Tag Archives: Bordeaux

Côtes de Castillon: good value wines galore!

When I first arrived in Bordeaux, the word going round was that Fronsac was the up-and-coming wine region, and was headed for great things. However, this never really materialized. Then a similar buzz was heard about Castillon. I must admit to feeling there is more potential for the latter appellation, not only because it’s so much bigger (2,300 hectares compared to just over 1,000 for Fronsac and Canon-Fronsac), but because the wines are more appealing to the general public.

Although “Castillon, Côtes de Bordeaux” is not exactly a household name, it has long been a treasure trove of good-value Bordeaux beloved of connoisseurs. Historically, the appellation was known as “près-Saint-Emilionais”, and the geographical proximity with Saint-Emilion is unquestionably reflected in the wines. Let’s be clear: a good Castillon is better than a ho-hum Saint-Emilion, and has a much lower price tag to boot.
In fact, Castillon is where to bring people who moan that Bordeaux is too expensive or Burgundy lovers with blinders on. This is where you can find worthwhile wines for as little as 7 or 8 euros a bottle and truly delicious ones for not much more. And I’m talking about really good wine here.
Bordeaux has Portes Ouvertes (“Open Days”) in most major appellations. These are marvellous opportunities for anyone who’s interested in visiting châteaux, meeting the winegrower, sampling the wine, and either buying or not as one sees fit. Absolutely no pressure is brought to bear. The Portes Ouvertes in Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux took place on Saturday the 5th and Sunday the 6th of September. The number of participating estates was relatively limited (17), but included a good cross-section of the appellation.
I went there on Sunday with an American friend, author, and fellow blogger, Tom Mullen: http://vinoexpressions.com/about-wine-and-work/

Portes Ouvertes programme

We visited 7 châteaux and had a wine lunch at Château Pitray. Here’s a brief rundown of the experience, which I can strongly recommend.

Proud owners of Ch. Rose Poncet

Our day started off with Château La Fleur Poncet in Gardegan-et-Tourtirac, where we were greeted by Madame Elisabeth Rousseau-Rodriguez, Vice-President of the Castillon winegrowers association, and her husband. This 10-hectare estate, in the family for the past two centuries, is located 7 km from Saint-Emilion and within sight of Château Michel de Montaigne in the neighboring Bergerac appellation. The predominately Merlot grapes were in excellent condition and had already reached a potential alcoholic degree of 13.5° on the 6th of September! So things were looking very good – as opposed to 2013 when a hail storm virtually wiped out the entire crop… The estate makes two wines, the regular cuvée and Mon anGe, an anagram of her children’s names. The latter is 100% Merlot, made from 35 year-old vines, and aged in new oak. My favorite wine was the 2010 La Rose Poncet.

The Lydoire family

The next stop was Château Bellevue in Belvès-de-Castillon. This 12.5 hectare estate is owned by the Lydoire family. They have a higher-than-than usual percentage of Cabernet Franc: 25%. We tasted their quaffable 2012 Bordeaux Supérieur and interesting 2012 vieilles vignes from Castillon, as well as the unusual 2011 Cémacuvée, made in a successful ripe, oaky, modern style.

The last stop before lunch, one of the best of the day, was at Château Lapeyronie in Gardegan-et-Tourtirac. When we arrived, we were somewhat surprised to see three gendarmes in the cellar and I quipped that, honestly, I had spat everything out so far! I don’t think the same could be said of them… Furthermore, they were from Burgundy, whose wines were obviously much better than ours ;-). Anyway, we were welcomed by Hélène Thibaut, a professor of viticulture and oenology and partner of Jean-Frédéric Lapeyronie. He looks after the vines, and she’s in charge of the cellars. The 2012s we tasted were among the best all day, and the prices quite reasonable. Several nice surprises were in store for us. One was an excellent Côtes de Francs with a nice tannic texture to round out the fleshiness of the Merlot – the best Francs I can ever remember tasting. The other was an exceedingly rare 100% Carménère. This is sold as vin de table français, presumably because it is considered a secondary rather than a primary grape variety. Not only rare, the wine also happens to be quite enjoyable with a peppery bouquet – quite the wine to baffle someone at a blind tasting! And as if this weren’t enough, Lapeyronie also makes a wine with zero sulfur, a so-called natural wine. Despite my scepticism, I had to admit it was good, and commend the estate for branching out and doing unusual things.

Lunch was an outdoor affair open to the general public on the beautiful grounds of Château Pitray. Several hundred people attended and, fortunately, the weather cooperated. We skipped the tasting part of the event and sat down to enjoy the inevitable grilled entrecote steak with a sturdy 2009 Cuvée Madame from Pitray (aged in new oak) and a previously enjoyed 2012 unsulfured Château Lapeyronie.

Madame de Ch. Pitray

After lunch, we met with Madame Françoise Lannoye, President of the Castillon winegrowers association and owner of Ch. Moulin de la Clotte. The affable Mme Lannoye, who speaks very good English, talked to us about the appellation. She feels that joining forces with the other Côtes de Bordeaux (Bourg opted out) for promotional and marketing efforts was the right move.

