Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

AlexR

New Saint Emilion classification will come out on the 8th of September.

Get ready for another round of controversy....

AR

AlexR

Hey, it ain't over until the fat lady sings! As usual, the media either get it wrong, or distort things :-). There is, of course, such a thing as smoke taint, but there is also something called geography. The smoke from the fires about an hour's drive from Bordeaux drifted as far as hundreds of mile...

AlexR

The local newspaper, Sud-Ouest, reports that picking has started for grapes used to make Crémant de Bordeaux, as well as other dry white wines at estates such as Carbonnieux and Luchey-Halde. This is the earliest start to a vintage on record. There were three heat waves this summer and drought condi...

AlexR

Yes, the moto prior to 1973 was: Premier ne puis second ne daigne Mouton suis whose meaning is pretty close to what you wrote: I cannot be a first I do not deign to be a second I am Mouton When you visit Mouton, they make sure to point out that the first growths are listed in alphabetical order, and...

AlexR

No, Marc, that was Pavie.

And just think, if they keep their classification, they will be the only "A"!

AR

AlexR

Marc, Next month. By the process of elimination, those who have been excluded already know because letters have been sent out to those who have been accepted. Presumably, this is why La Gaffelière "withdrew" from the classification rather than be downgraded (Ausone, Cheval Blanc, and Angél...

AlexR

I think Larose Trintaudon is a very good wine, and excellent value for money.

This thread makes me want to go visit them.

Just imagine: they have 175 hectares of vines, i.e. more than entire Burgundian village appellations such as Vosne-Romanée!

AR

AlexR

By the way, Mark, the comment about detractors of La Lagune was not at all targeting you.

I was someone else in another thread.

AR

AlexR

I wistfully think of what the Quié wines (Rauzan Gassies and Croizet Bages) would be like under different management and with massive investment. Rauzan Gassies in particular has a very good terroir. To be fair, the wine is better these days than it was in the past, although it still falls far short...

AlexR

And then, of course, there's the famous - and somewhat arrogant - motto of Mouton Rothschild when they were promoted starting with the 1973 vintage :

Premier je suis
Second je fus
Mouton ne change

or,

I am a first growth
I was a second
(But) Mouton does not change.

Alex R.

AlexR

I love it when some wines I've bought have increased by hundereds of percentage points. But I would never be tempted to sell my wine. Anyone read this book? It kind of mocks the trading and retrading of name wines. https://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Wine-Trade-Sardines-Stories/dp/0060157852 Best regards...

AlexR

Interesting question. By that, I assume you mean one that provide poorest value-for-money, *as well as* ones that show badly compared to their rank. In other words, there's the official classification and then classifcation by market price... If we were talking Saint-Emilion, Pavie and Angélus insta...

AlexR

Conor, Thanks for pointing out that I was laboring under a false impression with regard to the "A" on Saint-Emilion labels. My frame of reference is obviously outdated. It never used to be that way. I don't know when they started. Of course, Cheval Blanc and Angléus have now withdrawn from...

AlexR

I’m not really in agreement about the commercial impact of the 1855 classification at 3rd, 4th, and 5th growth level. While this may be inconsequential to some BWEers, I think you’ll find that the market does indeed rank prices loosely based on where châteaux fit into the classification, even though...

AlexR

Hi Guys, I have a more nuanced take on this subject, which reminds me of the belief expessed here that it doesn't matter whether a Saint Emilion grand cru is classified or not. Sure, there are plenty of consumers who see no difference, or don't know the 1855 classification by heart as many of us do....

AlexR

Hi, November is not a bad time to visit, but keep in mind that the 1st and 11th are public holidays. And the Bordeaux climate can be pretty gray and wet. The advantage here though is that this is well and truly outside the tourist season. The city of Bordeaux is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a go...

AlexR

Picking up on Ian’s initiative, I thought it might be good to discuss the fifth growths of Pauillac, of which there are twelve. Some of these are not very well-known. Here’s my ranking with a few comments: Lynch Bages Pontet Canet Grand Puy Lacoste Clerc Milon d’Armailhacq Haut Batailley (this needs...

AlexR

Ohn, and L'Aura, the AOC Margaux from Cambon La Pelouse, is a really good wine.

AR

AlexR

Hi Ian, Very good idea for a post. For what it’s worth, here’s my feedback, thumbnail version. Yes, Margaux and Palmer are indeed head and shoulders above the others. Issan: This château gets a lot of love but, in my opinion, more than it deserves. There are ten third growths in Margaux. As I see it...

AlexR

Hi Ian, I think I would put Ducru Beaucaillou ahead of Gruaud Larose. Aren’t you being unfair to Léoville Poyferré? In my opinion, their “stolid, unexciting” phase is long behind them. Let’s share a bottle of 2009 the next time you come over. It’s a humdinger . I’d would also tend to place Branaire...

AlexR

Hi Izak,

Thanks for your detailed notes.

I think that there was a time when Cos was as bit too big and overwheming, but they have toned it down.

