la mothe...

I have not had any La Mothe, but I did find some information about it. I found the following in a book by Clive Coates published in 2004"

"The estate was acquired by the PPessonnier family in 1990 Paul Pessonnier has now retired, and his daughter, Anne Pousse, is in charge today. While picking is by machine, all the wine is reared in wood, there being a Cuvee Classique and a Grande Reserve, the later using new wood in part. These are elegant wines, not a bit tiring to drink, individual and well balanced. Recent vintages have been very good, and the 1999 was a conspicuous success for the year."

The commune Lansac in the Cotes de Bourg region.. There are about 23 ha of vines. The wine is made from about 60% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Malbec, and 5% Cabernet Franc.

Most wines from the general area in which this chateau is located are ready to drink fairly young and are not made for very long aging. I would guess most of these wines made in the 1990s would be drinking well now, and some might already be nearly too old.

Hopefully the above is the correct chateau. There are at least 4 others that include Lamothe with an added word, such as Lamothe-Bergeron, Lamothe-Cissac, Lamithe-Despujols, and Lamothe-Guignard.

Hi, I also found the Pessonnier family, but didn't reply as I have it listed as a Côtes de bourg and not Cru Bourgois. Figured I had the wrong one. Hachette has the Grande Reserve listed as 80% merlot in '96; I'm sure this assemblage varies by year. The 96 is listed at

Not sure if this is pertinent! The photo on the site is not quite good enough for me to make out the producer's name.

-E

Coates gives the Cru Bourgeois classification of 2003, and it contains only the Cru Bourgeois Superieurs Lamothe-Bergeron and the Cru Bourgeois Lamothe-Cissac. But the bottles in question are from the

Yes, me too. I have Lamothe, one word.

-E

Nope. Take a look at the label.

Couldn't find anything at this link.

Comlpetely different pair of shoes: Lamothe-Guignard is a Sauternes Cru Classé (sweet white), not a Médoc Cru Bourgeois (dry red).

That again is another wine, Château Lamothe de Haux, AOC Premières Côtes de Bordeaux.

M.

OK then, here we are. It seems to be Château La Mothe in St-Yzans-de-Médoc. The estate does not figure in the 1932 nor in the 1978 list of Crus Bourgeois. The château has applied to become classified Cru Bourgeois, but was not admitted in the 2003 official list. It figures, however, among the long list of those having appealed against this judgment:

or

As far as I can see, the mention "Cru Bourgeois" on the label seems to be kind of illicit.

M.

Strange enough, also some classified Crus Bourgeois seem to have appealed: Maucaillou (Moulis) and Meyney (St-Estèphe), both Crus Bourgeois Supérieurs, figure on the list of appealants(?).

So either the list is kind of strangely compiled, or they both wanted to be Bourgeois Exceptionnel.

M.