: Maison du Vin in Castillon

: Mme Lannoye

Furthermore, she explained that Castillon benefits greatly from tourism. The battle ending the Hundred Years’ war was fought here, when the forces of King Charles VII of France defeated John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury (yes, who gave his name to Château Talbot in Saint Julien), thus ending three centuries of English rule over the Aquitaine region.
A much-acclaimed re-enactment of the battle is held throughout the summer: http://www.bdc-server.com/index_UK.html

Battle monument: Battle monument

Talbot’s tomb: Talbot’s tomb

There are also a number of medieval castles in the region and a Maison du Vin in Castillon (population 3,000) – whose full name is Castillon-la-Bataille

Maison du Vin

Madame Lannoye said that Castillon is sold mostly in France, but also exported to Belgium, England, and Japan. She also places hope in the US market. When you see the value for money these wines represent, they should do really well in America. However, there is somewhat of an image problem: not a bad image, but rather a lack of image altogether. The Côtes group are working on this as much as their budget allows.

We visited three more châteaux after lunch. Most of these were in “hop, skip, and taste” mode 🙂

The first of these was Clos Védélago. A roofer by trade, Jean-Paul Védélago bought 2.5 hectares vines in 2004. He brings grapes from two of those hectares to the cooperative in Puisseguin-Saint-Emilion. The remainder (exactly 0.47 hectares!) are in the Castillon appellation. These are used to make a luscious 100% Merlot wine. We tasted through 5 vintages (2010 to 2014). The ones I liked most were the 2014 and 2012. His wines have received medals and been cited as Coups de Cœur (“special favorites”) in the Guide Hachette.

We then went on to Château Château Les Fleurs de Trentin in Sainte Colombe, who grow their grapes organically. We enjoyed their 2012, what the French call a vin plaisir, i.e. an up-front, seductive, easy-drinking wine. The 2009 Cuvée Nathanoé was a little rustic, but showed a strong personality. We tasted the estate’s cuvee prestige in the 2008 and 2009 vintages, much preferring the former.

: Pélerin de Fonbaude

: L’Ame de Fontbaude

: Pélerin de Fonbaude

: L’Ame de Fontbaude

Our final visit of the day was to Château Fontbaude in Saint-Magne-de-Castillon. We arrived to see Christian sitting in the shade of a large tree behind a table with several bottles, in a beautiful and infinitely calm setting. We tasted the 2014 Pélerin de Fontbaude, a delight to drink young, followed by the 2010 Fontbaude and the 2012 cuvée vieilles vignes. The star of the show was 2011 l’Ame de Fontbaude a rich, fruity wine with a sinewy, silky texture, great aromatics, and some fine spicy nuances.

Thus ended our day in Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux.

La Brasserie Bordelaise: southwest cuisine and a great wine list…

The primary meaning of brasserie in French is “brewery”. But it also means a specific sort of establishment in France: a café-cum-restaurant with a relaxed atmosphere that serves food outside the usual set mealtimes. Brasseries usually offer a limited range of popular dishes rather than an elaborate menu, and diners frequently do not linger, often ordering just one dish.
What is the difference between a “brasserie” and a “bistrot”? It’s actually more complicated than it sounds, and you can find a long discussion (in English) on that subject here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187147-i14-k6250591-Difference_between_brasserie_and_bistro-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

But I’m sure you get the idea :-).

The Brasserie Bordelaise is located at 50 rue Saint-Rémi in Old Bordeaux, about a 5-minute walk from the Grand Théâtre. There are no fewer than 25 restaurants practically side-by-side on this street, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous…

Where does the Brasserie Bordelaise fit in?

in Old Bordeaux

First of all, created in 2008, the Brasserie has already become an institution. It is relaxed, authentic, and lively, sometimes to the point of boisterousness. No chichi here. There’s a good buzz and a lot of positive energy. The food is simple, hearty, and wholesome. The wine list is outstanding.

The first part of the restaurant has a bar and perhaps a dozen tables, and there is a larger room downstairs with long wooden tables and wooden benches, as well as a mezzanine overlooking it.

Counter service

Cuisine: The theme here is superb ingredients simply prepared. Delicacies from Southwest France have been carefully sourced: oysters, dry cured ham, foie gras, lamprey, caviar d’Aquitaine and, above all, beef. In fact, the beef is superb, and what better food to go with good red Bordeaux?
The restaurant’s website gives the background to suppliers: http://www.brasserie-bordelaise.fr/brasserie_bordelaise_en.php#/
Prices are in the moderate range. The meal I enjoyed last week with friends (4 of us altogether) included the following: foie gras, cuttlefish cooked with garlic and parsley, and melon with wafer-thin dry cured ham for the first course followed by rump steak, entrecote steak, and Waygu beef skirt steak for the main course. Everything was just fine, and the beef top class.
We enjoyed a 2010 Cuvée Flora from Château Patache d’Aux (AOC Médoc), that was quite enjoyable, not ridiculously young, and mercifully not over-oaked like many cuvées presige are.

