Visits to Ferriere, Kirwan, Feytit Clinet, Lafleur & Ausone

[AlexR]

My friend Alain Bringolf of WineStat/Winemega was in town and so I visited several interesting estates with him on Tuesday and Thursday.

The first was Château Ferriere (by the way, there's no accent en the 2nd e). I was anxious to go there because this is about the only Médoc classified growth I have never been to.

Before setting out, I checked the World Altas of Wine to see where I needed to go. However, this was out of date and the actual Ch. Ferriere is now abandoned and used as a storage area. In fact, Ch. La Gurgue, located in the center of town was recently rechristened Ferriere (in the same way that the present-day Ch. Malescot St. Exupéry was the original Ch. Desmirail).

La Gurge was acquired by the Villars family in 1978 and Ferriere in 1988. However, they have only had a free hand in running Ferriere since 2002. Claire Villars is in charge here, as she is at another family-owned estate, Haut Bages Libéral. She is married to Gonzague Lurton of Durfort Vivens.

Ferriere is the smallest of the great growths (10 hectares). It has had a checkered history and was for several years more or less the second wine of Ch. Lascombes.

The cellars are quite recent and have a somewhat… discotheque feel with different-colored glass built into the ceiling!

We tried 3 wines: 2006 La Gurgue, 2006 Ferriere, and 2006 Haut Bages Liberal. The best of the three was the HBL. Frankly, I was hoping for more from Ferriere, giving it very much the benefit of the doubt, wishing that this little-known wine would be a "sleeper," and a good option for the wine lover willing to go off the beaten path. Alas, it was certainly good but, if the 2006 is representative, still has a long way to go to be a star of the appellation.

I went from Ferriere to a business lunch at Ch. Kirwan. They have just renovated an outbuilding and opened a large function room there. We tasted 2004 Kirwan, 2001 Les Charmes de Kirwan, and 1998 Kirwan. The first wine was not to my taste, and I had a frank and friendly discussion about it with their P.R. person. I found it seriously over-oaked and somehow "denatured". The sequence in Mondovino with Michael Broadbent inevitably came into the discussion. Michel Rolland was consulting enologist at the time, but he no longer works with Kirwan. The 01 Les Charmes was another kettle of fish altogether. Light, elegant, and very enjoyable at table. The 98 Kirwan was maybe unexciting, but it was in a classic mold and anyone would qualify it is serious wine. It is fine to drink now.

Today was spent on the Right Bank. First stop was Ch. Feytit Clinet in Pomerol. This wine was in the "lacklustre" category for years, and was long part of the Moueix stable. However, in a unique and very complicated turn of events, Moueix was evicted as "fermier" (or, tenant farmer if you prefer), and the Chasseuil family who owned half of the estate bought the other half that was due to be left to the city of Bordeaux, but never made it because of some administrative technicality, and was auctioned off.
The Moueix family never considered Feytit Clinet as one of their prize estates and Feytit Clinet was not in very good shape when the Chasseuils took over in 2000. Jeremy Chasseuil, in his 30s, is from Paris, but decided to move to Pomerol to manage the estate. He took his responsibilities very seriously and became a qualified enologist. He has poured his heart and soul into Feytit Clinet. The improvements have been spectacular and people are beginning to sit up and take notice. We tasted the 2003 which was very elegant, without any of the jammy flavors or top-heaviness sometimes found in that vintage. The retail price of the 2004 was 35 € and the 2006 is 38 € - very good value for money in this expensive appellation, and a wine to watch.

Next stop was Ch. Lafleur. We were shown around by the owner, Jacques Guinaudeau, who is a very intense and articulate man who takes great pride in every detail concerning his estate. The 10 hectare vineyard has 4 different soil types, which we discovered walking around in the freezing rain. The mix of grape varieties is quite unusual for Pomerol – 50% Cabernet Franc and 50% Merlot.
We tasted 3 wines: 2007 Les Pensées de Lafleur, 2007 Lafleur, and 2004 Lafleur. All of these share a very sophisticated smoothness on the palate. The 2007 was very good indeed and I drank, rather than tasted the 2004, which was memorable. One has to forget the notion of value for money here. The prices are stratospheric and increases since 2005 have been huge. However, I'm glad to have had tasted it, even if I can't afford it!

Lunch was at L'Antre in Saint-Emilion. We had a wine that is trendy in French wine circles, 2006 Ch. Beauséjour, Montagne St. Emilion, Cuvée 1901 (vines planted in 1901). This seemed slightly rustic after Lafleur, but it opened up beautifully in the decanter and would surely shine in a blind tasting!

The last visit of the day was to Ch. Ausone. We spent 2 hours with Alain Vauthier who is a mine of information and a very gracious host. Ausone is undergoing a major renovation. The château is completely gutted at present and there are workman all over the place.
Ausone is itsy-bitsy. When you see a whole year's crop in just a few barrels you begin to understand why it is so rare and expensive.
We tasted 5 wines. 2006 Simard was a little on the light side, but refreshing and delicious. 2005 Fonbel is a crowd pleaser and reasonably priced. 2001 Moulin Saint Georges had the smack of St. Emilion terroir with plenty of body and a slightly hot finish. 1998 Ausone had a worrying sniff at first, but this dissipated over time. The length and texture on the palate were remarkable. A fitting end to a memorable day.

