AN EXCITING WEEK IN BORDEAUX - OCTOBER 2007
I spent a week in Bordeaux between the 7th and 15th October 2007, visiting several chateaux and taking first look at 2007 vintage.
Monday, the 8th October 2007
I went to Haut Brion/LMHB for tasting of both reds and both whites in vintages 2006, 2005 and 2004. 15 minutes by bus 45 from Bordeaux' center. But it took me quite a while to find the busstop where I could get on this bus.
Among reds both 2005 clearly stood out. I have a feeling that 2005 LMHB will be better than 2000 LMHB. This was otherworldy wine with 45 second lingering aftertaste. Sensational! 2005 Haut Brion was fantastic too, but less aromatic and rich as 2005 LMHB.
2006 LMHB was massive and tannic and not that silky as 2005. I simply don't understand how Robert Parker can say this wine is better than 2005 LMHB. Still it's a high class wine. 2006 Haut Brion was more elegant and a bit lighter than 2005. High class too.
Both 2004s reminded a lot of their respective 2006, but fruit here was slightly less ripe. Still high quality here.
Among whites, if I had to choose between 2006 Laville HB and 2006 Haut Brion, it would be the latter for the money. More concentrated, richer and more sophisticated. Both 2005 are better than their respective counterparts in 2006 and 2004. Both in 2005. and 2004, Haut Brion white is better than Laville HB. Simply magnificent wines.
For both properties harvest finished on Friday the 5th October, just few hours before heavy rain hit Pessac and caused some flooding. They are satisfied with what they got in, but confessed that 2007 certainly won't be the another vintage of the century.
Tuesday the 9th October 2007
Off to Haut Medoc and first visit was Latour, 1.Cru giant. They were in the middle of harvesting Cabernet Sauvignon, but had of course time and patience to "entertain" us. We tasted 2006 Pauillac and 2006, 2005 and 2004 Latour. 2006 Pauillac was very round, gentle, with nice ripe fruit and tasty. Perfect restaurant wine.
2006 Latour, which I didn't taste during primeur week in April this year due to enormous amount of people from wine trade filling up the schedule, was similar in style to 2004 (elegant style, refined, rich and with splendid balance) but had more tannin and seemed more powerful. 2005 stole all the headlines here - multidimensional, rich, stayed long on the palate, over 30 seconds long aftertaste and incredibly balanced. Wow! Yes, once again vintage 2005 is really something wonderfully fantastic!!
Pontet Canet was next stop. Also here, harvest of Cabernet Sauvignon was in full "flowering". Since Alfred Tesseron got the full responsibility for it, Pontet Canet made great strides to improve quality. And it has succeeded with aplomb. We were welcomed by Melanie Tesseron, a very energetic young woman. She is the daughter of Gerard Tesseron, one of three Tesseron brothers, and she spoke an error free British-English. We tasted vintages 2006, 2005, 2004 and 2003. 2005 vintage was a fantastic effort and maybe the best vintage they have made in last 55 years. Fabulous texture, incredibly rich, soft and sophisticated, fabulous balance, really sticked to the tongue and with incredibly long finish. A real threat to 1.Growths!! 2006 was a great effort too, but concerning depth, richness and purity, not really a match to 2005. Marvellous quality anyway. 2004 appeared as fine as 2006 with its aromatic touch. 2003 was probably weakest wine of these four vintage we tasted. I don't mean by saying weakest that this 2003 was poor. It had the very special hallmark of hot vintage - mirabelle plums. Splendid wine, powerful and intense, and with fine balance. But IMHO the three other tasted vintages are better.
Then we went to Le Peyrat restaurant in Saint-Estephe for a lunch. This restaurant is mostly frequented by local people and truck drivers. It was almost full when we arrived, we ate our not so tasty lunch under great deal of noise, which didn't really suited my driver. We got out quickly and ended drinking delicious cup of coffe at Lavinial caffe in village of Bages.
Then off to Château Paloumey, a Cru Bourgeois, in village of Ludon. This visit was my driver's idea and refreshing in some way. 2005 Paloumey imo was not that interesting, OK, intense spicy raspberries, full-bodied, but a bit short on the palate. Maybe it was because it has closed down after bottling. Proprietors other property, La Bessane in Margaux, tasted in vintage 2003, was quite a revelation. Fine, round, juicy, very tasty and with no signs of overheated fruit. It contains 60% of Petit Verdot!!
Our last stop was Palmer. Also here they were harvesting Cabernet Sauvignon. Palmer's marketing director, Bernard de Laage welcomed us and we tasted Palmer in vintages 2006, 2005 and 2004 plus Alter Ego 2006. The latter was as impressive as in April 2007 with its plenty of ripe berries, very fine concentration and very fine length on the palate. 2005 vintage is a real treat here - deep and rich, thick flavor which reminded of grappa, multidimensional and with fantastic balance. Aristocratic with the vengeance. I found 2004 to be very aromatic, intense and catchy on the nose. Fresh, vivid, aromatic and aristocratic on the palate, long aftertaste. Fabulous effort from Palmer in this vintage. 2006 was still in chains of tannin, but it was obvious, that you have to be patient with this wine. It has a great potential.
Wednesday the 10th October 2007
I went to Saint-Émilion and my first visit was office of Jean-Luc Thunevin. I tasted vintages 2006, 2005 and 2004. It seems obvious that Jean-Luc Thunevin is fully focused how to make Valandraud better and better. 2005 is a cherry pick with fabulous intensity of black cherry aroma, blueberries and blackberries. Incredibly rich, fat and deep. Immensely great wine for the vintage and it really had a soil character in it. Wow! No sign here of "vin de garage!!" 2006 tasted even better than in April this year with beautiful composition, ripe fruit, splendid balance, and great concentration and length. One of the best wines in Saint-Emilion in this vintage, that's for sure. 2004 was a slightly less concentrated and slightly less rich version of 2006 vintage, but in every way a splendid wine.