: Delicious ham

Wine: The full wine list can also be found at the above link. It is quite extensive and intelligently broken down into different categories: “Specially Recommended”, “Right Bank”, “Left Bank”, “Wines by the Glass”, “Pomerol”, wines from different négociants (including Bernard Margez, Cordier, and Jean Merlaut – who is part owner of the restaurant), ones from famous winemakers and consultants, “Rare and Exceptional”, etc. As for this last category, you can find crus classés going back to 1995, up to and including first growths, at reasonable retail prices. The choice of vintage Armagnac is very impressive, and not outlandishly priced. I might add that the Bordelais are traditionally more partial to this brandy than Cognac although the former is much closer geographically.
The restaurant recently began handing out the wine list on iPads. However, 4 out of 10 were stolen, so they are rethinking that particular innovation…

La Brasserie Bordelaise is the brainchild of Nicolas Lascombes, a serial entrepreneur who managed La Tupina restaurant in Bordeaux for ten years. Monsieur Lascombes also owns and runs three restaurants on Arcachon Bay: le Comptoir du Port in Arcachon and l’Hôtel de la Plage and Le Bouchon du Ferret in Cap Ferret. Last, but not least, he has been chosen to run the restaurant in the new Cité du Vin, due to open next year.
http://www.citedescivilisationsduvin.com/accueil.html

L’Univerre restaurant in Bordeaux – a wine lover’s paradise

Burgundy in Bordeaux? How kinky can you get? And yet… there’s a restaurant in the center of Bordeaux that has a phenomenal selection of wines from the Côte d’Or (and elsewhere).

I first knew Fabrice Moisan when he managed a restaurant called Verretigo on the rue Georges Bonnac. The décor did not suggest it, but the food was good and wine list phenomenal, with a great selection of Burgundy (!) and oddball wines you’d never expect to see in Bordeaux in a million years, such as fine German wines. What’s more, the prices were downright reasonable.
Two years ago, Fabrice and his associates created Univerre (another play on words…) and moved to a new location, 40 rue Georges Bonnac, also in the Mériadeck district close to the heart of the city. The décor is more in keeping with the restaurant’s standing this time and has gained a devoted clientele.

A visit to l’Univerre’s website will give you a good feel for the place: http://www.univerre-restaurant.com/ And you can enjoy drooling over the wine list: some 1,300 different ones to choose from! The main list is 50 pages long. As incredible as this may seem, Burgundy has pride of place. Confused or overwhelmed by all these “foreign” wines? Fabrice will be glad to guide you!
The first thing you see when you enter the restaurant is the small Pinot Bar which serves fine wines by the glass thanks to a Eurocave dispenser with neutral gas that keeps the wines from going off. The dining room itself is rather small, with just ten tables. The decor is simple and modern, and one wall has a plate glass window with a wonderful view of bottles, some quite rare (Henri Jayer Cros Parantoux anyone?).

The cuisine? Let’s start off by saying that this is a restaurant for wine lovers so the food is necessarily good. But, let’s be honest: the star at l’Univerre is what’s in the glass. The menu is limited, featuring tried-and-true options. My first course was veal kidneys with garlic and parsley, and the main course was a tournedos of aged Aubrac beef. The latter was wonderful and served with chips and shallots cooked in butter.

The wines? We drank a Chablis and a red Burgundy.

2007 Premier Cru La Forêt from Vincent Dauvissat (60 euros) was very enjoyable. The color was medium-deep with chartreuse highlights and showed some age. The understated nose was very typical of its appellation with lemony and delicate orange blossom overtones. The wine had a lovely soft attack, going on to show gooseberry and white currant flavours before evolving into a nippy, dry, mineral aftertaste with good texture and little evidence of oak ageing. The acidity was very precise and there was something deliciously lip-smacking and appetizing about this Chablis. It is quite enjoyable to drink now, but will last for years. The serving temperature was perhaps a tad too cold.

2007 Gevery Chambertin Premier Cru Clos Saint Jacques, vieilles vignes, from Domaine Fourrier (200 euros) went extremely well with the beef. This climat is considered by many Burgundy aficionados to deserve an upgrade to grand cru status along with the likes of Meursault Perrières, Nuits Saint Georges Les Saint Georges, Pommard Les Rugiens Bas, and a few others. Furthermore, Jean-Marie Fourrier is a highly-reputed winemaker.
The color was looking a little older than its years. The nose was sleek and sophisticated with very pure, soft, candied fruit nuances along with some musky and new leather overtones. In fact, the bouquet was altogether sensual, perfumed, and very classy, with cranberry and powdered talc aromas – a real treat just to smell, and impossible to describe with mere words…. Fresh, silky, and spherical on the palate, the wine seemed more ripe than many others from that vintage, and the oak influence was just right. In fact, this 2007 Clos Saint Jacques was so enjoyable that the mind boggles to think what it must taste like in a great year! I found it to be squarely in its drinking window.
Interestingly, Fabrice decanted the wine. I approve, although I know that some Burgundy lovers scoff at this.
I should also point out that Univerre uses impeccable Zalto glasses.

There’s a small branch of the Univerre (shop and wine bar) in the 6th arrondissement of Paris http://www.lasuite-atelier.com/projet/univerre-paris-up/ with a function room for tastings.
The associates have also set up a business in Hong Kong, where they are agents for several Burgundy producers (Roulot, Cathiard, etc.).

