2016-2017, 2019 Copel Wines

Copel Wines is the cumulation of long-standing relationships with the owner Xavier Copel and some of the best growers of Bordeaux, Southwest France and Spain. Xavier was born in Cahors and graduated as an Oenologist from the University of Toulouse. He started making wine in Cahors and at Domaine de Chevalier and finally settled in Bordeaux where he started his own Micro-Negoce and consulting business. Working extensively in these regions has allowed Xavier to form long-term partnerships with a single grower per appellation from well-sited vineyards. He produces wines from the same parcels year after year, resulting in wines that fully express the terroir with elegance and complexity. Xavier pays tribute to his ancestors by adorning his labels with one of his ancestor’s signatures.

Bordeaux is the world’s most famous fine-wine producing region. Even non-wine drinkers recognize the names of Bordeaux’s celebrated wines, such as Margaux and Lafite-Rothschild. Located near the Atlantic coast in southwest France, the region takes its name from the seaport city of Bordeaux, a wine trading center with an outstanding site on the Garonne River and easy access to the Atlantic. Like most French wine regions, Bordeaux’s first vineyards were planted by the Romans more than 2,000 years ago, then tended by medieval monks. Aristocrats and nobility later owned the region’s best estates and today estates are owned by everyone from non-French business conglomerates to families who have been proprietors for generations. Bordeaux has nearly 280,000 acres of vineyards, 57 appellations and 10,000 wine-producing châteaux. Bordeaux is bifurcated by the Gironde Estuary into so-called “right bank” and “left bank” appellations. Bordeaux’s red wines are blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. It also makes white wines of Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle. There are several classification systems in Bordeaux. All are attempts to rank the estates based on the historic quality of the wines.

Copel Wines is the cumulation of long-standing relationships with the owner Xavier Copel and some of the best growers of Bordeaux, Southwest France and Spain. Xavier was born in Cahors and graduated as an Oenologist from the University of Toulouse. He started making wine in Cahors and at Domaine de Chevalier and finally settled in Bordeaux where he started his own Micro-Negoce and consulting business. Working extensively in these regions has allowed Xavier to form long-term partnerships with a single grower per appellation from well-sited vineyards. He produces wines from the same parcels year after year, resulting in wines that fully express the terroir with elegance and complexity. Xavier pays tribute to his ancestors by adorning his labels with one of his ancestor’s signatures.

This grape produces a dark red wine with plenty of tannins. It is one of the six grapes allowed for blending red Bordeaux wines. Malbec is also the flagship variety of Argentina. The grape needs a lot of sun and heat to mature. It adds complexity and intensity to blends.

Copel Wines is the cumulation of long-standing relationships with the owner Xavier Copel and some of the best growers of Bordeaux, Southwest France and Spain. Xavier was born in Cahors and graduated as an Oenologist from the University of Toulouse. He started making wine in Cahors and at Domaine de Chevalier and finally settled in Bordeaux where he started his own Micro-Negoce and consulting business. Working extensively in these regions has allowed Xavier to form long-term partnerships with a single grower per appellation from well-sited vineyards. He produces wines from the same parcels year after year, resulting in wines that fully express the terroir with elegance and complexity. Xavier pays tribute to his ancestors by adorning his labels with one of his ancestor’s signatures.

Pauillac is Bordeaux’s most famous appellation, thanks to the fact that it is home to three of the region’s fabled first-growth châteaux, Lafite-Rothschild, Mouton-Rothschild and Latour. Perched on the left bank of the Gironde River north of the city of Bordeaux, Pauillac is centered around the commune of Pauillac and includes about 3,000 acres of vineyards. The Bordeaux classification of 1855 named 18 classified growths, including the three above mentioned First Growths. Cabernet Sauvignon is the principal grape grown, followed by Merlot. The soil is mostly sandy gravel mixed with marl and iron. Robert M. Parker Jr. has written that “the textbook Pauillac would tend to have a rich, full-bodied texture, a distinctive bouquet of black currants, licorice and cedary scents, and excellent aging potential.”

Copel Wines is the cumulation of long-standing relationships with the owner Xavier Copel and some of the best growers of Bordeaux, Southwest France and Spain. Xavier was born in Cahors and graduated as an Oenologist from the University of Toulouse. He started making wine in Cahors and at Domaine de Chevalier and finally settled in Bordeaux where he started his own Micro-Negoce and consulting business. Working extensively in these regions has allowed Xavier to form long-term partnerships with a single grower per appellation from well-sited vineyards. He produces wines from the same parcels year after year, resulting in wines that fully express the terroir with elegance and complexity. Xavier pays tribute to his ancestors by adorning his labels with one of his ancestor’s signatures.

