85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 5% Carménère, Malbec and Petit Verdot

Food pairings: Red meats, roast poultry, game and firm cheeses. Serve at cool room temperature.

Winemaking: Grapes are hand-harvested and sorted, then vinified traditionally in stainless steel, with pump-overs two to three times a day and about three weeks of maceration. The wine ages 15 months in French oak (half new, half one-year-old) and is fined with fresh egg whites before bottling.

Vineyards and terroir: The vineyard sits on the gravelly and clay-gravel rises of Saint-Lambert, a village in Pauillac it shares with some of the appellation's most famous estates. The gravel drains well and gives back stored heat to ripen the fruit. Old vines average 40–45 years, and the oldest parcel dates from 1864. Old varieties like Carménère and Malbec give the wine its own signature.

Family: Château Gaudin began as a 4-hectare vineyard acquired in 1901 from a Monsieur Gaudin, whose name the family kept out of respect. Five generations later it covers 10–11 hectares and is still family run, with a grandmother and her grandchildren sharing the work.

In the pictures: The main street of Saint-Lambert, the Pauillac village where Château Gaudin stands, on a postcard from around 1900–1905 (public domain). Vineyards of the Pauillac appellation with the town's Saint-Martin church in the background (photo: Anthony Baratier, CC BY-SA 4.0).