Classic French wines, including a 2001 Ch. La Conseillante

Many wine dinners start out with a glass or two of Champagne, but people rarely give this more than passing mention when remembering the line-up of wines they have tasted. I think this is a pity, so I’ll break the mold and give special praise to a 1996 vintage Champagne from Charles Heidsieck.
I have a soft spot for Charles Heidseick (owned by the Descours family, along with Piper Heidsieck, since 2011) because I did a six month internship there in Reims when I was a college student.
I honestly think that this is one of the best grandes marques available today, from the Brut Réserve on up.
1996 is widely considered a fine vintage, and Mr. Parker rates it 97/100, considering it “slow to mature”.
The wine we had was in excellent shape, neither too young nor too old. The color was medium-gold and the bouquet was wonderfully subtle: slightly biscuity, understated, sophisticated, and sexy. The wine followed through in much the same way on the palate, with not a hair out of place, and a long, cool aftertaste. Wonderful.

Our guests that evening were Jakai Zhang (Ch. Le Bon Pasteur in Pomerol), Nerissa Chen (Ch. Kirwan), and Denis Darriet, owner of Ch. Seguin in Canéjan (appellation Pessac-Léognan). Feedback was very positive about the upcoming 2015 vintage which started today, August 24th, in Bordeaux for grapes destined to make Crémant.

The first course was accompanied by a 2002 Corton Charlemagne from Domaine Bruno Clair. This also had sentimental value to me since it was a gift from the winemaker, Philippe Brun, whom my wife and I met when we lived in the Napa Valley years ago.
Mercifully, the wine did not suffer from the Burgundian blight of premature oxidation (I had two back-up bottles of chilled white wine just in case). The color was pale gold and the nose ultra-classic and exquisite. Not even an inkling of oxidation. Rather than hazelnut overtones I often find in white Burgundy, there were fine almond nuances. The wine surprised me by being not very rich on the palate, but it lived up to its grand cru status by the way it so gracefully evolved into a super long aftertaste, with controlled power. This wine is delicious now, but has the stuffing to age much longer.
Enough to restore one’s faith in white Burgundy.

I am a great fan of Côte Rôtie, and have attended the Marché aux Vins in Ampuis (http://www.marche-aux-vins-ampuis-cote-rotie.com/) on three occasions. I very much recommend this 4-day event, with the proviso that you go on Friday and/or Saturday morning. Seeing as it is open to the public, there are simply too many people thereafter. Among a host of other wines, I bought two bottles of 2007 Château d’Ampuis 4 years ago at the Guigal stand. This was one of the most impressive wines I tasted all day.
Seeing as I had two bottles, I thought I would try one on the young side to see how it was doing.
The color was very deep and vibrant and the nose had the tell-tale aromas of fine Côte Rôtie: violet, black pepper, and even a smell of blood and raw meat (not as gruesome as it sounds). Despite what one may read in wine books, I tend to think of Côte Rôtie as a feminine wine. However, this one was fairly butch and had plenty of energy, vigor, and ageing potential. Yes, I will wait a long time before opening the second bottle.

The wine with the cheese course was 2001 Châteu La Conseillante. This was served blind, and most people thought it from a more recent vintage. The color certainly looked younger than its age and the nose had the trademark humus and truffle aromas of the finest Pomerol. The wine was luscious on the palate and very rich, but not overpowering or alcoholic – the balancing act of the finest Bordeaux. The texture was funky, velvety and even what I call “furry”. The aftertaste was assertive and featured deep black fruit nuances. As good as this was, the wine will improve further. It also confirms the good opinion I have of the 2001 vintage – and Château La Conseillante.

02 Ch. Sociando Mallet, 01 Ch. Talbot, and 04 Ch. Durfort Vivens

Everybody loves a success story, and Sociando Mallet certainly falls into that category. When Jean Gautreau bought the estate in 1969, there were just 5 hectares of vines. There are currently 85! However, it was not only production that increased. Sociando Mallet also built up a solid reputation for quality and established a loyal following.
The vines grow on a rise overlooking the Gironde Estuary east of the village of Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne, the northernmost commune in the Haut-Médoc appellation. The soil is very gravelly, with a clay-limestone subsoil.
Sociando-Mallet did not even ask to be included in the most recent cru bourgeois classification. They felt above it, and the price their wine commands tends to confirm that…
The first time I tasted 2002 Sociando was at the Darroze restaurant in Langon, where I had been invited to lunch by Xavier Gonet-Médeville of Ch. Gilette in Sauternes. This was about 5 years ago and the wine was quite closed at the time. The situation was compounded by the fact that young wines rarely have the chance to open up in restaurants, even when properly decanted.
Anyway, by August 2015, this wine was, unsurprisingly, much more developed. It was decanted 3 hours before the meal. The color made the wine appear younger than its age.
As for the bouquet, Sociando is noted for displaying a decided green pepper quality in certain years, to the point where some people have found it too overpowering. The 2000 vintage is a case in point. Personally, I have never felt this way, but that green pepper factor was there in the 2002, albeit in an understated way.
The wine has a velvety texture and good grip on the palate. It also seems to share characteristics with nearby Pauillac. My friends know that I prefer my wines on the young side, but at 13 years I must admit that this is still not all it could be. It is heady and virile, the perfect wine to have with red meat, making up in vigor and assertive Cabernet fruit what it may lack in elegance. That having been said, Sociando Mallet has just 48% Cabernet Sauvigon (and 5% Cabernet Franc), but this variety seems to dominate the flavor profile.
I would love to taste this wine blind in a line-up of California Cabernets…

I have visited Château Talbot, a 4^th growth Saint Julien only once, a long time ago, and have not tasted their wines as often as I’d like to… I have a fond memory of the odd proprietary bottles the Cordier estates used to come in, with a picture of old man Cordier and his white moustache on the embossed part.