Ribera del Duero is, in the words of wine writer Jancis Robinson and Hugh Johnson, “the modern red wine miracle of northern Spain.” In 2012 Wine Enthusiast magazine named it the international wine region of the year. The appellation is a high, rocky plateau in north/central Spain that follows the Duero River for 60 miles before the river passes into Portugal, where it becomes the famous Douro River, then flows into the Atlantic Ocean. There are more than 60,000 vineyard acres in the appellation and only red wines are produced under appellations regulations. Low rainfall, hot days, many hours of sunlight and harsh winters produce grapes of great depth and flavor. Ribera de Duero’s reputation owes much to Vega Sicilia, a 150-year old estate known both for its excellent traditional red wines and its willingness to innovate with the times. Tempranillo, known locally as Tinto Fino, is the dominant red grape in the appellation, and it is often blended with small amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec or Merlot. The highly acclaimed Bodegas Alejandro Fernandez, world famous for its Tinto Pesquera, is also in Ribera del Duero. The appellation status was awarded in 1982.

Think leather and cherries together for Tempranillo wines. This wine looks lighter than it is. It can be medium or full bodied, but its thin-skinned, big grapes, give it a more transparent appearance. It is grown in Spain, Portugal, the U.S. and Australia.

Copel Wines is the cumulation of long-standing relationships with the owner Xavier Copel and some of the best growers of Bordeaux, Southwest France and Spain. Xavier was born in Cahors and graduated as an Oenologist from the University of Toulouse. He started making wine in Cahors and at Domaine de Chevalier and finally settled in Bordeaux where he started his own Micro-Negoce and consulting business. Working extensively in these regions has allowed Xavier to form long-term partnerships with a single grower per appellation from well-sited vineyards. He produces wines from the same parcels year after year, resulting in wines that fully express the terroir with elegance and complexity. Xavier pays tribute to his ancestors by adorning his labels with one of his ancestor’s signatures.

Rioja Demoninación de Origine Calificada is Spain’s most important wine region. Located in northern Spain, it comprises 135,000 vineyard acres and was the first official appellation in Spain, earning its official DO status in 1926. In 1991 it became Spain’s first DOCa, Spain’s most prestigious appellation category. The DOCa is divided into three subzones: La Rioja Alavesa in the northeast; La Rioja Alta in the southwest; and La Rioja Baja in the east. About 75 percent of Rioja wines are reds, with Tempranillo the predominant grape. Garnacha (Grenache), Mazuelo (Carignan) and Graciano, a spicy, high-acidity red grape, are also allowed. White wines are made from Macabeo, Garnacha Blanca and Malvasia. Wines were made in this region well before the Romans arrived, though the Romans then the medieval monks refined vineyard management and wine production. In the 19th century French families migrated to Rioja after phylloxera wiped out their vineyards, and the French helped establish the tradition of wine blends, still part of Rioja winemaking. According to the rules for the appellation, a wine labelled a simple Rioja can spend less than a year in an oak aging barrel. A Criziana is aged for at least two years, one in oak. Rioja Reserva is aged at least three years, with at least one in oak. A Rioja Gran Reserva must be aged at least five years, with two years in oak.

Think leather and cherries together for Tempranillo wines. This wine looks lighter than it is. It can be medium or full bodied, but its thin-skinned, big grapes, give it a more transparent appearance. It is grown in Spain, Portugal, the U.S. and Australia.

Copel Wines is the cumulation of long-standing relationships with the owner Xavier Copel and some of the best growers of Bordeaux, Southwest France and Spain. Xavier was born in Cahors and graduated as an Oenologist from the University of Toulouse. He started making wine in Cahors and at Domaine de Chevalier and finally settled in Bordeaux where he started his own Micro-Negoce and consulting business. Working extensively in these regions has allowed Xavier to form long-term partnerships with a single grower per appellation from well-sited vineyards. He produces wines from the same parcels year after year, resulting in wines that fully express the terroir with elegance and complexity. Xavier pays tribute to his ancestors by adorning his labels with one of his ancestor’s signatures.

Saint-Émilion is on the east side of the Dordogne River. At 13,400 acres it is one of Bordeaux’s largest appellations, and perhaps its most picturesque. It is also home to what has been called “the garagiste” movement of upstart, tradition-defying winemakers who produce artisanal wines in styles that are unconventional for the appellation. The village of Saint-Émilion dates from the middle ages and it sits on low hills, surrounded by ancient walls. Like its neighbor Pomerol, Saint-Émilion was not included in the famous Bordeaux classification system of 1855. But a century later a ranking system was put in place, and unlike the classification system for the Medoc, the Saint-Émilion system is reviewed every ten years, meaning that estates can be upgraded or downgraded. There are three rankings: Grand Cru Classé, Premier Grand Cru Classé B and Premier Grand Cru Classé A, with the final ranking being the best. Such legendary Saint-Émilion estates as Châteaux Ausone and Cheval-Blanc are Premier Grand Cru Classé A, along with Châteaux Pavie and Angélus, both added to the classification in 2012. Wines in this appellation are primarily Merlot, mixed with Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.