One of the top Grand Crus and certainly, consistently, one of the best-loved and best-value in the market today. This is unmistakably fine wine and is a very long way from much of the wine you may see with Saint Émilion on the label! Indeed, this wine is not even made every year, such is the search for perfection: only the best of sunny vintages are bottled.
The 'confession' that Jean-Philippe makes regarding this wine is about the recurrent theme of ripe black and red fruits ; seductive, alluring textures on the palate with restrained opulence that comes from the slightly larger cigar-shaped barrels. The quality of both fruit and winemaking give a wine with incredible tight precision, highlighting the minerality of the terroir that build the wine’s complexity and remarkable length.
The creed by which they claim to create the wine is honest and vulnerable in its goodness: "Château La Confession is vinified using techniques that we hold dear, with all of the care and precision that an exceptional wine demands." And that is preciously what there is here.
Château La Confession’s seven and a half hectares of clay-limestone soils lie upon a decent gradient of a slope tot he east of St Émilion. Planted with 71% Merlot, 27% Cabernet franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon, the vines have an average age of 40 years and are planted in dense rows of 6,600 vines per hectare. Agaed in oak barrels, half new and half with one year of use. The family consider it to be the heart-beat of their activity in the region and live with the wine through their annual activities, happily talking about La Confession through harvest, winter and spring and tie their associations to its indefatigable persistence.
Jean-Philippe is the fourth generation of the Janoueix family to be in the wine business. The family originated from the region of Correze to the east of Bordeaux and Bergerac and just south of the oak forests of Limoges, famed for their barrel-making timber.
Jean Janoueix established a wine business in Bordeaux in 1867 and his son, Joseph, was the instigator of the plan to buy their own grapes, which then became vineyards and then properties, with Château La Croix Saint Georges and Château la Croix in Pomerol and Saint Emilion respectively in the 1930s. His son Jean-François was to continue this growth with significant purchases during the 1960s, 70s and 80s. our man Jean-Philippe joined his father in 1994 with his first vintage, and his own plans, purchasing Chatea Chambrun in Lalande de Pomerol. he turned this property into the benchmark for quality in Lalande before selling it in 2007. This interestingly seems to be a very normal practice of trading, investing and re-investing in properties to renew and replenish ones portfolio. Not quite the world in which we live, but that's ok too...
93 Points, The Wine Cellar Insider
"Flowers, smoke, licorice, espresso and red cherries create the nose and palate. Round, soft, polished and fresh, with freshness, length and loads of sweet fruits on the palate and in the mineralistic finish, you can enjoy with just a few years of bottle age. Drink from 2024-2036."
92 Points, Falstaff
"Dark ruby garnet, violet reflections, subtle lightening at the edges. Delicate floral, a hint of cassis and eucalyptus, fresh blackberry confit, delicate fine wood spice. Medium complexity, ripe black cherries, ripe tannins, good freshness, some nougat on the finish, an elegant food companion."
Region: St Emilion
Country: France
Grape(s): Merlot, Cabernet Franc
Style: Smooth, Powerful, Full, Elegant, Complex
Best food matches: Lamb, Fine Dining, Charcuterie
Alcohol: 14.5%