Times have changed, and most of those estates (Gruaud Larose, Meyney, Lafaurie-Peyraguey) have now been sold. Château Talbot, though, acquired by Désiré Cordier in 1917, has been in the family ever since. Talbot has 106 hectares of vines, which is absolutely mammoth in Burgundian terms, and big even in Bordeaux. They also make a small quantity of white wine, Le Caillou Blanc, AOC Bordeaux.
I had just one bottle of Talbot in my cellar, from the 2001 vintage, one usually overshadowed by 2000. However, I’m a huge fan and it is not rare for me to prefer a 2001 to the 2000 from the same château.
So, we enjoyed the 2001 Talbot just after the Sociando-Mallet. The Talbot is the weightier wine, with a deep regal color. The nose is gorgeous, everything I love about the Médoc and classic Bordeaux. It smells like a room with old mahogany furniture polished with beeswax, as well as subtle, pure blackcurrant fruit – none of the famous bretty/phenolic odors sometimes referred to as the “Cordier stink” that existed years ago… The wine is also very traditional, refreshing, and well-balanced on the palate. It is a lovely drink, and while not at its peak, is not far off. This 2001 Talbot is an excellent wine to serve to people who think that “modern Bordeaux” is over-extracted, over-oaked, and over-alcoholic. In fact, it is just the opposite.

2004 Durfort-Vivens

Château Durfort-Vivens is one of several great growths owned by the Lurton family, but it never seems to attract the same attention as the other Lurton great growth in Margaux, Ch. Brane-Cantenac. The fact that Durfort has 55 hectares of vines compared to Brane’s 75 may have something to do with this, but that doesn’t explain everything. I once enjoyed a lunch with Lucien Lurton and he told me that the “dur” (meaning “hard”) in Durfort describes the wine’s character. It is perhaps this slightly austere and unyielding side when young that makes Durfort less popular.
The Lurtons sold the actual château building to Philippe Porcheron, who renamed it Château Marojallia. The château is now a luxury hotel as well as the name of the AOC Margaux garage wine Monsieur Porcheron produces.

2004 Durfort Vivens has a browning rim and dark core, with thick legs. The nose is soft and smoky, with subtle cosmetic and chocolate overtones, along with a major earthy/truffle component.
The wine starts out smooth on the palate, showing textured tannin, but the finish unquestionably displays that Durfort hardness, and the wine is starting to dry out. While enjoyable at table, this smelled better than it tasted, and the balance is such that any evening-out of the tannin in a few years will leave the fruit behind. In short, I am somewhat disappointed, especially since I rated the wine highly when tasted en primeur in spring 2005.

2009 Durfort-Vivens

Two fine Médocs and a reflection on vintage reputations

I was invited to dinner recently and served 2 fine wines that belied some received wisdom about Bordeaux.

The meal started out in the back garden of my friends Dewey and Catherine Markham with white and red Lillet (I prefer the white). This patent aperitif is made in Podensac, in the Graves, and was sold by the Borie family of Ducru-Beaucaillou to Pernod-Ricard seven years ago.

Dewey wrote the definitive (and only!) book on the 1855 classification http://www.amazon.com/1855-A-History-Bordeaux-Classification/dp/0471194212 and his wife is office manager at Ch. Clerc Milon (Ph. de Rothschild). Other guests included Hamilton and Wendy Narby, former owners of Ch. Guiraud in Sauternes.

The first wine, 2005 Ch. Brane Cantenac, was served blind. I didn’t venture to say what it was because I was confused. There were elements of Right Bank smoothness, or so I thought, but also the tell-tale graphite smells of the Médoc – but without the body of the Pauillac and Saint-Julien wines I usually associate with those aromatics. I should have deduced from this that the wine was a southern Médoc, but didn’t and remained baffled. I was very surprised indeed when the label was revealed because here was a second growth Margaux from a great vintage, just ten years old, but fully enjoyable and ready-to-drink. The structure was supple, without any tannic asperity.
A wine like this confirms that vintage reputations are misleading. This 05 Brane is as good as it’s going to get. I don’t see it any better a decade or two from now, despite the qualities people associate with the 2005 vintage.
I might add, as an aside, that Brane Cantenac is coming up in the world. I did a vertical tasting at the estate with Gonzague Lurton not long ago and was particularly impressed with the 2010 – the best Brane I have ever had.

Wine number two was 2003 Mouton Rothschild. We all know what is said about 2003: record heat and wines that are supposedly alcoholic, low-acid, and often flabby. Well, I don’t know anyone who would taste this Mouton and find those characteristics… Furthermore, I think that even the most hard-bitten old-school English claret lover would agree that the wine is enjoyable to drink NOW. Why wait? The lovely trademark blackcurrant and pencil shaving nose is perhaps lacking in complexity and it’s true that might develop a little over time, but the wine is all there on the palate. Where the 2003 vintage has left its mark is in the wine’s exuberance, not unlike that found in some high-class New World Cabernets. A very enjoyable experience. The label celebrates the 150^th anniversary of Mouton’s purchase by Nathaniel de Rothschild.