Best regards,
Alex R.

[JimHow]

Great report, AlexR.

Isn't Ferriere a darling of Wine Spectator?

[Blanquito]

I'm jealous. In effect, places like Lafleur and Ausone are your neighbors, Alex, and you can just pop-by when the mood takes you!

Great stuff.

[dstgolf]

Outstanding review Alex. Hope that all is well with you,your family and Alain.

Danny

[Chasse-Spleen]

Great story, Alex. Are Fonbel, Simard, etc. owned by Ausone's owners? Also, is the Moulin St. George an inexpensive wine made by Ausone's winemaker? If so, I drank several bottles of the 2001 and loved it. But I thought it was a Lalande de Pomerol. I have never seen it since that then.
-Chris

[Chasse-Spleen]

I was mistaken. I did taste '95 Moulin St. Georges once and it was a spectacular, earthy wine. The wine I was thinking of is made by Hubert de Bouard at Angelus. The wine is called La Fleur St. Georges and it is from Lalande de Pomerol.

Thanks again, your report made me really thirsty.

[Houndsong]

Actually I thought Simard was that late-release dreck (so I've heard - never had it myself); I'd be surprised that it had a connection to Vauthier's stable.

[AlexR]

Alain Vauthier is living at Simard while Ausone is being fixed up.
I believe it is owned by his uncle, but he nevertheless is responsible for winemaking there and the wine is marketed along with the other wines "en primeur" as part of the Vauthier range.

Vauthier told us that he was contacted by telephone during the last Vinexpo (2 years ago) to let him know that an alarm had gone off at Simard.
He didn't know what this meant, but rushed back - only to find himself face to face with a bunch of gypsies who pulled a gun on him.
His response was to run for the hills (or, should I say the slopes?).
The police apprehended the gypsies.
They were no connoisseurs, he says. They stole a pallet of Fonbel and left behind a pallet of Ausone!
He also told the police that that he didn't take down the licence number, but the van looked just like Jean-Luc Thunevin's van.
It turns out that it was, in fact, the very van, which the gypsies had stolen!

Best regards,
Alex

[Nicklasss]

There is nothing better than visiting Bordeaux's Chateaux, with Alex.

The story with Mr. Vauthier is funny. It reminds me when I was with Alex at Chateau Beauséjour-Duffau, in 2004, and we were outside the chai, looking at the vineyard, and we asked Mr. Dubos how he did to produce the 1990, but never reproduce it in following vintages? Even him, was explaining to us that it was a mystery of the nature, that he was still trying to understand what happened ''different'' in 1990. He said to us that something is sure, he is used to taste the Merlot grapes before harvest, and he said that when he tasted the Merlot before harvesting in 1990, he knew he was having somethin phenomenal there. He never found back that perfect taste of Merlot after (in Beauséjour-Duffau or other vineyards...).

Nic

[rjsussex]

Thanks, Alex. I've got a case or two of Ferriere 02, bought cheaply after Clive Coates famously pronounced it the best 02 Margaux after Margaux itself (!) and it's nice, a touch overworked but not remotely up to the lovely, pure Durfort (at the then same price).

So I owe to Ferriere 02 my belated discovery of the fallibility of Uncle Clive.

Richard

[AlexR]

Hi Richard,

You mention Clive Coates "fallibility", but say that you find that 2002 Ferrier is "nice, if a touch overworked".

While Durfort may be better (it has become one of my darlings as well), it is possible that Ferriere is indeed one of the finest in the appellation in the 2002 vintage.
I can't say one way or the other, don't have enough experience.

Even though I was non-plussed by the 2006, I haven't followed the wine for several vintages. It's always tempting to form an opinion from one experiece, but there is a risk involved (speaking for my comments on the 2006 here).

It is entirely possible that the wine shines in other years.

All the best,
Alex

[rjsussex]

I'm sure you're right, Alex - didn't mean to pontificate about it but on face of it seems unlikely that Ferriere is as good as Palmer, Brane, Rauzan etc in 02 if it's not really up to Durfort?

And I didn't mean to poke more than a bit cheekily at Clive Coates whom I used to know a little from going to his London tastings. I think the UK view is that he is pretty near infallible - on Burgundy (I'm sampling one of his favourites as I write - see Pavelot posting from me!), if not on claret!

R

[AlainB.]

I'm just back home from Bordeaux where I've been visiting 16 properties in 5 days. Last Thursday at Château Lafleur and Château Ausone were memorable moments. The château owners are generally willing to spend time with people like us at this moment of the year as they are not specially under pressure by the winemaking nor by the work at the vineyard. The situation will be very different in a couple of weeks while thousands of journalists and wine professionals will be attending to the "En Primeur" week.

In his excellent report, Alex forgot to mention that we also had the rare opportunity to taste 2008 Ausone at the property. In fact we were the first external persons in the world to taste it !
Personnally I found it terrific, refined, balanced with a strong mineral feeling on the mid palate. The Cabernet-Franc's fruit looks perfectly ripe in 2008 and this could indicate that a certain number of properties on the Right Bank might have produced very good red wines this year.

Oh by the way Alex, my new site on Bordeaux wines is NOT "Winestat" but.. Statwine.com

Cheers,
Alain