Then off to Tertre Roteboeuf, this remarkable property in Saint-Emilion. I've known Francois Mitjavile for 20 years and I'm maybe a bit biased about his wines. How many of you have heard of Bob the guru's sudden stop of writing about wines since 2004 vintage? Robert Parker says, that he's been banned from visiting Tertre Roteboeuf, after giving low scores to Francois Mitjavile's 2003, 2002 and 2001 vintages. But the story Francois tells me is completely different. I won't however go any further into this discussion. All I can say that 2005 vintage is a Miss Universe with not only great look, but also great intelligence and style. This is real magic!! 2005 Roc des Cambes is a fantastic effort too! 2006 versions of both wines were of course not as hedonistic as 2005, but great quality wines in every way. I also taste two old vintages of Tertre Rotebouf, 1987 and 1981. Both still going strong, fresh, round, tasty, raisiny and subtle.
Francois Mitjavile drove me then to Lafleur, and it was first time he and Jacques Guinaudeau ever met. They seemed to get along pretty well! I only tasted 2006 Lafleur, which was hugely aromatic nose of dark berries like blueberries and blackberries, full-bodied, refined and having large amount of ripe tannin, with lovely balance and multilayered. Great wine.
So to Lafleur's neighbor, Le Gay. I met its Argentinian winemaker, Marcello Pelleriti, since 2001 vintage. He makes wine at Catherine Pere-Verge's Argentinian property, Monteviejo, and her other property in Pomerol, Montviel. He only comes to Bordeaux for the time of harvest and vinification (2 months). His fine skills were evident as we tasted the old styled, jammy and already mature 1999 and 2000 vintages of Montviel, and then fresh, aromatic and well-structured 2001 and 2005 vintages of same wine.
Le Gay 2005 was a revelation, thick, full of black cherries, stunning structure and length. Delicatesse!
Friday the 12th October 2007
Quick visit to Château Nairac in Barsac and tasting of vintages 2005, 2004 and 2003. I'm extremely fond of 2003 vintage in stickies in general, because I saw birth of this vintage in September 2003, so it stands pretty close to my wine heart. All can say is, if you have already bought or have the possibility of buying Nairac 2003, you will simply discover one of the greatest sweet wines of the vintage. With the mind-boggling 12.7% of residual sugar (I'm pretty sure, that no other property in Sauternes & Barsac have had this level of residual sugar in their wines) and acidity, that fully corresponds to this sensational level of sweetness in fantastic way, this is simply otherworldy wine. I'm not that sure if d'Yquem will be a match for Nairac 2003, which by the way is even better for sure than Nairac's highly praised 1997. Two different styles, however. 2005 vintage was a revelation and will surely be better here than 2001 vintage. Fantastic purity and botrytis. 2004 - lighter version of 2004 with not quite that rivetting botrytis and structure.
Saturday, the 13th October 2007
I invited my friends who live in Bordeaux, for dinner at my favourite restaurant in Bordeaux, Jean Ramet. Classic, extremely tasty and delicate French cooking, with lot of style and plenty of flavors. Jean Ramet is influenced by Japanese cooking and you can taste, how well he incorporates Japanese "ideas" in his dishes. My friends and I shared Clos Floridene white 2005 and red 2004 from same property. Both were excellent wines, particulary white, and therefore kudos to Denis Dubordieu, who owns this property.
Simply a must place to have an excellent and intimate dinner when you are visiting Bordeaux.
How did this restaurant lose its one Michelin star - I really don't know! I wonder if these rewievers fom Michelin really did take their time to assess the restaurant when eating at there, because it really deserves one star!
PRIMEUR TASTINGS OF VINTAGE 2007 AND OTHER IMPRESSIONS
Entrance to La Mission Haut Brion
Arrived at Bordeaux Thursday afternoon the 27th March. Cold weather but no rain. Bordeaux is probably the most exciting and beautiful cities in Europe now with less pollution the other big European cities. It’s exactly 24 years ago I visited Bordeaux for the very first time and what significant changes it underwent. From kind of ugly duck Bordeaux has emerged as beautiful swan. Riverside is now very nice, transport possibilities are train/bus/tramway covering many angles of travels and Bordeaux is very clean city. I simply love Bordeaux.
Thursday evening I went to La Tupina (favourite restaurant in Bordeaux for members of Squires board) – app. 20 minutes walk from my Hotel Etche Ona which borders newly rebuild luxury Grand Hotel (it opened in December 2007). I didn’t make a reservation but took a chance. When I arrived at La Tupina, they only had one seat left. It was close to fire place, when they prepare famous dish of roasted chicken and pommes frites. The table in the front of fire place was packed with vegetable snacks and large portions of beef one could choose for main dish. It was funny to watch.
Appetite gets bigger as you enter La Tupina (left/up) - March 2008 Old time lift and ventilation at La Tupina (right/down) - March 2008
I chose cépes (Bordeaux mushrooms) prepared with garlic on pan and leg chicken with pommes frites. I can really understand why my fellow American board members are so crazy with this chicken dish – it tasted splendidly. From the proprietor of Grand Puy Lacoste, Lacoste Borie 2002 in half bottle accompanied my dinner and suited both dishes perfectly. To finish this fine dinner in extraordinary way, I ordered a glass of Armagnac from Darroze in vintage 1971. Wonderful, rich and extremely flavorful treat. It was my first visit to La Tupina and I was impressed. I also walked back to my hotel.
On Friday the 28th March, it was back to the business with La Mission/Haut Brion visit in the morning. I tasted 6 2007s in all:
1. La Chapelle de La Mission Haut Brion – 69% Merlot + 30% C.Sauvignon + 6% C.Franc. Dark red, aromatic nose of cherries, fine intensity and lot of charm. Delicious on the palate with tasteful cherries, no hard edges, splendidly balanced, ripe tannin and soft finish. Fine beginning of the tasting!
2. La Mission Haut Brion - 43% Merlot + 48% C.Sauvignon + 9% C.Franc, which corresponds precisely to percentage of planted grape varieties in the vineyard! Only 36% of the harvest survived the severe selection for Grand Vin. Deep dark red. Aromatic cherries and blackcurrants on the nose and palate. An extremely elegant and seductive wine with fine structure and length. Finishes soft and round. Splendid effort for the vintage.
3. Le Clarence de Haut Brion - 51% Merlot + 34% C.Sauvignon + 9% C.Franc. Second wine of Haut Brion has changed its name starting with this vintage – to mark Clarence Dillon. More strong than La Chapelle because of greater percentage of Cabernet. Tasty cherries and blackcurrants, strong but ripe tannin. Rounds off with firm but balanced finish.
