I wanted to meet Alex, but when I looked at the schedule given by the Commanderie, it was jam packed. The typical day started at 9 in the morning and lasted till 11pm and after!
Here is the tour and tastings split into different threads as this is very long with trip details also…
Day 1:
The tour started by visiting Chateau Margaux. Had a private tour visiting the chateau, winery, wine cellars and cooperage. Interesting to note that Margaux uses 100% new oak for its Grand Vin. It seems nearly 20% of the new oak barrels are made by Chateau itself. It’s amazing to see the centuries old building. Although property of such stature, the cellars and winery buildings are very modest. We tasted 3 wines:
2008 Margaux: Dark ruby, the nose presented with violets, cherry and good amount of black fruit. Had a hint of cassis. Other than that, nothing more. On the palate, good acid and fair amount of tannins, although a bit rough. Tasted black cherry with a bit of tartness though. But overall, well balanced…Liked the best..
2009 Pavillon Rouge: The nose and palate reinforced the high quality of the vintage. Even the second wine had very good balance, but I could sense the high alcohol both on the nose and on the palate in this second wine of Margaux. The wine presented loads of black fruit, menthol, cassis and a small amount of licorice on the nose. On palate, I sensed cherries, cassis, and hints of boysenberry and raspberry. Finely made wine which I think would easily come around within 10 years
2010 Pavillon Blanc: This Margaux white was fairly enjoyable, I was a bit disappointed. I found a bit oaky with that flavor dominating a bit more for my liking. It was round, buttery with hints of melon, citrus, gooseberry and vanilla.
Next we visited Chateau Beycheville and had a fabulous lunch. The tour was great with its history and pomp. Unlike Margaux, Beycheville uses 50% new oak. The Gironde was in the background and we had our lunch taken care of by the Chateau. The lunch was awesome with appetizers, veal, dessert, all in all a five course meal. They poured the following wines…
2009 Beycheville: Nice dark ruby color and presented with black fruit, cassis, and a tinge of spice box. But on the palate, well balanced with fair amount of tannins and decent acid. I would have liked a bit more acid though. On the palate sweet cherries and blackberries dominate with cassis and slight minerality in the background. I preferred Barton and G Larose which I tasted at UGC...
2009 Beaumont: Decent wine, but nothing stands out. Probably a typical red table wine for me. Atleast for me…
2002 Beycheville: Ruby core with light ruby/salmon rim. Nice fruit in the middle, but slightly lower acid than I prefer. But good tannins throughout and well integrated too…Nice one
2005 Amiral (Second label): The second label was a surprise for me and liked the second best. Excellent black fruit with round but firm tannins and good acid. Typical St Julien with good balance. Cassis, hint of cigar, cherry pie and a touch of minerality. Was great…Interesting to see how it would compare to 2005 Beycheville…
1995 Beycheville: I liked this the best. Smooth and velvety tannins. Nothing out of balance and tannins were very well integrated. Showed sweet cherries, wild mushrooms, tinge of licorice, with around 40 second finish…
Last on Day 1, we went to Chateau Haut-Marbuzet, which is next door south of Montrose…
It is a modest Chateau, but I loved the hospitality and coziness of the chateau. The son of the owner showed us the property and tasted with us. Although an estephe property, their wines do not sing a typical estephe song. They are more fruit forward and supposed to be drunk young (Similar to Phelan Segur IMO).
We tasted 2003 Haut Marbuzet and 2001 Haut Marbuzet. Although it’s a hot vintage, I preferred 2003. It expressed with loads of cassis and black fruit. The tannins were soft and alcohol and fruit were not that conspicuous as they would for a hot vintage.
I was surprised to know that quite a few Chateaux (esp in Estephe) have the opinion that 2001 was a better vintage than 2000! However, since 2000 was supposedly one of the best with higher prices, they are supposed to not say that openly about 2001!!!
In the evening, we went to 'Millesime', a wine negociant and distributor in Bordeaux. The 200 yr old cellar is packed with hundreds of thousands of wine bottles in OWC in every format out there...I was told that it's around 20 bucks for shipping a case to US and they only charge the local state tax without any VAT! We had champagne, appetizers and called it a day afterwards...
Day 2:
Day 2 we started the tour at La Mission Haut Brion. Since Haut Brion was closed for renovation, we were taken to LMHB. We read so much about the history, and wine making at LMHB/HB (As HB was the first to name itself ‘Chateau’ and soon others followed, thus the chateau system emerged in Bordeaux), and it’s amazing to see the historical aspects of the chateau, including old chapel, nearly 400 yr old stained glass, etc.
The tour of LMHB property was excellent, the guide touching upon the historical aspects. We also came to know that HB and LMHB exactly use the same vinification processes. According to the guide, the difference between HB and LMHB was just the terroir. The new barrel cellar was also amazing! Then we tasted the following wines…
2007 LMHB: Soft, smooth and velvety. Reserved, but I think this will be approachable in the next 2 yrs or so. Other than black fruit and a bit of tobacco, nothing much. Lower tannins than HB.
