins. Medium bodied, cool, and classically mineral, the finish is leaner than more recent solar vintages but equally charming and seductive. (4,500 bottles produced.)

(Wine Safari Score: 90-92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Chateau Seraphine 2024, Pomerol, 13.5% Abv.

The flagship Grand Vin from the estate is a 100% Merlot that will be aged for 12 to 14 months in 45% new French oak barriques with 55% in second and third passage barrels. From the very first nosing, it becomes very clear that this vintage is yet another majestic boutique offering with dense, layered, alluring aromatics packed full of violets, acacia, and white blossoms before notes of salty black currant, crème de cassis, liquorice, black cherries, and macerated blueberries with a kiss of graphite and iron filings. True to this cooler vintage, there is a more accentuated classical mineral component to the palate that’s simultaneously concentrated, finely polished and hedonistic. With a fine veil of mineral tannins and complex layers of mocha infused blue and black berry fruits, this wine shines, proudly displaying its textural complexity and pedigree, revealing the results of incredibly strict grape selection. This is undoubtedly a triumph over adversity for the Chateau and the appellation. (4,000 bottles produced.)

(Wine Safari Score: 94-96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Back vintages of the Clos Cantenac and Chateau Seraphine wines are available retail in the UK from specialist fine wine merchant Museum Wines as well as En-primeur on release. Prices available on request.

With Bordeaux En-primeur 2023 about to get into full swing, 2023 is indeed one of the most interesting and intriguing vintages in recent years. I visited Bordeaux from the 13th to the 20th September and visited a number of top Chateaux to walk the vineyards and inspect the quality of the grapes. After visits to left bank chateaux including Pedesclaux, Cap Leon Veyrin, and Pichon Baron as well as visits to right bank properties Figeac, Clos Cantenac and Chateau Seraphine, I concluded that the grape quality was indeed excellent.

The original doubts surrounding the vintage were cast after a prolonged spell of wet and humid conditions that struck vineyards at the end of June and early July, leading to intense mildew pressures. With the correct treatments, yields would have been slightly reduced but quality certainly does not seem to have been compromised at the top properties.

Walking through the Chateau Seraphine vineyard in mid-September 2023.

Whilst 2023 might be remembered as a year of extremes, it also produced some very favourable conditions at crucial times throughout the growing season including a warm dry spring that led to an early growth spurt and gave the vines time to establish themselves before the summer heatwaves arrived. With any serious damaged avoided during the frosts on the 4th and 5th of April, weather improved steadily in May with a very successful flowering and fruit set before a prolonged period of wet and humid conditions followed in late June, bringing with it a serious threat of mildew damage.

With Martin Krajewski in his Pomerol vineyards in September 2023.

From mid-July onwards temperatures were generally cooler than 2022, although they did regularly hit 30c in August and overall conditions remained favourable with red grape harvesting commencing on the 13th of September. The overall quality of the 2023 harvest is considered outstanding.

Petit Cantenac 2023, Saint Emilion Grand Cru, 14% Abv.

The 2023 Petit Cantenac is a blend of 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon that seduces from the very first waft of perfume and macerated black berry fruits in the glass. A little darker and broodier than the Clos Cantenac, the aromatics are once again dense and compact revealing rich notes of macerated black plums, black cherries, hoisin plum sauce, tannery leather and delicate hints of graphite spice. The palate shows impressive balance and symmetry all built around sensual, creamy, fine-grained tannins, supple black berry and black cherry fruits and a limestone mineral spice enlivened on the finish with a bright, seamlessly integrated seam of acidity. Showing attractively bold Cabernet characters in its youth, this is another very finely honed and constructed Petit Cantenac that offers a glimpse of the vintage’s warmth and ripeness while simultaneously retaining a certain amount of classical restraint. Really very classy indeed and undoubtedly… excellent value for money.

(Wine Safari Score: 94-95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Clos Cantenac 2023, St Emilion Grand Cru, 14% Abv.

This attractive 2023 Clos Cantenac is an exotic 100% Merlot Saint Emilion Grand Cru and displays the luxurious opulence and ripeness of this warm sunny vintage. Vibrant, plush, and deep, the aromatics show intricate notes of macerated black cherries, black berries, raspberries and damson plums together with hints of pressed violets, fresh tobacco leaf, tilled earth, incense, mocha and vanilla pod spice. The palate is fabulously full and textured, dense and mouth-filling with very sweet fine-grained ripe tannins, layers of salty black currant and black cherry fruits, all punctuated by a lingering vein of acid freshness. Perfectly weighted, rich and harmonious but also elegantly accessible and polished, this could be one of the finest young Clos Cantenac vintages I have tasted to date. A real beauty of the vintage.

(Wine Safari Score: 95-97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

L’Innocence de Seraphine 2023, Pomerol, 14% Abv.

The 2023 L’Innocence de Seraphine is a blend of 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc and displays seductively opulent aromatics of perfumed violets and lilies, sweet damson plums, black cherries, blueberries, vanilla essence, freshly cut cedar and sweet exotic Asian spices. The palate is beautifully pinpoint and precise with a sleek, polished texture of saline black berry fruits, crème de cassis, picante dark chocolate and fresh cigars with subtle mineral limestone nuances. The palate shows impressive power and focus with supple, pliant tannins enrobed by ripe black berry fruits, mellow acids, hints of cola and salted caramel, finishing with notes of vanilla pod, mocha and savoury macerated berries. A delightful wine with striking mid-palate weight, power, and balance sufficient to rival most producers’ Grand Vins.

(Wine Safari Score: 93-95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Chateau Seraphine 2023, Pomerol, 14.5% Abv.

The 2023 Seraphine Pomerol is another incredibly dense, intense, hedonistic 100% Merlot creation boasting an almost impenetrable black opaque colour, massive extract, and exotic aromatics of white flowers, macerated black cherries, black currants, cola, freshly tilled earth, graphite, cloves and subtle hoisin plum sauce nuances. The palate is plush, full bodied and incredible concentrated, bursting with mouthwatering layers of blueberries, black currant pastille, black cherries and milk chocolate before subtle hints of salty black liquorice and brown toast on the long, persistent finish. This is an incredibly compelling wine with a spellbinding appeal, mouth coating sweet ripe tannins, and a distinctive seam of fresh, bristling acidity that adds requisite tension and delineation to the velvety Merlot fruit. This is up there with some of the finest vintages of Seraphine produced to date. (Only 4,400 bottle production.)

(Wine Safari Score: 97-98/100 Greg Sherwood MW)