4. Haut Brion - 43% Merlot + 44% C.Sauvignon + 13% C.Franc, which corresponds precisely to percentage of planted grape varieties in the vineyard! Only 43% of the harvest survived the severe selection for Grand Vin. Deep dark red. More dense and more concentrated than La Mission, otherwise same style. Strikingly well-balanced and classy wine.
5.Laville Haut Brion – 83% Sémillon + 17% Sauvignon Blanc. Green yellow. Acacia flower, citrus, apple on the nose, aromatic and very intense. Splendidly balanced on the palate with fresh acidity. Excellent effort for the vintage.
6.Haut Brion Blanc – 55% Sauvignon Blanc + 45% Sémillion. Intense aromas of pear, pineapple and acacia flower, formidably knitted together, impeccable balance and long, caressingly soft aftertaste. Exceptional wine .
It was a really fine start for 2007 vintage and may it continue. Maybe after all it’s not disastrous vintage, which several news agencies proclaimed far too quickly.
Same day in the evening I went to Domaine de Chevalier for dinner. I’ve known Olivier Bernard for 24 years and have tasted many vintages of white and red. Some of the older vintages have been magnificent despite very bad reputation in Bordeaux. I knew in advance that the last digit in the vintage year of wines we were going to taste for the dinner would be 8. Last year it was 7 and two years before it was 6.
First the new vintage:
1. Domaine de Chevalier red 2007 – 60% Cabernet Sauvignon + 30% Merlot + 5% Cabernet Franc + 5% Petit Verdot. Very long period of change of color – record of whole 130 days (normally 113 days!). Harvest finished in mid-October. Elegant wine with silky cherry/raspberry fruit and silky tannins, very tasty and enjoyable. It’s of course not another 2005 or 2006 but will provide great pleasure in coming years while we wait for 2005 and 2006.
2. Domaine de Chevalier white 2007 – 85% Sauvignon Blanc + 15% Semillion. Very, very intense aromas of acacia flower, pear and pineapple on the nose, deep and refined. Exceptionally structured, strikingly fine acidity, very long and deep on the palate, excellent balance and aftertaste. Olivier Bernard believes this one is even better than 2002 vintage (counted as one the best white vintages in last 20 years) with better structure, and I agree with him. Imho it matches white Haut Brion in 2007.
Dinner: (blind tasting, except wines 5 and 6 which I knew would appear at the dinner)
1. Domaine de Chevalier 1988 white – from half bottle. Oxidized on the nose, quite tart on the palate, short. Not a good bottle.
2. Domaine de Chevalier 1968 red – nice bouquet of blackcurrants/raspberries, light but pleasant and round. Nice old wine, which still keeps going.
3. Domaine de Chevalier 1928 red – astonishingly well-preserved old wine, vivid, impeccably balanced, full-bodied with deep structure, tasty berries and splendid length. Sophisticated 80 years old heartbreaker!
4. Domaine de Chevalier 1978 red – very much Cabernet Sauvignon in the nose and palate. Seemed very closed this particular evening.
5. Domaine de Chevalier 1988 red – seemed quite closed too and also here you could smell and taste lot of Cabernet Sauvignon. Quite developed in the color.
6. Tertre Roteboeuf 1988 - I brought this bottle with me for the dinner. Didn’t know in which order wines 5 and 6 were served. Guessed right it was wine 6. Dark red. Raisiny fruit (the hallmark of Tertre Roteboeuf), dense, splendidly structured, strong soul, sophisticated, voluptuous and with lot of character. Impeccable balance. Kudos to Francois Mitjavile for making such a beauty.
7. Guiraud 1998 – great example of how good this vintage is in Sauternes & Barsac. Very pure and intense botrytis, great acidity to go with mango, pineapple and acacia honey, fine length and finish. Really tasty with lot of delightful sweetness. Totally outperformed Guiraud 1997 I tasted in Copenhagen two weeks ago.
On Monday morning the 31st March it was time to taste new vintage from Cercle Rive Droite’s members. Out of 130 wines, I did manage to taste around 50.
Among the wines which were interesting (remaining wines were thin and short or far too oaky) I’ll mention Le Bon Pasteur (Pomerol) and Fontenil (Fronsac) made by Michel Rolland. It was clearly to see how carefully both wines were made. Aromatic with fine concentration of black cherries and fine balance. Not over extracted at all! La Clemence, Clos L’Eglise, Le Moulin and Rouget, all from Pomerol, showed much oak but also tasty fruit and nice length.
Pomerol’s neighboring appellation, Lalande-de-Pomerol was quite successful with L’Ambroisie du Chateau La Croix des Moines, La Fleur de Bouard, Grand Ormeau, Perron La Fleur, La Sergue, Tournefeuille and de Viaud, showing ripe and tasty fruit, charm, roundness and very good balance.
In Saint-Emilion, Barde Haut, Bellefont Belcier, Clos Dubreil, Destieux, Fleur Cardinale, La Gomerie, Grand Corbin-Despagne and Lynsolence, presented themselves with aromatic berries, nice concentration and good grip on the palate.
From Fronsac/Canon Fronsac following wines drew attention – Barrabaque (!) and du Gaby. From Côtes du Castillon, Joanin Becot and Veyry made very good impression. Reynon from Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux was quite nice and attractive and what you could expect from its owner Denis Dubordieu.
Generally, all the wines I listed were of course what you could expect from 2007 vintage - on the light side, medium finish and uncomplicated. They will make perfect restaurant wines if the price is right. You absolutely can't expect this vintage to compete in any way with 2006, 2005, 2004 and 2001. My present impression is something between 1999 and 2002.
Same day in the afternoon, I tasted blind 26 wines in 2007 vintage from Sauternes & Barsac, which was first one of UGCB tastings.
The early proclamation from the owners and Sauternes & Barsac’s wine syndicate gave me with the hope, that this vintage could be as good as 1988 vintage and even at some properties close to fantastic 2001 vintage. After I completed tasting of all 26 wines I had to disagree by far with this statement. With less than dozen exceptions, I found remaining wines to be monolithic and without usual intensity of flavors on the nose and sufficient concentration of fruits on the palate. My picks in order of preference were:
1. Nairac - hasn’t really put a foot wrong since 2001 vintage and is making great strides to reach top 5 wines of the district. Nicolas Heeter-Tari is really becoming an extremely gifted winemaker. His 2007 showed big, big nose of intermixing flavors of grapefruit, apple and pear. Quite a depth and intensity. Full-bodied, great depth on the palate, splendidly balanced and full of fresh fruit flavors. Extremely well-made wine.