1982 Ch. La Lagune and 1953 Pétrus

Birth year wines are very special. A friend of mine, who lives in Bath, was born the same year as me: 1953. He and his wife have been inviting me for the longest time to come and share a bottle of 1953 Pétrus they have been saving. Well, that moment finally arrived on a trip to England this summer.
As an aside, Bath is one of the most beautiful cities in the UK and, indeed, in Europe.

My friends prepared a delicious meal and served 3 wines to accompany them.

The first was a 1989 Trimbach “Cuvée Emile” vendanges tardives, which was served blind. I thought it was a Pinot Gris from Alsace. The wine was golden yellow, but looked younger than its 26 years (had I tried to guess the vintage). The nose was ripe and complex, but the wine was medium-sweet rather than sweet on the palate. It had evidently “eaten some of its sugar” as the French say. The varietal characteristics didn’t come through screamingly, but this was a very enjoyable aperitif.

The main course consisted of expertly cooked lamb shanks.
The first red wine was 1982 Château La Lagune. The last time I had this wine was at Restaurant Laurent in Paris, perhaps 7 or 8 years ago. Unsurprisingly, the bottle consumed in July 2015 was more evolved and gave the impression of being much more fluid and easy-to-drink. It had a classical nose with hints of pencil shavings I associate with Pauillac, but not the same body. This wine epitomizes the difference between subtle wines you love to drink with fine food as opposed to point-winning monstrosities.

The star of the meal was obviously the 1953 Pétrus. This English-bottled wine (Avery’s of Bristol, a well-reputed firm) was still very much alive, although past its best. If served blind, I’m sure most people would have thought it a decade or two younger. The nose was sweet and enigmatic, with lovely nuances: empyreumatic, aniseed, vanilla, almond, etc. The taste was remarkably delicate and silky, a wine to meditate on with a very soft, long aftertaste.
My host opened the Pétrus, decanted it, and served it immediately. In retrospect, it would have been better to let the wine breathe longer because it was not particularly fragile and the aromatics blossomed over time. This was a tremendous experience that I am very lucky to have enjoyed.
Anecdote: please note the misspelling of the word “château” on the label!

A wine lunch including 85 Cheval Blanc and 85 Léoville Las Cases

Emilie Porcher is a young Frenchwoman originally from the Loire Valley who came to study in Bordeaux. Like many before her, she was smitten with the place and has decided to stay.
Emilie is also active on the Internet https://plus.google.com/116247789402476926405/posts

In order to celebrate her 30th birthday, Emilie invited some friends over to share wines from her birth year, 1985 – a very good one in Bordeaux.

I do not like taking notes at social occasions, and even less at table, so here is an overview of what we drank.

There were two sweet wines for the aperitif: a 2002 Gewurtztraminer vendanges tardives from Clos Saint Landelin and a 2005 Rayne Vigneau, first growth Sauternes.
I must confess to not usually liking Gewurtz, finding it frequently too aromatic and never knowing beforehand how sweet it will be (a frequent issue with Alsace…). This wine, however, was not over the top. It had a fairly deep bronze and golden-amber color and a delicate white fruit nose (pear, gooseberry, jujube) with hints of rose petal. Some botrytis was evident as well as candied fruit overtones. The wine was quite sweet and smooth on the palate – the sort I enjoy in small quantity.
The Sauternes, 10 years old, had a medium deep color. The bouquet was honeyed, but a little one-dimensional. The wine showed better on the palate, with good acidity. The best part of the taste profile was the finish, which has that attractive bitterness that serves as a foil to the sweetness of the best Sauternes. This can be enjoyed now, but will hold.

Below is a rare picture of Alex the blogger:

The first wine at table was not served blind. This was a 2013 Odé d’Aydie, from Pacherenc du Vic Bihl, the white wine made in the Madiran region (60% Petit Manseng and 40% Gros Manseng). This had a nose reminiscent of Sauvignon Blanc and decided grapefruit aromas. The citrus component continued onto the palate, which was rather average. The wine was just too sharp for me.

The first red wine was poured blind. I hesitated for some time as to which side of the river it was from, and incorrectly plumped for the Left Bank. Perhaps I can be forgiven because it turned out to be an 85 Cheval Blanc which, as we all know, has a high proportion of Cabernet (Franc). I should have known better since there was a definite emyreumatic note…. Anyway, the wine looked quite old and had a very tertiary nose of lead, tobacco, cherry, and sweet pepper. It was fully resolved on the palate and is still quite tannic on the finish. The bottle we shared of this outstanding wine was a little tired, but still a great treat.

The second red wine of the meal was 1985 Léoville Las Cases. I have had this wine before on several occasions, but guessed it was a Latour. In fact, one whiff sent me to Pauillac… The LLC was more vibrant than the Cheval, but also considerably evolved. It is a subtle wine with good acidity and a long, velvety aftertaste. I think it is past its best, but still a wonderful pleasure.

The last red wine was an 85 Beaucastel, Châteauneuf-du-Pape. This seemed oldest of all, and quite faded, but a wine to sip on slowly, gratefully, and meditatively at the end of the meal.

An unforgettable tour of top-flight châteaux – day one

As mentioned below, I belong to a virtual community based in several countries called www.bordeauxwineenthusiasts.com

Along with a friend in Paris and others in London and the US, I organized a 5-day tour of top-flight Bordeaux châteaux for 18 people.
This took a great deal of planning, months in advance, but was well worth the effort.

