The label no longer exists. Curé Bon la Madeleine was five hectares on the limestone plateau of Saint-Émilion, ringed by Ausone, Belair and Canon — about as good an address as the appellation has — and in 2000 it was bought by Château Canon and absorbed into it. Every bottle carrying this name was made before that date, and nobody will make another.
The vines sat on the same limestone the town itself is quarried from, with ageing cellars cut straight into the rock beneath. The wine was Merlot-led, firm and mineral, and made in such small quantity that it went mostly to people who already knew about it.
1975 was the hot, dry, deeply tannic vintage that ended a run of poor years in Bordeaux. Half a century later, this is a modest price for something genuinely finite: a classed-growth Saint-Émilion from an estate that has been erased from the map, carrying one particular year on the front.
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Producer: Château Cure-Bon La Madeleine
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Vintage: 1975
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Appellation: Saint-Émilion AOC
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Format: 75cl
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Region: Bordeaux, France
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Style: Red
Where it is likely to be now. A top-shoulder fill from a hard vintage means it may still be holding, but treat it as a collector's bottle rather than a dinner wine.
Who it suits. Under a hundred euro for a genuine 1975 classed growth, which makes it the sensible choice for a fifty-first birthday or for building a set of bottles across several years.
Condition. The label is intact and the fill is at top shoulder, meaning a little has evaporated over fifty-one years, which is entirely normal.
Provenance. Bought to order from a professional European merchant. We check fill, label and capsule when the bottle reaches us and photograph it before it ships.
Delivered in 7 to 10 working days, tracked. Transit cover can be added at checkout.
Sold as a collectible item, as seen. No guarantee is given on drinkability.