2. Clos Haut Peyraguey, Coutet, Filhot and Rayne Vigneau followed not that far after with delightful sweetness and acidity, passion fruit, mango and dry apricots. Long and smooth finish.
3. De Fargues and Rieussec were somewhat closed and showed only some moments of their fine quality.
4. Caillou, Doisy-Daëne, Lafaurie Peyraguey and La Tour Blanche were quite good, but seemed a bit light. I’m convinced however that at least three last mentioned wines, will take on more weight when in bottle.
In two years time I’ll taste all 2007 sweeties again when in bottle and find out if it matches 1988.
After 2007 Sauternes & Barsac tasting, I went as usual during primeur week to d’Yquem to taste 2007 vintage. My fellow journalist/wine writer colleague, Gil Lempert Schwarz, believes that 2007 vintage at d’Yquem matches 2001 vintage, but I’m not convinced at all. 2007 d’Yquem is a very refined, sophisticated and beautifully structured wine, which in my opinion lacks fireworks of flavors, which was so typical for 2001 d’Yquem. I doubt it will even challenge 2005 d'Yquem.
After few hours rest, it was time to attend “welcome” or “get together” dinner at Guiraud. Among the wines tasted during this dinner I especially remember delicious, refined and sophisticated 1988 de Fargues and equally enchanting 1988 Climens, extremely elegant 1988 de Malle, powerful and dense 2004 Pape Clement white, a breathtaking 2000 Leoville Poyferre with intensely aromatic blueberries, fabulous length, depth and finish and 2004 Angelus, a black colored wine, with splendid nose and palate of black cherries, powerful and strong, and with great potential.
At around 23.30 I went back to my accommodation place, Lafaurie Peyraguey. Eric Larramona, who is manager of this estate, brought some leftovers from a tasting of 30 vintages of Lafaurie Peyraguey (1906-1959), held one day earlier, in which I didn't participate. Really a nice guy, wouldn't you think! Both 1906 and 1907 Lafaurie Peyraguey were simply magnificent with 1906 associated to crème brulee and 1907 being fresher than 1906, giving aromas of mango and acacia honey and having great acidity. Stunning 100+ years old wine! I’ve also tasted 2001, 1990 and 1988 Lafaurie Peyraguey, all stupendous wines in their own style/way. 00.45, it was time to go to bed. In 9 hours time, a tasting of 2007 Graves & Pessac-Leognan in red and white color was waiting.
Two 100+ years beauties - Lafaurie Peyraguey in March 2008
Tuesday, the 1st April it was time to taste not blind 19 reds and 17 whites Graves/Péssac-Leognan. After tasting of these wines, I had very mixed impressions. With few exceptions, reds weren’t really entertaining. Domaine de Chevalier was my pick. Despite several “calls” from D.d.Chevalier’s consulting oenologist, the famous Stephane Derenencourt, to harvest Cabernet Sauvignon around the 8th October, Olivier Bernard decided to wait in order to gain more phenolic ripeness in the grapes. And with forecast of sunshine and warm weather all the following week, and with no risk of Cabernet Sauvignon getting overripe (this grape variety will never get overripe!), it was a little gamble to play. Guess what – Domaine de Chevalier 2007 is a winner - – beautiful aroma of red cherries and blackcurrants, quite intense and deep. Fine concentration, length, fine balance and soft finish with silky tannins. More than 75% Cabernet Sauvignon is in it!
Pape Clement followed after with well-made wine with quite some substance. Carbonnieux, de Chantegrive and de France made well-balanced, round and aromatic wines, light but extremely pleasant. Pleasant and charming were Ferrande, de Fieuzal, Haut Bailly, Haut Bergey, Les Carmes Haut Brion, Latour Martillac and Picque Caillou, too. The other wines were either too oaky or weak, and we hope that these wines will pick themselves up when in bottle.
Whites were really something with many fabulous wines. Once again did Domaine de Chevalier a diamond of a wine. Stunning effort for the vintage with sophisticated nose and palate. It was a incredibly complex wine which showed great acidity, depth and structure. Olivier Bernard believes this vintage may turn even better than the exceptional 2002 vintage!
Carbonnieux and La Louviere impressed a lot. Very complex on the nose with many aromas (grapefruit, pineapple and peach), deep and refined. Great acidity, splendid balance and long aftertaste. Splendid effort! As did Latour Martillac – a bit subdued on the nose but palate was singing well. Dense, well-knitted wine with fine acidity and strong finish.
De Chantegrive, Haut Bergey, Malartic Lagraviere and Smith Haut Lafitte were very successful indeed with strong aromas of acacia flower, pineapple and pear, powerful and intense, fine concentration and fine balance. Great promise for the future!
Bouscaut, de France and Larrivet Haut Brion made themselves very interesting with nicely fresh on the nose, acacia flower aroma, and like that too on the palate with fine balance and tasty fruit.
Pape Clement didn’t show its usual power and zest.
"White" 2007 vintage is really great, no doubt about it!
After tasting and lunch, it was time to go to Faculty de Oenology at wine University in Talence, to hear Denis Dubordieu speak about 2007 vintage. It was very interesting, but even more interesting was his explanation of botrytis while speaking about sweet Bordeaux anno 2007. For years and years many wine-journalists/writers (my included) thought that the thing we smelled on the nose (these sweet/acid flavors) was botrytis. But it’s absolutely not correct. The recent research shows, that when botrytis fungus attacks grapes, perforates these and in this way destroys tannins in the skin. Then a reaction happens (metabolism), which results in creation of special flavors. These flavors couldn’t be created on grapes not attacked by botrytis fungus.
Yeah, we learn all the time.
Wednesday, the 2nd April was a big day of tastings. First, I took to Larcis Ducasse, to taste 29 wines in vintage 2007, 8 Pomerols and 21 Saint-Émilions, as a third UGCB tasting. Out of Beauregard, La Cabanne, Clinet, La Conseillante, La Croix de Gay, Gazin, Petit Village and La Pointe.