2007 HB: Black fruit, cigar and spices, but nothing more at the moment. Soft and round tannins, although the tannin levels are a bit higher than those of LMHB. Nice balance, but needs to open up a bit more. I think it will be much better after 4 years or so…
May be needs more air since the bottles are opened right in front of us and the wine was not decanted before we sipped them…
After LMHB, we were in Sauternes country. We visited Chateau De Malle, a chateau that has history dating back to crusades…The owner was generous and poured his Chateau De Malle. He also arranged lunch for all of us…Had the classic pairing of foie gras and sauternes, and had a blast. Tasted the following wines…
2004 Chateau De Malle: Nice Yellow color with pears, melon, saffron on the nose…On the palate it did not disappoint either and tasted citrus, nectarines, honey and vanilla. Nice acid lifting the balance up…
1998 Chateau De Malle: Almost amber color with honey suckle, pears, apples and a tropical medley. Had good acid balancing the sweetness with creamy and buttery texture. Able to taste vanilla, jack fruit, honey, citrus and pears. Excellent!!
After that, we stopped by Chateau Suduiraut. Had the tour and tasted the following wines…
2006 Castelnau de Suduiraut: Second wine of Suduiraut, and this 2006 version was barely average. It tasted a bit juicy and watery. I enjoyed it as it was scorching outside. I merely used it to quench my thirst on that hot summer afternoon!
2006 Chateau Suduiraut: Light amber color. This wine was excellent and classy. Had loads of citrus, apricot, orange peel and marmalade. Rich buttery texture with good acid.
After that we visited a small family vineyard in Graves – Chateau Le Touquet. It is a typical small chateau struggling to keep up with the big brothern. Hearing the story of the owner, we came to know the other side of the lower rung non-classified chateaux of the region. The wines were modest everyday table wines…
Late evening we visited Chateau de Fieuzal in Pessac. The Technical Director showed around the brand new building and cellars. The chateau has all three types of vats – Wooden, SS and Concrete. It seems that these days the chateaux are building all three types of vats to have the option of choosing one types depending on the vintage and wine style requirements…The cellar is modeled after the chai at Lafite…Circular arrangements of barrels with columns…
The Chateau organized appetizers, champagne and dinner that evening. Several Chateaux owners including Angelus, Carbonieux, Smith Haut Lafite, etc. were present for the evening. They poured nearly 10 different wines for the dinner (Rather they were placed in line and we could just pour ourselves what we wanted. I enjoyed 2005 SHL, 1998 DdChevalier, 2002 Olivier…
I liked the 98 DdC the best with round, silky tannins and medium finish, The bouquet was overflowing with gravel, tar, a bit of earth and currants.
At 11 pm, we called it a day and headed back to Bordeaux to start the next day of the Finals Competition…
Day 3:
Day 3 was the Finals Competition day, and the final was scheduled around 7.00 pm at Lafite, followed by the dinner. Before that, several tastings/tours were also scheduled during the day.
So the day started at Chateau Maucamps in Haut Medoc. It was a small chateau, and they poured 5 wines. Unfortunately I could not take detailed notes. But I remember that their wines are not overly tannic (even for 2005), but had ripe tannins with good fruit and flesh. It had notes of currants, pencil shavings and dark cherries. I remember that out their 5 wines that they poured, I liked 2 of them, and both had a higher percentage of Petit Verdot compared to the others.
After that we went to Cooperage Nadalie in Haut Medoc. The tour lasted almost an hour. The guide explained all the steps that are involved in making barrels and quality checking. I never thought it was that labor intensive even though a variety of machines and tools are used in the process. We even came to know the nitty gritty details like the water repellent grass used between the planks to seal and prevent any leakage of wine…And oh yes, they also sell oak chips (mainly leftover scraps) to the wineries…
Next was the scheduled tasting and lunch at Chateau Cantemerle. But our team skipped this. We had one of our alumni working in Pauillac. He has his establishment wherein someone can go and make their own wine label. If someone is interested to make their own wine label (say a barrel or two) one can approach him, pick the grapes from the area, work with local wine maker (such as Eric Boissonet) and make the blend. The company will age the wine and bottle it under the chosen label. I thought it was neat…Anyway he has this company, and he also works with Lynch Bages. So he was gracious to host us and invited us for lunch at Café Lavinal at Lynch Bages. It was very nice of Lynch Bages to send someone to pick us up, and thus our team parted from Cantemerle tour and we were off to Lynch Bages!!!.
We reached Chateau Lynch Bages that after noon, and Café Lavinal was our rendezvous. We sat inside, and a Rose was sent by Mr. Cazes of LB. Our alum along with Mr. Cazes joined us for the lunch. They wanted to keep our palates fresh for our upcoming competition, and so we enjoyed just the Rose. It was very nice to see our alum, and meet Mr. Cazes. We had great time, and they offered us to relax and freshen at the guest house of Lynch Bages.