We started off with Château Palmer. All my Bordeaux-loving friends adore Palmer, and I’m not about to disagree. It is not rare for me and others to find Palmer better than Margaux in certain vintages, and such was the case with 2014 in my opinion. Anyway, we were shown around by Céline Cassat, and I give her full marks for starting out in the vineyard, explaining the lay of the land, the estate’s winegrowing philosophy and, of course, their recent turn to organic and biodynamic viticulture. This was as opposed to most châteaux that only show visitors their cellars.
Palmer has been entirely renovated and is clearly in full swing. The grounds are beautiful, the château looks great, and the cellar is now magnificently-equipped.
We tasted 2011 Alter Ego and 2006 Palmer. The former was smooth and is in an early-maturing, more commercial style. The latter had velvety tannin and good grip, and will also show well before too long.

We went from Palmer to 5th growth Château du Tertre, which has belonged to Dutch businessman Eric Albada Jelgersma since 1997, as has 3rd growth Château Giscours. Several members of the group had specifically asked to go to du Tertre because the wine offers such excellent value for money. We were very well received by Marc Verpaalen and not disappointed with what we tasted. After sampling the elegant and fairly forward 2012 du Tertre and 2012 Giscours, we went for a light lunch on a beautiful veranda overlooking a swimming pool and the château.
You have to admit that Bordeaux does some things extremely well…
The wines we had at lunch were 2009 du Tertre, 2006 Caiarossa from Tuscany (also owned by Eric Albada Jelgersma), 2014 Giscours and du Tertre, as well as 2004 Giscours. The 2014s are very promising and the 2004 was good for the vintage and ready to drink now.
Marc informed us that since the owner’s son is allergic to red wine, Château du Tertre will be soon be producing a white wine.

While organizing this trip, I learned that the first growths now limit the number of visitors, which made planning things a little hairy. Such was the case with Château Latour, who accept no more than 10 people. However, much to their credit, they agreed to welcome two groups in succession.

: The famous tower…

: Tasting room at Latour

While the first group visited Léoville Las Cases, the other half, including myself, went to Latour. Like many top-flight châteaux, they have expanded and renovated their cellars, which are now in tip-top condition. We were first of all ushered into a room to watch a film about the château. This had tinkly faux-Zen music and didn’t seem particularly to focus on Latour rather than any other wine estate. Once past this rather boring introduction, we went on a guided tour. The facilities were as impeccable as one would expect at a first growth. We also admired their new wine library, with magnums going back a very long way. The tasting room is wonderful, and we sampled three wines there: the 2011 Pauillac, the 2008 Forts de Latour, and the 2004 Latour. The Pauillac was very attractive, Les Forts lacked some richness and concentration, but was still quite nice, and the Latour proved to be lovely with fine textured tannin. It is also quite enjoyable to drink now. No, you don’t always have to wait decades to drink these wines, even if that is the case in great years.

After Latour, I went with half the group to Château Gruaud Larose. This was a wonderful visit. It started out with a trip up a steel tower that has just been built to house an observation post and a visitor reception center. This affords a fantastic view of the estate and the surrounding countryside, including manicured grounds and gardens. We were taken around the cellars by winemaker Stéphanie Lebaron Bouchonneau. As always, it’s the person and not the surroundings, however luxurious they may be, that makes visiting a wine estate memorable. Stéphanie is charming, relaxed, funny and, above all, extremely competent. She poured us a number of wines. 2014 Sarget (the second wine) was simple and nice, 2014 Gruaud Larose quite tannic and promising, 2006 GL a little too oaky, and 1998 GL – 17 years old – perhaps a little dry, but at its peak and very enjoyable. It is a treat and a rarity to drink a wine that old when visiting a Bordeaux estate.

Afterward, we went to Château Léoville Barton, where Liliane Barton welcomed us warmly, despite the fact that we were not on time… Liliane’s family have owned Langoa and Léoville Barton since the 1820s, and are definitely part of the Médoc aristocracy. However, Llilian is a relaxed, down-to-earth person and very much a philosopher in her own way. Trends come and go, but the Bartons have nearly two centuries of experience in making fine wine, and so are very circumspect. For instance, Liliane is against green harvesting because she feels that what works one year complicates things the following year. We started out by tasting the other Barton estate, 2011 Château Mauvesin-Barton, which I have talked about elsewhere on the blog. We then sampled 2012 Langoa Barton which, like some other wines from this vintage, was already showing very well. The 2014 Léoville Barton was sweet and seductive on the nose, lacking perhaps just a touch of weight and richness to back up the structure. It is nevertheless a fine, classic wine.

The final château that day was Léoville Poyferré, where we were welcomed by the bubbly Anne Cuvelier, who speaks good English and clearly enjoys explaining the ins and outs of winemaking. The group had dinner at the newly-refurbished château (a recurring theme, as you can see).

If you have read this far, please note that all of the above was in just one day, which is about the maximum anyone could possibly fit in!

We tasted the wines at dinner rather than beforehand. The 2014 Moulin Riche was light, fruity, upfront and – unsurprisingly – less serious than the grand vin. The 2012 was better than expected and I am not far from thinking that 2012 may actually be better than 2011 in many instances in the Médoc. The 2008 Léoville Poyferré had a fine ethereal nose and lovely blackberry flavors on the palate. The 2007 was light and refreshing and the 2005 was deep and classic, with rich berry fruit.