Pomerols:
1. La Conseillante was clearly the best wine. Very aromatic on the nose with cherries and raspberries, gracefully elegant and stylish on the palate, silky tannins. It was impressively seductive and charming wine and great effort for the vintage.
2. Clinet – Dark red, very fine on the nose with intense black cherries. Meaty on the palate, medium weight, round and with silky tannins. Pretty nice wine for the vintage.
3. Beauregard, Gazin and La Pointe were charming on the nose with aromatic red cherries, nice balance and quite good length. Attractive wines in their own way.
4. La Croix de Gay and Petit Village tried very hard to charm themselves all the way to my wine-heart, but being charming and round, and showing at the same time weak flavors, short palate and little substance, it simply wasn’t enough.
Saint-Émilion wines were quite interesting and some of these impressed a lot in the context of the vintage.
1. Larcis Ducasse was my favorite and as stunning as PGCC’er (B) - cherry drops, quite intense aromas, quite powerful on the palate with big depth and great length. Long and firm finish. Simply excellent effort for the vintage. Troplong Mondot impressed a lot and was similar in style to Larcis Ducasse, but slightly lighter in structure.
2. Angelus had very ripe fruit on the nose (black cherries), fine intensity, extracted on the palate but still fine balance and length. Quite long finish. Beau Sejour Becot was in the same league with cherry and raspberry drops on the nose, fine aromas and fine intensity, fine depth, concentration and length on the palate. Fine effort for the vintage.
3. Pavie Macquin showed its high class with elegance and finesse. It was oaky and therefore not too much friendly to taste. However no question here about bright future for this wine
4. Balestard La Tonnelle was nicely made with fine and aromatic flavors of red berries. This wine was quite concentrated on the palate with silky tannins, sappy and with fine length. Surprisingly splendid quality.
5. Dassault, La Dominique, Grand Mayne, Larmande and La Tour Figeac were all well made wines - oaky on the nose but with aromatic fruit of red cherries. Quite concentrated and meaty on the palate with ripe tannins, fine balance and fine fruity and fresh aftertaste.
6. Canon, Clos Fourtet, Figeac, La Gaffeliere and Trottevieille were af same fine quality as Dassault, ……, but quite oaky at the moment. Looked very promising.
7. Canon La Gaffeliere and Franc Mayne – very fruity, round, reasonable length and concentration. OK.
After tasting, lunch followed with among others a very fine Larcis Ducasse 2004, full of dark berries and well-structured. Then it was time to go to Beausejour to taste 13 Premier Grand Cru Classes blind. I’ve already tasted 6 of them at Larcis Ducasse, so it was quite interesting to compare tasting notes.
1. My favorite was Beausejour - very intense and fruity on the nose and sappy on the palate. Fine firm tannins and long fruity finish. Splendid wine for the vintage.
2. Angelus, Beau Sejour and Troplong Mondot showed the same fine qualities as at Larcis Ducasse.
3. Pavie looked not overextracted at all and kudos to Perse’s winemaker for careful and intelligent vinification. As splendid as the tree wines above.
4. Canon, Clos Fourtet, Pavie Macquin and Trottevieille impressed too.
5. Figeac’ s and La Gaffeliere’s sample tasted thinner and more oaky than at Larcis Ducasse.
6. Belair tasted oaky with nice flavors of red fruit, good grip on the palate, meaty, nice structure. Promising.
7. Magdelaine wasn’t a total letdown – not a lot of substance here, but quite reasonably concentrated, balanced and with tasty fruit. Maybe a bit too simple, but not as bad as my colleagues think.
When me and my journalist’s friends were leaving, we were informed, that the owners of Beau Sejour, Duffau-Lagarrosse couple had passed the property to their two sons, and that Michel Dubos, property manager (he’s responsible for the otherworldy 1990 Beau Sejour Duffau Lagarrosse) had resigned due to disagreement with the two sons over further management of the property. It’ll be interesting to follow future of this property after so big changes.
Then a quick drive to La Dominique, where Jean-Luc Thunevin and friends offered “a couple” of wines. I liked Valandraud 2007 quite a lot. It reminded me of previous vintage (2006), but 2007 was softer in tannins and already extremely charming and seductive. I laughed a lot of label on Bad Boy wine, but the wine itself was pretty well made. For a Bordeaux appellation it was splendid cocktail of dark fruit and silky tannins. I remember tasting Gracia, which surprised me positively with very charming, seductive and all-over silky wine. It was short visit due to an appointment at Cheval Blanc, so I didn’t taste many wines.
Many things have been said about Jean-Luc Thunevin - but he can really make some outstanding wines, doesn't he?!
At Cheval Blanc I tasted 3 2007s - La Tour du Pin (new ownership), Petit Cheval and of course Grand Vin. La Tour du Pin was correctly made, round and fruity wine, but with not much substance. Petit Cheval – hmm? Nothing special in my opinion – simple, uncomplicated and with some decent fruity flavors. Cheval Blanc was soft, on the elegant side and with silky tannins. It will face a big challenge from Pavie and Angelus.
Then with UGCB driver all the way to Beychevelle, one of the most lovely and beautiful places in Haut Medoc. Extremely well kept garden in the front of chateau, but when you go into back-yard of Beychevelle. OMG! For sure it’s one fantastic sight down to the Gironde, especially when blue skies and sunny weather act as perfect coulisse.
I’ve always admired Beychevelle, even if this wine isn’t always consistent. But when it’s successful in the given vintage like f.i. 2005, you get the real share of elegance, finesse and refinement. And 100% true Bordeaux wine as a gift! Beychevelle’s always been affordable and hasn’t jumped the wagon of sky rocketing prices.
During the dinner hosted by Philippe Blanc, Beychevelle’s manager, I tasted Amiral de Beychevelle 2003 and 2004, plus Beychevelle 1993, 1988, 1982 magnum, 1970 and 1934. Amiral de Beychevelle 2003 was quite marked by the strong heat, but all in all it was decent, round and open wine. Amiral de Beychevelle 2004 was fresher, both in terms of fruit on the nose and palate, charming, round and very tasty wine. Beychevelle 1993 showed not exactly perfect ripe fruit, but when you know the bad weather was in this vintage, you don’t expect too much. Just decent and quickly maturing wine.
