posted on February 28, 2015
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Guy Constantin
Drifting in a reverie of nostalgia, for the time before vacuum concentrators, and reverse osmosis, and spinning cones turned modern Bordeaux into one more anonymous, look-alike, "full-bodied" red wine. Guy Constantin produced one of the last of its kind: Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot nurtured in the same deep gravel as in Margaux, only a kilometer away; with no new wood and only 12.5% alcohol. So instead of brutish power, his graceful, aristocratic wines offer a mouth-filling core of sweet black fruit wrapped in a perfumed nose that suggests fresh white tobacco, violets, and earth - with a silky, elegant finish that goes on and on.
During their entire life together, Guy and Maryse Constantin operated a comfortable ferme-auberge in the village of Macau, across the road from the entrance to Château Cantemerle. The vineyard was Guy’s passion, but there were only four hectares, so it always took second place to the restaurant. Besides, it was Maryse’s cooking that was better known in Macau. When she died in 2006, Guy closed the restaurant, and sold his vines to neighboring Château Cambon la Pelouse. But he kept the cellar and the wine that remained, as a hedge for his retirement. Today he works with a young vigneron in Macau, helping him establish his own estate, where traditional Bordeaux like his own will be made in the future.
Posted under Meet the Winegrowers