From soils akin to Saint-Émilion without the accompanying price tag, this Merlot dominant wine offers notes of crushed berries, anise, and cocoa, with a touch of oak. Medium-bodied with fleshy fruit, delivering firm, dry tannins on the finish. Would pair well with smoked pork chops or chicken with rice and beans. From 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc, from clay and limestone soils, this wine opens with oak, licorice, and dark berries and is fleshy, but dry in the finish. To produce the wine of Château Montlandrie, the wine is vinified in 15, small, temperature-controlled, stainless vats that range in size from 24 hectoliters up to 82 hectoliters. This allows for a parcel by parcel vinification as the vineyard is divided into 15 parcels. Malolactic fermentation takes place in vat.

In fact, the elevation of the vineyards shares characteristics with Saint Émilion as well, with peaks that reach close to 80 meters high. The vineyard is planted to a vine density of 6,000 vines per hectare. The wine is aged in 30% new, French oak barrels for an average of 14 months. Château Montlandrie is much better with at least 2-4 years of aging in good vintages like 2012. Young vintages can be decanted for 1 hour or so. Château Montlandrie is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift. Château Montlandrie is best paired with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised, and grilled dishes. Chateau Montlandrie is also good when matched with Asian dishes, and rich fish courses like tuna, mushrooms, and pasta.