I have a couple of bottles of 2000 and must open one up soon.

All the best,
Alex

AlexR

Mark,

Thanks for your excellent notes.
They make for interesting reading.

It makes you wonder how the same wines would show in, let's say, 5 years, maybe 10.

99 is, in my opinion, a good vintage that is more approachable than most.

All the best,
Alex

AlexR

I don’t often drink Chablis and this is only the second time in my life that I have participated in anything approaching a comprehensive tasting of the stuff. My personal image of Chablis was heretofore not necessarily flattering. I went on the assumption that Côte de Beaune whites were much better,...

AlexR

A friend with a house in Bandol, a picturesque small port (population 8,500) on the Mediterranean coast 50 km. east of Marseille, invited my wife and me to come and visit last month. Fortunately, my friend also shares a love of good wine (in fact, his family own a vineyard in the Beaujolais) and he ...

AlexR

Hi Arv, Coates is one of the leading British wine writers of one generation back. I've met the man. He is very self-satisfied and I was a bit put off when I saw him smoke a cigarette while drinking a glass of Champagne before dinner at a famous château. The format of his book, like many others, make...

AlexR

I enjoyed a 2009 Château Marquis d’Alesme at lunch today with lamb chops. There are 10 third growths in Margaux, and my familiarity with some of them is pretty hazy. Such is the case for Marquis d’Alesme. This wine used to sell at very low prices and does not have a stellar reputation, so I thought ...

AlexR

Hi, I recently saw that there was something of a polemic about the wines of Domaine de Chevalier on BWE… I’m in somewhat of the same situation as Izak in that Olivier Bernard has shown me great kindness over the years and served me some fabulous wines at his table, which makes a person naturally pro...

AlexR

Hi guys, First off, I'm impressed that you can read French! I think that was a good short interview with hardly anything really controversial. The Bordelais are a lot less conservative than they're made out to be ;-). The one thing that suggests a debate is this statement " Planter uniquement d...

AlexR

I’ve always been a champion of the underdog and don’t think twice about going against prevailing opinions if that’s the way I see things. But I must admit that try as I may, I just can’t get excited about Château Fieuzal. Yesterday, with a roast of beef and potatoes cooked in goose fat, we enjoyed a...

AlexR

Hi, I think what this tasting *may* illustrate more than anything else is that ageworthiness and quality are not consubstantial although, of course, they can overlap. Since time machines have not yet been invented other than in the minds of science fiction writers, there is no way prove my point, bu...

AlexR

Sorry for the sketchy notes. My wife and I were invited out to dinner on Saturday. The 2010 Opus One was not served blind. This was solid and well-structured, impeccable even. But it lacked elegance. This wine will gain with age, but it will never be in the top category IMHO. 2000 Lynch Bages was an...

AlexR

Thanks for the excellent notes. I especially appreciated their lucidity and objectivity. One is so easily swayed by hype, and the notion that quality and agewortiness must needs go hand in hand. My opinion is theoretical, of course, but the same wines tasted 20 or 30 years ago would have told a very...

AlexR

Thanks for your notes.

At age 14, this is no longer a baby, so it would be normal to be sceptical about a "wait and see" rebuttal.

However, I have usually had good luck with Domaine de Chevalier (both red and white).

I will be interested to read feedback from other forumites.

Alex R.

AlexR

How old is old? It all depends really… A Beaujolais can be old one year after the vintage and I recently had a Pomerol from 1990, i.e. 32 years old, that still had a long way to go. The notion of “peak” is very difficult to define. François Audouze, a friend well-known on the French wine scene, reje...

AlexR

Tom, om, Sorry if I misinterpreted what you wrote. The thing is, so many people here spend a lot of money on wine that we (myself included) can lose sight of how the average wine lover sees things, not to mention people with a modest income. Second wines? These have been referred to on the thread as...

AlexR

I would like to take issue with the naysayers and – respectfully, of course – with you Tom. We were discussing second wines just last night. Tim Mc Cracken is in town and he kindly brought some bottles to taste blind. One of these was 1978 Clos du Marquis. This was a very fine Médoc, showing about a...

AlexR

This topic regularly comes up on BWE. Some people avoid second wines on principal, whether because they are cautious or due to a certain element of snobbery. The answer to this question is simply that... it all depends. Dismissing second wines wholesale is pretty ignorant in my opinion, as is advoca...

AlexR

What an unholy mess. This is their press release: Press release Saint-Emilion, 5th January 2022 Château Angelus withdraws its candidacy from the next Saint-Emilion classification. The Saint-Emilion classification has long been a wonderful collective motivational tool, which has enabled the appellati...

AlexR

Marc wrote: "Vaccines clearly don’t stop the spread of the virus". That is patently false, and I am amazed at how people can fall for, and propagate such fake news. The virus has killed many thousands of people, including two in my family. The vaccines have saved many more lives. Only bloo...

AlexR

Nic,

I have the 2011 of this wine that comes highly recommended.

I'll be sure to drink it in early 2022, and report back.

All best wishes for the New Year,

Alex

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