BigHammerWines.com

Saint-Émilion is Bordeaux's Right Bank icon — home to the powerhouses of Cheval Blanc, Ausone, and Angélus. The "Grand Cru" in the name tells you this wine comes from within the hallowed Saint-Émilion AOC, the appellation that sets the benchmark for Merlot-led Bordeaux.

Think of it as Bordeaux's softer, fleshier answer to Napa Cabernet: black cherry and plum instead of cassis, velvety instead of structured, ready to drink earlier while still built to age.

Château Ascension is one of the newer names in the appellation, but the family behind it has centuries of roots here. Founded in 2016 by Héloïse Aubert-Sénéchal, Ascension is the passion project of a winegrowing family that also owns Château La Couspaude, a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé with over two hundred years of tradition. Ascension's six hectares sit on the clay-limestone soils of Saint-Christophe-des-Bardes, in the eastern reaches of the appellation — the same geological signature that defines Saint-Émilion's most coveted wines.

The 2020 blend is 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc — a Right Bank formula that gives this wine its plush, generous core of dark cherry and plum alongside the gentle graphite and dried-herb lift that only Cabernet Franc can bring.

Decant an hour before serving, pour with a ribeye, lamb, or mushroom risotto, and you'll understand exactly why Saint-Émilion has defined the Right Bank for centuries.