Siran 1996

The estate dates back to a land grant from the church to Guilhem de Siran in 1428. By the end of the 17th Century, wine was being produced and Siran developed its reputation during the 1700s. Previously the property of the great-grandmother of the painter Toulouse-Lautrec, it has been owned by members of the Miailhe family since 1859. Only a handful of Bordeaux properties have remained in the hands of the same family for such a long time. Current boss Edouard, who took over in 2007, represents the senth generation.

The estate owns 25 hectares (62 acres) of vineyards within the Margaux appellation, planted to 46 percent Merlot, 40 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 13 percent Petit Verdot and 1 percent Cabernet Franc. The estate also owns 9ha in Bordeaux Supérieur, on the border with Margaux on alluvial clay over gravel, plus a further 2ha in Haut-Médoc. S de Siran is the second wine of the property, also from the Margaux appellation, while Saint Jacques de Siran is a Bordeaux Supérieur.

Grapes are picked by hand into small crates, and rigorously sorted before and after de-stemming. The fruit is vinified on a plot-by-plot basis in temperature-controlled vats and aged in French oak barrels. Overall production totals around 10,000 cases per vintage.

The winery and cellars were renovated in 2014, and the cellar used to old museum bottles is, in fact, a nuclear shelter built in the 1980s to withstand the possible failure of the nuclear power plant at nearby Blayais.