Pierre Lavau could easily be mistaken for an Irishman with his bushy head of red hair, but his family is steeped in Saint-Émilion tradition — his grandfather Gabriel worked as a cooper in the appellation, visiting many vineyards repairing barrels. Over time the family enlarged their small estate, and Pierre added a further parcel of Saint-Émilion land in 1996. Years of experience have given Pierre a deep understanding of the soil. He naturally evolved towards lutte raisonnée to reduce pesticides, sowing cereals like oats between the vine rows and tilling them back into the soil as natural nutrients — no herbicides used. The result is wines that differ from vintage to vintage but always respect their true place of origin.
About This Wine
A classic Saint-Émilion Grand Cru from a family estate with deep roots in the appellation — Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon blended in the Right Bank tradition. Elegant, layered, and built to age, this is a wine of genuine character and terroir-driven complexity.
Tasting Notes
Colour: Deep ruby with garnet hints.
Nose: Black cherry and currant fruit with spice box and forest fruits.
Palate: Silky tannins, layered mouthfeel, and excellent structure.
Finish: Expansive and long.
Food Pairing
Lamb, red meat, and hard cheese.
Details
Grape: Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Saint-Émilion, France
Farming: HVE Certified
Style: Medium Bodied Red
Serving Temperature: 16–18°C
Alcohol: 13%
Bottle: 75cl
Drink: In the next 10 years
Domaine Derain Bourgogne Blanc ‘ La Combe’ 2019: The nose is pure and elegant, lemon skins, hawthorn flowers with honeyed notes. The palate is explosive, bright citrus and apple fruit mingle with vibrant acidity and minerals softened by the lightest touch of oak. Amazingly long and racy finish, reminiscent of a village or even premier cru. Wonderful experience. Tasted April 2019
The vines for this lovely Chardonnay ‘La Combe’ are located close to the village of Puligny-Montrachet where there is deep brown soil which is managed biodynamically. The yield is only 35 hectolitres per hectare and this means the fruit is packed with flavour and the wine reflects this. La Combe is a tiny plot of only .5 hectare (they purchased .2 hectare recently). This is a wine for contemplating. It opens up slowly in the glass, but then reveals an array of flavours and aromas that are truly compelling. This is a lovely, expressive Chardonnay.
Domaine Derain, Saint-AubinBiodynamic, Natural
Dominique Derain is a pioneer of Biodynamic and Natural wine in Burgundy. Born in 1955, he originally trained and worked as a cooper (barrel maker) for 5 years. In 1988 he purchased a 5.5-ha estate in Saint-Aubin, he obtained organic certification the following year, followed by Demeter cert. In 1997, he left Demeter when the membership fees doubled. He no longer displays any certifications on his bottle labels.
Dominique definitely adopt a minimalist approach. He farms biodynamically, hand harvest, do not chaptalize or acidify and use the barest amount of sulphur.
All the fruit is hand-picked, destem 90% (red grapes) before fermentation, which occurs in wooden vats. After fermentation the wine is aged in old oak casks for 12-18 months. SO2 is never added during the winemaking process, only a small amount at bottling for stabilization.
From this vintage we see Dominique handing over the reins to his long time employee, young rising star Julien Altaber, and Julien’s talent can be seen in the quality of t