From Beychevelle 1988 it went upwards! Last time I tasted Beychevelle 1988 was in 1990 during tasting in Copenhagen of 20+ vintages, but it hasn’t changed that much. Still dark ruby red, complex on the nose and palate, well-knitted, fine concentration and balance, plus smooth finish. Nice treat! Beychevelle 1982 from magnum was simply a stunner with all this vintage is famous for. Dense, full of perfect ripe fruit, great structure, finesse, refinement and that splendid balance. Great, great vintage for Beychevelle.
Beychevelle 1970 reminded me also of the extremely nice bottle of it I tasted in 1990 in Copenhagen. Very tight, perfectly structured and well-balanced wine, which impressed of its youthfulness, length and finish. Delightful.
Beychevelle 1934 was a showstopper of high rang. I also tasted this wine in 1990 but it was Danish bottling, however it was impressive. This real 1934 from the cellars of Beychevelle was a pure delight and a perfect example how Bordeaux can age. Awesome structure, incredible balance, sheer elegance and finesse, silky fruit and what a seduction. Simply wonderful wine!!
Beautiful garden in Beychevelle's backyard - April 2008
On Thursday the 3rd April in the morning it was time to taste Haut Medoc, Saint Julien, Pauillac and Saint-Estephe.
Haut Medoc:
Saint-Julien:
Pauillac:
1. Pontet Canet and Haut Bages Liberal impressed quite a lot. Both dark red. Aromatic red-/black cherries, fine intensity on the nose, meaty on the palate with fresh fruit and delightful fruity aftertaste. Pontet Canet had however more depth and concentration than Haut Bages Liberal. Terrific wines, both of them.
2. Lynch Bages was almost as impressive as Pontet Canet and Haut Bages Liberal. Great complexity on the palate and fine balance.
3. D’Armailhac, Batailley, Grand Puy Ducasse were all three knitted on the palate with tasty, fresh fruit, nice length and structure. Well-made wines.
4. Clerc Milon and Lynch Moussas offered wines on the light side, but reasonably well-made, round, well-balanced and charming.
5. Croizet Bages produced uncomplicated, light and charming wine for very early consumption.
Saint-Éstephe:
1. Ormes de Pez – a real heartbreaker wine with very fine intensity of red & black cherries, delightful on the palate with seductive fruit and soft fruity finish.
2. Phelan Segur – dark berries in fine form on the nose and palate, meaty, well-balanced. Cos Labory had more oaky flavor than Phelan Segur, while Lafon Rochet offered firmer grip on the palate and spicier fruit. Very nice wines all four.
After short lunch, next stop was Château Margaux. This property wines are described by many wine journalists as feminine wines and compared to beautiful women. Always gracious, always stylish, always extremely elegant and sophisticated. I agree completely with this description. For me Margaux 2007 was just like that, silky fruit, silky tannins and silky finish, despite containing whole 87% Cabernet Sauvignon. But the selection was totally ruthless – only 32% went into Grand Vin. Pavillon Rouge was charming, seductive and round, and will provide a great deal of pleasure early on. Pavillon Blanc confirmed with aplomb greatness of 2007 vintage for white Bordeaux. Very intense flavors of acacia flower, citrus and mango, great acidity, formidable structure and long finish.
From Margaux to Palmer. After having Bernard de Laage as a “speaker” for the last 7 years, me and my driver was presented for a change to an adorable young woman with quite much self-confidence. It was Sabrina Pernet, Palmer’s technical director since May 2007. She came to Palmer from Château Loudenne in Medoc. I think Palmer will benefit from the strong personality and intelligence, she possess. For me, both presented wines, Alter Ego and Palmer, expressed in their own way, aroma of dark cherries, soft texture, silky tannins and soft finish. Both will provide delightful drinking while waiting for 2005 and 2006 vintages to mature.
Then we arrived at Lafite, seeing many people going in and out from this “holy” place. Carruaders wax strong, well-knitted wine with fine grip on the palate, fine concentration of red-/blackcurrants and fine firm finish. Duhart Milon presented itself just as fine. Grand Vin offered great intensity of aromas and flavors, robust structure, excellent balance and depth. Certainly, Lafite 2007 is among the best wines of the vintage.
On our way to Latour, last visit for the day, we had time to do a quickly tasting at Pichon Comtesse. Bernadotte was a quite nice wine, very aromatic, tasty, round and charming, and with nice balance. Reserve de la Comtesse and Grand Vin didn’t impress me that afternoon. I found both, rather light, weak and tired. I wonder if the samples were that fresh.
At Latour we were welcomed by Sonja Favreau, guest relation manager at Latour. She was all in smile when my driver noticed that she changed her haircut since our previous visit in October last year and told her that. Yeah, my driver knows how to charm women. We tasted 2006 and 2007 vintages of Les Forts de Latour and Latour. Both Les Forts and Latour were silky in fruit and tannins with exquisite balance. Grand Vin had better and stronger structure, more depth and longer finish. Their 2006 counterparts appeared more firm, more concentrated and more massive in tannins. For sure, 2007 will be enjoyed a good deal of time before 2006 are ready to drink.
After enjoying once again a beautiful scenario at Beychevelle, it was time to be treated fine at dinner number two. The wine menu was: Beaumont 2003, Amiral de Beychevelle 2002, Beaumont 2000, Beychevelle 1991, 1986, 1978 (magnum), 1966 (magnum) and 1955. Beaumont 2003 was a good little wine with a bit hot fruit, already very drinkable. Amiral de Beychevelle 2002 turned out to be a nice glass of wine, very enjoyable, charming, round and tasty. Beaumont 2000 was as enjoyable with some powerful structure and pretty nice concentration of black berries on the palate. Beychevelle 1991 (20% of the harvest went dead when the black frost hit Bordeaux on the 21st April) was for my taste already in decline. Beychevelle 1986 from a great Cabernet Sauvignon year didn’t disappoint. It was really splendid wine with lot of stuffing, strong structure, leather, tobacco, great balance and long of aftertaste. Excellent wine, which had several more years to go. Beychevelle 1978 tried very hard to go in footsteps of 1986, but had some greenish aromas on the nose and seemed not to have quite ripe fruit on the palate. Philippe Blanc explained that Cabernet Sauvignon plots were harvested too early. Beychevelle 1966 had same flavors as 1978 but too much lesser extent. Broad shouldered, compact, firm and robust wine, certainly not over the hill. Beychevelle 1955 rounded the dinner off and it was an enormous pleasure to “meet” such a wonderful and sophisticated piece of Beychevelle’s history. Extremely seductive, refined, beautifully balanced and sweetly finishing wine. Invaluable moment!
