Château Tertre Roteboeuf 1993

Tasting characteristics and advice for Château Tertre Roteboeuf 1993

Tasting

Color

The color reveals a deep garnet hue with purplish ruby highlights, reflecting remarkable concentration for this vintage.

Nose

The nose opens with aromas of ripe black fruit—especially plum, black cherry and blackcurrant—alongside earthy notes and new oak. With aeration, the bouquet evolves toward more complex nuances of dried fruit, exotic spices, grilled meat and mocha, revealing a distinctive toasty, smoky register typical of its development.

Palate

The palate shows excellent depth with moderate tannins, beautifully mellowed over time. The texture is velvety and silky, offering a well-balanced tannic structure. Flavors of red and black fruit linger with freshness, accompanied by earthy and spicy touches. The finish unfolds elegantly with notes of cherry, raspberry and cocoa.

Food and wine pairings

This wine pairs perfectly with roasted or grilled red meats such as beef, lamb or game. It also goes wonderfully with duck, braised veal, as well as aged hard cheeses. Mushroom- or truffle-based dishes also make excellent matches.

Serving and cellaring

Château Tertre Roteboeuf 1993 is best served at around 15.5°C. Opening it thirty minutes before serving allows the wine to fully express itself. Fully mature, this vintage is best enjoyed now to appreciate its aromatic complexity and preserved freshness.

Other characteristics

This wine was aged for eighteen to twenty-four months in 100% new French oak barrels, providing subtle integration of oak notes without ever dominating the fruit expression. Its naturally high acidity helps maintain vibrancy and freshness despite more than three decades of aging.

The elegance of a great Saint-Émilion wine in a demanding vintage

The estate

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

The vineyard

The vineyard of Château Tertre Roteboeuf enjoys an exceptional amphitheater-like setting on the slopes of Saint-Émilion, with an optimal south-southeast exposure that creates a true natural sun trap. The soils are made up of a complex structure combining five different types of clay resting on a limestone bed, giving them a relatively cool character that promotes gradual, late ripening of the grapes. This distinctive feature makes it possible to achieve full physiological ripeness. Planting density reaches 5,155 vines per hectare, with cordon-trained vines kept lower than in neighboring estates, creating a slightly warmer microclimate.

The vintage

The 1993 vintage proved challenging across the Bordeaux vineyard, with unfavorable weather conditions limiting concentration and ripeness in many properties. However, thanks to rigorous vineyard management and the philosophy of late harvesting at optimal maturity practiced at Château Tertre Roteboeuf, this vintage transcended the year’s constraints to deliver a wine of remarkable quality in this context.

Winemaking and aging

Winemaking for Château Tertre Roteboeuf 1993 took place in temperature-controlled concrete vats, with high-temperature extraction reaching up to 35°C, enabling optimal extraction of tannins and color compounds. Yields were kept to a maximum of thirty-six hectoliters per hectare, ensuring intense concentration. Aging was carried out for eighteen to twenty-four months in 100% new French oak barrels, with regular rackings according to taste.

Grape varieties

Merlot and Cabernet Franc