Château St. Saturnin is the work of Adrien Tramier, a winemaker originally from Algeria who studied winemaking in Montpellier before purchasing a small 3-hectare farm in Bégadan, in the far northern Médoc, in 1968. Known for his modesty and unconventional methods, Tramier lets his grapes hang a full month longer than most neighboring estates and sprays his vines only a handful of times a year, an unusually hands-off approach for the region. His estate has since grown to 35 hectares, still run with the same idiosyncratic dedication.
This 1986 bottle carries the Médoc appellation, the broad, historically overlooked northern end of the Left Bank, known for lighter, more approachable wines than its famous neighbors further south. Made from a Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon blend grown on gravel-rich soils, this nearly four-decade-old bottle offers a rare chance to taste a fully mature Médoc: expect earthy, leather, and mushroom notes layered over softened black fruit, with the tannins fully resolved by time.
The result is a genuine collector's bottle, a taste of well-aged Médoc from an eccentric, deeply hands-on winemaker rarely found on store shelves.