Once the underdog of St. Emilion wine, Château Monbousquet has turned itself around of late. This is largely due to Gerard Perse’s involvement (some say intervention) who bought the estate and its holdings for a “minuscule” $9,000,000 in 1993. Perse then went on to buy Château Pavie (for an undisclosed sum) as well as Château Pavie-Decesse, so we can only assume his primary experience with Château Monbousquet was a good one.

When Perse, a tycoon who had made his fortune in the French supermarket industry, bought Château Monbousquet he unwittingly set in motion a chain of events that would change the fortune of the St. Emilion wine estate. He begun by severely restricting yields and began construction on a cutting-edge cuvier. Then he played his trump card; he hired the omnipresent wine consultant Michel Rolland who whipped Château Monbousquet into the present day marvel that we know and love today. The cherry on the 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon cake were that Monbousquet was finally recognised as the great St. Emilion wine it is and was awarded grand cru status in 2006.

The estate itself dates back to the 16th century and has been producing wine since the 18th century. The 32-hectares property is primarily planted for red wine production, to gravel soils (remarkably similar to both Cheval Blanc and Figeac). Two wines of note are produced: the Grand Vin which is aged for 18-24 months in new French oak barrels and the second wine, Angélique de Monbousquet which benefits from 18 months in the previous year’s grand vin barrels. For those who like to seek out the unicorn, it should be noted that a very, very small parcel of white grapes was planted upon Perse’s arrival with Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris, Semillon and Muscadelle, and Monbousquet does produce a frighteningly rare dry Bordeaux Blanc along with its two flagship reds. St. Emilion wine prices have yet to reach the giddy heights of their right bank brothers and prices for all three mentioned wines remain excellent value for money.