Next day, Friday the 4th April, there was a tasting of wines from Moulis, Listrac,
1. In Moulis, all three presented wines, Chasse Spleen, Maucaillou and Pojeaux were reasonable on the nose and palate, pleasant and round , but sadly quite short.
2. In Listrac, Fourcas Dupre and Forcas Hosten had aromatic cherry fruit on the nose, nice intensity of flavors, quite intense on the palate with tasty fruit, soft, round and with soft finish. Both quite good for the vintage. Fonreaud and Clarke were lighter and simplier than Fourcas Dupre and Fourcas Hosten.
3. Greysac and La Tour de By seemed rather anonymous and short.
Margaux commune was a kind of disappointing, with only a handful really well-made wines:
1. Cantenac Brown, Malescot St.Euxpery, Marquis de Terme, Siran and du Tertre showed fine fruit with fresh flavors, silky tannins, fine balance on the palate and reasonable finish. All these wines will provide nice drinking in the next 10 years.
2. Dauzac was a tad lighter and not that harmonious as wines mentioned above. Oaky flavors.
3. D’Angludet, Brane Cantenac, Desmirail, Durfort Vivens, Giscours, Kirwan, Labegorce, Lascombes, Monbrison, Prieure Lichine, Rauzan Gassies and Rauzan Segla, tasted all light, subdued and only with little fruit. I wonder if ageing in oak will help these wines significantly. We have to wait and see.
After the tasting it was time to go to Giscours, for closing lunch, which took place in fine sunshine and was accompanied by jazz-orchestra. Among these many wines I did taste I’ll mention the powerful, meaty, strong structured and loaded with intense blackcurrant fruit Pichon Baron 1996 and splendidly balanced, structured and zesty de Fargues 1988.
The following weekend I spent in Libourne. I tasted Jean-Philippe Janoueix' wines in 2007. He made some pretty good ones. My pick was La Confession, made from grapes harvested at Jean-Philippe Janoueix’ new property, Haut Pontet (bought in May 2007), situated on plateau, left side of the road to Saint-Émilion, opposite Grand Pontet and close to Fonroque. Powerful, superbly concentrated and aromatic wine and with some splendid length. Strong and stunning effort for the vintage. La Croix St. Georges was almost as splendid, slightly less concentrated and powerful. La Croix Mouton and Le Conseillier showed extremely well with fresh cherry flavors, silky fruit and tannins, and fine length.
On Monday the 7th April, I went to Saint-Emilion. My first stop was Troplong Mondot, where I tasted 2007, 2006 and 2005. 2007 was as spectacular as it showed at PGCC tasting 5 days before, 2006 put on some more weight and stronger structure compared to April last year and 2005 impressed in spectacular way again. Although 2005 seemed to have lost its virginity and “baby fat”, and did close down, it was obvious that a volcano of cherry flavors has been programmed to erupt in some 10-15 years from now! The proprietor, Christine Valette-Pariente was supposed to show up during the tasting, but she didn’t. I guess she really had to catch up with all the work that hadn’t been done during primeur week. C’est la vie!!
Next stop was Tertre Roteboeuf and its genius wine maker Francois Mitjavile. He presented Tertre Roteboeuf and Roc des Cambes in vintages. He’s both 2007 were aromatic, round, showing silky fruit and silky tannins and finishing soft and tasty. Pretty nice wines. Both 2006s were better than last year with more depth and better balance than 1 year ago. Tertre Roteboeuf 2005 had closed down alright, but underneath there was magnificent stuff of everything. Simply fantastic wine. Roc des Cambes 2005 on the contrary welcomed you with open arms with joyful attitude and lot of stuffing. There’s no doubt in my mind, that Roc des Cambes 2005 is the best vintage ever for this property.
There’s no second wine at TR and RdC, wines are blended from the very start with press wine 1 and 2.
After lunch I took over to Pavie to taste Perse’s wines in 2006 and 2007 vintage. I must admit that I haven’t been a great fan of his wines, but this had probably ended on this particular day. All the 2007 were impressive, maybe with the exception of Monbousquet which I founded a bit too extracted. I liked all the Côtes de Castillion wines with Clos de Lunelles being my favorite, Bellevue Mondotte showed full range of extremely aromatic berries well supported by ripe tannins, Pavie Decesse was a beautifully crafted wine with cherries, silky tannins and perfect structure, Pavie did impress again as it did at PGCC tasting on 2nd April. Their 2006 counterparts (Sainte Colombe was not tasted) were similarly impressive with intelligent use of oak.
The day finished with tasting wines at Ausone. It was Alain Vauthier’s daughter, Pauline, who presented the wines. She told me, that her father took some days off to rest after an extremely busy primeur week. Fonbel 2007 was pretty nice fruity wine with great deal of charm, round and soft finish. Moulin St.Georges 2007 had more stuffing than Fonbel with more intense flavors and more concentration. Chapelle d’Ausone had lovely balance, silky fruit and tannins, very aromatic black cherries and nice soft finish. Grand Vin was clearly one of the best showings of the vintage with extremely fine merge of silky tannins and silky fruit, wonderful balance, powerful structure and long finish.
Tuesday morning the 8th April it was Pomerol day. I started with VCC and my first great disappointment. I’ve known Alexandre Thienpont for 21 years. After tasting VCC 2007 which was mainly produced from young Merlot and Cabernet Franc vines, because the majority of old vines of the property simply refused to produce any grapes in 2007, I dared to ask if it was possible to taste VCC 2005. And I even told him that I bought some bottles en primeur. But he refused to open a bottle of VCC 2005 and I felt enormous disappointment, but didn’t show it. His 2007 was by the way light, fruity but not especially long. Then quickly over to Le Pin for tasting 2007 and 2006. Both were quite splendid with 2006 taking edge to 2007 in terms of concentration and structure.
Then it was Le Gay, where I tasted Le Gay 2007 and 2006, and Violette 2007 and 2006. Both Le Gays were very impressive, with 2007 being the lighter one with fine interplay of black cherries and oak, while 2006 being more structured and longer on the palate. It was the same story with La Violette, with 2007 being elegant, aromatic and very charming, and 2006 being fatter and possessing more depth.
