Situated directly opposite Margaux on the Right Bank of the Dordogne River just before it joins the Garonne River to form the Gironde Estuary, the vineyards in Bourg receive about 10% more sun, 1 to 2 degrees less extreme temperatures and 10-25% less rain than is the average in the Bordeaux region. In a region that struggles to get full ripeness and with fungal diseases, these markers of quality were understood by the Romans all the way up to modern French people who granted Côtes de Bourg its own appellation, along with nearly every other now famous AOC, in the first year that appellations existed, 1936. Merlot is the dominant grape in Bourg as well as in this wine, which is 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. In 2002 Sandrine Magdeleine-Cenac and her husband Jean-François Cenac, both lawyers in Bordeaux, decided to come back to the estate and become the third generation of the family to make wine. The certified sustainably farmed grapes are hand picked and hand sorted before a temperature-controlled fermentation. The wine ages for six months in second use French oak barrels and its round and plush flavors of black plums, raspberries, blackberries, dark chocolate and forest floor are well suited to grilled meats and sharp cheeses. Croque Monsieur, anyone?