An unforgettable tour of top-flight châteaux: day two

This day was enjoyed at a more relaxed pace.

We started out at Château La Conseillante in Pomerol. And, yes, they had redone the cellar there too. The facilities are rather spiffy for such a small estate, and the vat room is not only functional, but round and very attractive.
La Conseillante’s trademark purple color is everywhere.
Estate manager Jean-Michel Laporte began the tour with a long explanation in the vineyard, which was highly useful in order to situate the vineyard and to talk about geological influences.
We tasted the 2006 vintage. The nose was sleek, but closed, and the wine was very suave and elegant on the palate with an almost Margaux-like elegance and no impression of alcohol.
M. Laporte is leaving La Conseillante because as he frankly admits, he had “strategic divergences” with the owners. But I have little doubt that he will resurface in short order at another top-flight estate. He had done great things at La Conseillante and came across as a gifted professional.

We went from there to Château Corbin, where we were taken around by owner Anabelle Cruse-Bardinet, member of a famous Bordeaux wine family. Anabelle also began the tour in the vineyard and is a very hands-on manager. She explained how she had to fight to keep the estate and has thrown herself wholeheartedly into running Corbin, where she looks after far more than paperwork and public relations. Corbin has maintained its grand cru classé ranking through the various classifications, as opposed to some of her neighbors.
We tasted three wines. The 2014 was pure, fresh, and classy, if somewhat short. The 2012 was very interesting and worthwhile, and the 2010 stole the show. Anabelle says this is the best wine she has ever made.
Corbin is attractively priced and is going from strength to strength. We were very grateful to have visited and to have heard Anabelle’s explanations in excellent English.

We did not visit Château La Dominique, but had lunch at the restaurant there, La Terrasse Rouge. This is run by the team from La Brasserie Bordelaiss, a popular restaurant in Bordeaux. There is something of the New World here, with long communal wooden tables and plate glass windows offering a great view, including of the new cellar at Cheval Blanc, just a stone’s throw away.
The bistro-style food is simple, good, and not too expensive. I recommend La Terrace Rouge when in Saint-Emilion. It is also open on Sunday.

After lunch, we went to Château Figeac. There is change in the air here. The former manager, Éric d’Aramon, left in 2013 and was jointly replaced by the previous Technical Director, Frédéric Faye, and Jean-Valmy Nicolas of La Conseillante. It is rumored that this came about because Figeac was not promoted to Premier Grand Cru Classé “A” status in the 2012 classification. Be that as it may, Figeac has always enjoyed a loyal following and I have the highest regard for the wine, which features a highly unusual blend of grape varieties: 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc, and just 30% Merlot. The high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon is due to the part of the vineyard with gravelly soil, more reminiscent of the Médoc than Saint Emilion.

We tasted the 2011 vintage. My notes read as follows:
Color: beautiful and brilliant
Nose: subtle oak and dark fruit
Palate: good acidity and tangy tannin. Nevertheless round, going into mineral. Very well-balanced. Light on its feet. An intellectual wine.

Next on the itinerary was Château Canon, a peer of Figeac (Premier Grand Cru Classé “B”). This turned out to be a delicate exercise because Saint-Emilion has often been described as a gruyère, i.e. a Swiss cheese, due to the numerous underground galleries dug out of solid rock. In fact, there are no fewer than seven levels of these galleries! What this means is that it is forbidden for a bus to go along certain roads because there is danger of their collapsing! We nevertheless drove close enough to Canon to arrive more or less on time… Canon is yet another estate undergoing large scale renovation and the château looks like a major building site. We were taken around the underground cellars, which go on for miles, and also saw a cross-section of the soil. This was very instructive. There is much talk of clay-limestone soil, but it speaks volumes to actually see the solid rock with veins of clay, and the vine roots that push through the latter – a wonderful illustration of terroir.
We tasted 2006 Canon, which looked a little older than its 9 years. The nose was very tertiary with deep cherry aromas. The wine was more expressive on the palate, but seemed austere and not overly user-friendly.

We played tourist in the lovely medieval village Saint-Emilion for an hour, inevitably visiting wine shops (Bordeaux Classique and http://www.vignobleschateaux.com/eng/accueil) and doing some further tasting, including a very fine 2010 Château de Cambes, an expensive but very good Côtes de Bourg from François Mitjaville, owner of Tertre Roteboeuf in Saint Emilion.

Then it was time for dinner at Château de Ferrand, newly promoted to grand cru classé status in 2012. The château belongs to the family of Baron de Bich, whose fortune was made with Bic pens, lighters, etc.
We were taken around by an 18 year-old apprentice sommelier who acquitted himself very well in English. The château is quite impressive and the cellars are lovely. Ferrand also has an unusual sales policy, keeping back old vintages and not selling them for any more than the release price. For instance, they were just finishing off sales of the 1998 at a very reasonable price (twenty some-odd euros).
Bordeaux is well and truly waking up to wine tourism, and Château de Ferrand has embraced this trend. The meal we were served was catered by the Michelin-starred restaurant La Cape in nearby Cenon. We were served a series of vintages and asked to which wine which went best with each course, although I did not take part in the competition.
Having tasted several vintages, I unfortunately cannot say that Ch. de Ferrand is one of my favorite Saint Emilions, but I nevertheless appreciated my evening there and the warm welcome we received.