From Le Gay I took back to Libourne for a lunch and then back to Pomerol to visit Certan de May in Pomerol, a property I first visited in 1988. I’ve always admired wines from here for being so true Pomerol. Despite a little slump in quality in the second part of ‘90s, I’s still a Pomerol wine too seek after. Since 2002 vintage it’s been Michel Rolland, who’s consulting the property and improvement is clealy detectable. Jean-Luc Barreau-Badar presented 2007 and 2005 vintage. Certan de May 2007 impressed me a lot with extremely aromatic wine, full of dark cherries (cerise griotte), splendidly concentrated and balanced, beautifully constructed and with long finish. Great effort for the vintage. Certan de May 2005 was a revelation – wonderfully knitted, powerful, very concentrated and intense, beautifully balanced and with great length on the palate. Magnificent wine and what a treat!
Last visit of the day was at Jean-Pierre Moueix' offices in Libourne to taste their range of 2007s. My overall opinion was that their own wines (it means Bourgneuf Vayron and Certan de May not counted) presented themselves just OK with Petrus, Trotanoy, Hosanna and Latour Pomerol being clearly better that Plince, Lafleur Gazin, La Grave, Certan Marzelle, La Fleur Petrus and Providence. I’m pretty much sure however that majority of these wines will step up considerably in weigth and structure after adding press wine and ageing in oak.
On Wednesday the 9th April my first visit was at L’Evangile, when they refused to let me taste 2006 and 2005 vintage. “Sorry Monsieur – it’s only 2007 vintage to taste during primeur time?!”. When I asked what would happen if I came during harvest – “The same answer Monsieur, we‘re far too small squad (4 persons) to have time to do special tastings during harvest. Come in January instead”. You bet I will and I’ll not be satisfied if the tasting counts less than 6 vintages!! L’Evangile 2007 was OK, dominated by oak and not really showing its fruity side. It’ll however with time be more in balance and show some more goodies.
Then off to Lafleur or rather to house of Sylvie and Jacques Guinaudeau in Grand Village in Mouillac. It was their son. Baptiste (who lives at Lafleur with his fiancée Julie) who drove me from Lafleur to Grand Village. When we drove through Fronsac, there was a fantastic sight from the top of the hill down to the Dordogne river. During lunch, I tasted Grand Village white 2007, a splendidly made wine with intense acacia flower flavors, fresh acidity and lovely balance. I suggested that a use of little new oak could have made a great improvement to this wine. Jacques and Baptiste answered me that they have considered to do some experiments with use of oak for white Grand Village in coming vintages. Grand Village red 2007 was gently fruity, round and charming, while Pensees de Lafleur showed fine grip on the palate, lovely flavors of black cherries/red blackcurrants and fine fruity finish. Grand Vin tasted a bit tight but with splendid force of black cherries beautifully balanced by silky fat tannin, stunning structure and long finish. In addition I tasted Lafleur 2001, one of the “cheap” Lafleurs, which was well closed but still looked extremely promising.
After this visit there was some time to take few hours rest and then take a train to Barsac for a big tasting day tomorrow in Sauternes & Barsac.
My first stop was at one of my favorite properties, Gilette, in Preignac. Julie Gonet Medeville presented the impressive range of her wines in vintage 2007, with extremely well made Respide Medeville in white to start with. Aromatic, intense, great interplay between ripe fruit and acidity and long finish. Respide Medeville in red was very successful for the vintage with cherry fruit finely balanced by silky tannins, fine structure and soft finish. Les Justices 2007 tasted impressively with melon, mango, peach and apricots, showing splendid balance between sweetness and acidity. The tasting was rounded by stunning Gilette 1985, full of acacia honey flavors intermixed with candied apricots and orange peel, and even more stunning 1986, which had a remarkably clear flavor of almonds. It was a very concentrated, thick and zesty wine, which didn’t lose at all its freshness. Next vintage to be released in few months time will be 1988.
Next stop at Raymond Lafon, where they make stupendous wine, vintage after vintage. 2007 was no exception and if I compare it with the wines tasted at Union de Grands Crus de Bordeaux tasting 10 days before, it really is among the best wines. But Raymond Lafon 2005 in my opinion clearly eclipsed its 2007 counterpart with exceptional aromas, sweetness and acidity. Raymond Lafon 2004 was really a great mouthfill, great botrytised flavors and fine, fine acidity to support fine fruit.
Before going to Climens, I had time to retaste Nairac 2007 in form of different barrels and blended, and it was as impressive as at UGCB tasting. The day before I tasted a magnificent Nairac 2005.
At Climens, I tasted a selection of different lots in vintage 2007 and my impression was, that it again will be a stunner vintage for this property. You have really to seek long for this kind of elegance, subtlety, finesse and sophisticated touch Climens possesses.
The day finished with a fantastic show of 2005 vintage in Sauternes & Barsac for classified growths. 21 wines in all, without Suduiraut, Romer, Lamothe Despujols and understandably d’Yquem. All these 21 wines was rated by me between 88 and 97 points, with one 88p wine, three 89 point wines, six wines in range between 90-92p, seven 93 point wines, two 94 point wines, one 95 point wine and one 97 point wine. It was a blind tasting but I managed to guess correctly Climens (97p) and Nairac (95p), two real beauties. Clos Haut Peyraguey (94p) and Guiraud (94p) were stupendous, as were Coutet, Doisy Daëne/Dubroca, Lafaurie Peyraguey, de Malle, Rayne Vigneau and La Tour Blanche, all 93 pointers. Rieussec (91p) seemed pretty closed and therefore a lower rating. I don’t really believe that this vintage would be outperformed by 2007, it’s merely as exceptional as 2001 with same fantastic homogeneity.
On Friday the 11th April my visiting schedule finished with visit at La Conseillante, where they really were generous with the vintages to taste. La Conseillante 2007-2006-2005 and second wine Duo introduced in vintage 2007. Duo was a nice, charming and round wine for very quick drinking. La Conseillante 2007 impressed as much as at UGCB tasting on 2nd April, 2006 had better balance and more integrated tannins than a year ago, while 2005 was a real beauty with stunning sophisticated and refined touch. This wine’s elegance and grace is simply so, so seductive. Magnificent wine.