Château Tertre Roteboeuf 1981

Tasting Notes and Serving Suggestions for Château Tertre Roteboeuf 1981

Tasting

Color

The color shows a red-brown hue characteristic of its maturity, with tawny highlights at the rim of the glass that reflect its harmonious evolution over the decades.

Nose

The bouquet reveals elegant notes of candied fruit reminiscent of raisins, alongside delicate aromas of spiced raspberry that bring freshness and complexity to the aromatic profile.

Palate

The attack is round and delicate, unveiling a refined, harmonious texture. The palate expresses beautifully defined flavors of spiced raspberry, supported by subtly integrated tannins. The finish lingers with persistence, extending the candied and spicy fruit notes found on the nose.

Food and Wine Pairings

This Château Tertre Roteboeuf 1981 pairs perfectly with roasted red meats, braised lamb, or feathered game. It also matches well with dishes featuring wild forest mushrooms, caramelized root vegetables, or aged hard cheeses such as Comté.

Serving and Cellaring

Château Tertre Roteboeuf 1981 has reached full maturity and is ideally enjoyed now. Serve at a temperature of 16-18°C after a brief aeration in a decanter to reveal its full aromatic complexity.

An Elegant, Refined Saint-Émilion

The estate

Located in Saint-Laurent-des-Combes within the Saint-Émilion appellation, Château Tertre Roteboeuf spans 6 hectares of vineyard on south/southeast-facing clay-limestone hillsides. Taken over in the late 1970s by François Mitjavile, who now runs the estate with his wife Émilie, the domaine stands out for its artisanal viticulture: very low-trained vines, grass cover, late hand harvesting, fermentation without added yeasts, and extended aging in new oak barrels, revealing the most accomplished expression of Bordeaux hillside wines.

The vineyard

Château Tertre Roteboeuf 1981 comes from a Saint-Émilion vineyard planted on a clay-limestone slope with a particularly favorable south-southeast exposure. This natural amphitheater-like setting creates a microclimate conducive to optimal ripening. Cool soils composed of various clays resting on a limestone base give the wine its delicate structure and hallmark elegance.

The vintage

The year 1981 in Bordeaux featured contrasting weather conditions. After a start to the season marked by cool, wet weather in June and July, August brought a significant improvement with warm temperatures and dry conditions that encouraged ripening. September began well before heavy rains arrived late in the month, disrupting the harvest. Despite these challenges, rigorous producers on the Right Bank succeeded in crafting wines of lovely elegance.

Vinification and aging

Château Tertre Roteboeuf 1981 was vinified using a traditional approach focused on preserving the wine’s natural fruit. Exceptionally low yields of 11 hectoliters per hectare delivered remarkable concentration while maintaining finesse and balance. Aging was carried out in tanks and used oak barrels, without new oak, a technique that would only be introduced starting with the 1985 vintage. This method preserved the pure expression of the terroir and the wine’s aromatic delicacy.

Grape varieties

Merlot (85%)
Cabernet franc (15%)