Our alum was kind enough to show his offices/company and the new cellar that is being built for his clients. After that he showed the LB property, cellars, etc. It’s amazing to see the old winery equipment that was used nearly hundred years ago and serves sort of a museum. Visitng Lynch Bages with the tour being at such personal level was surreal. At the tail end of the tour, we saw the bottling of wine. Yes, the bottling of 2010 LB was taking place!!! After the tour, the younger Cazes came down to meet us, and we appreciated it very much. I enjoyed LB over the years, and it was exhilarating to be there. To be honest, I enjoyed the visit at LB more than the visit of other first growth properties such as Margaux. May be because I am a fan of LB, or may be because of the people I met, may be because the tour was more personal, and may be all of these. It is hard to explain.
I wandered in the village for a while, browsed through the stores, and went back to the guest house. Our team relaxed a bit, and started to get ready for the Final Competition at Lafite. In the evening, our team was pumped and was ready to rumble...Our alum and Mr. Cazes drove our team to Lafite!!!
And there it is, Chateau Lafite!!! By the time we reached there, all the rest of the teams were already there. The Commanderie members, judges and other invitees along with journalists started to arrive slowly. We took pictures, chit chatted with the commanderie members, while the journalists from Decanter and Wine Spectator interviewed us. By around 7.00 pm we were ushered into the Chai of Lafite.
It was amazing to enter the Chai of Lafite through the big, tall, old wooden doors with the music playing in the background. The guests and invitees were already seated before we entered. Slowly the teams took the stage and soon the judges took their seats with all the tradition and pomp. There is barely any lighting as expected since it was a cellar, but the chai was lit with fancy candles all over. In the midst of rising columns and circularly arranged barrels, the competition started.
The competition lasted for nearly hour and a half, and our team came in second place. We received a 2001 Lafite Magnum and 2001 Rieussec Magnum. Here is the pic of our team after winning second place…
http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-pictu ... #slideshow
It’s obvious that I am the one who is darker, since I drink too much wine!!!
After the competition, the dinner was arranged in the vat room of Lafite. Nearly 100 people attended the dinner, and it was fantastic! Mr. Cazes sat along with our team. He came across as a very generous, down to earth person. During the dinner, he told his adventures and travels across the world, and seemed to be a person who enjoys life to its fullest extent. And yes, he is very well aware of BWE, and had good things to say about BD. A nice man indeed, and no wonder he is considered the best wine ambassador from the whole region of Bordeaux to the outside world.
Here is the WS article and the pic of the dinner at Lafite at the bottom…
http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/46990
With the live music in the background, they first poured 2008 Bouscat Blanc. The wine had notes of nectarine, green apple and hints of peaches. Nice acid with a tinge of sweetness that complemented the slightly salted Huitres (oysters). Awesome food pairing!!
Next they served 2001 Duhart Milon Magnum to go along with Lobster and salad. I liked the Duhart very much. Typical Pauillac with cigar, cassis, toast, start anise and a good balance of tannins in the background and acid up front.
For the main course they served Hachis Parmentier (Diced Meat mixed with mashed potatoes and Lyonnaise sauce). To go along with the meal, they poured 1985 Lafite Double Magnum. Showed up as a dark brick color (barely we could see the color in that candle light!) Although subtle, the tannins were noticeable, but still had nice acid and black fruit in the middle. Had hints of menthol and notes of smoke, cassis, earth and cedar. Maybe it’s the food pairing or whatever, but I felt the wine was sublime and probably at its peak…Fantastico!!! But believe it or not, I also kept going back to 01 Duhart!
Then they poured 1988 Rieussec to go along with the dessert. Nice amber color with notes of orange, jack fruit and other tropical fruit mix. Soft buttery texture but a little bit on the high side of sweetness to my liking. But it was good. It complemented the fruit based dessert that was served.
The dinner slowly came to a conclusion with people taking to the dance floor. And boy, Baron Eric can dance!!! We had cognac, and I was able to meet other Chateaux owners, directors and negociants. I wanted to meet Ms. Sanders of Haut Bailly, but couldn’t… Slowly around midnight we called it a day!!! We bid goodbye to everyone, boarded our bus and came back to our hotel in Bordeaux…
Next day, strolling near the Bordeaux Opera theatre we entered a place called ‘Max Gallery Bordeaux’, wherein you can charge a card and taste some of the best wines from dispensers…I tasted several including 06 Yquem, 04 Mouton, 06 Latour, 02 Cheval Blanc, 04 Duhart, etc (upto nearly 20 wines in 2 visits to this place)…I liked the Latour the best of the lot. One of the takeaways of my trip was how much I liked Duhart
. I admit that I haven’t had much Duhart prior to this trip. But after tasting Duhart in this trip, I have become a fan of Duhart… 
Then I had an early lunch, bid goodbye to my team members, and boarded the train to Paris to catch my flight back to Chicago…
Still I can’t believe I was at Lynch Bages, and had dinner at Lafite…I will cherish those moments forever!!!
