TN: 00 Bellegrave [Pomerol]

[AKR]

00 Bellegrave [Pomerol] I don't see this around much, but picked up a bottle on release, mostly out of curiosity. There are a large number of Pomerol estates, relative to the small size of the appellation, but many simply don't reach US consumers through normal channels, since their production is typically well subscribed by Europeans, who may be less fickle in their purchasing patterns regarding perceived vintage quality. To me, this estate seems irregular in its availability in the US. This bottle was served at 60ish F, and 2 hours of air, along with a double decant to clean up the medium level sediment. The label states 13% abv, and the color is a clear red, with no bricking yet. The nose shows perfumed red berries, and in the mouth its well balanced between fruit/tannin/acidity. It drinks very well before and during dinner. Even family members who don't usually drink reds enjoyed this and the bottle didn't survive 5 minutes into a family dinner*. It's medium bodied and has that wonderful smooth Pomerol texture in the mouth. I've had a few 00 de Sales recently -- a comparable priced/quality nearby estate -- and I thought this showed better. Perhaps the concentration and complexity are gaps between this and the bigger league right banks, but its still a very nice wine, and one that I'd try/buy again in good vintages for merlot. Easy B+ It's at its peak now I think so enjoy them.

* we shifted to the consistent 99 Barde Haute afterwards, which didn't get a decant, but tasted as good as it usually does.

[Roel]

Cool note. A 'lesser' Pomerol like Plince, Mazeyres, Clos René etc. De Sales, hmmm, never been thrilled...

[stefan]

Maybe not thrilling, but in good vintages and with the proper age De Sales is very good IMO.

[AKR]

Yes, at any given point in time, I typically have a range of their vintages around. To me, they are the equivalent of cru bourgoise right bank -- buy them in ripe years and enjoy around age ten. Buying an 11 for $40 is not good value, but a 98 or 08 for $20 will probably give one a fair deal. They make a lot of this, so one can be opportunistic...if you trust the storage chain.

Overall dollar strength will help people new to the hobby flesh out their cellars with a little bit better wines than they might have initially started with.

I'm finding that Bordeaux varietals in Tuscany are a pretty good bet right now. The region never got quite as pumped up price wise by the producers, and between a string of solid vintages, and a muscular dollar one can enjoy pretty serious wines in between $15-$40. If one doesn't need wine to last 50 years, there is a lot of interesting stuff that should have the legs to go 10-20. The sangiovese mixes, or pure 100% ones are also good as the weather warms up, and light/medium bodied reds start fitting in more with outside dinners.

[Roel]

I msut admit my encounters with de Sales were lesser years, so I'm open minded to anyone who wants to send me a bottle to try a grand année..

[AKR]

00 Bellegrave [Pomerol] I don't see this around much, but picked up a bottle on release, mostly out of curiosity. There are a large number of Pomerol estates, relative to the small size of the appellation, but many simply don't reach US consumers through normal channels, since their production is typically well subscribed by Europeans, who may be less fickle in their purchasing patterns regarding perceived vintage quality. To me, this estate seems irregular in its availability in the US. This bottle was served at 60ish F, and 2 hours of air, along with a double decant to clean up the medium level sediment. The label states 13% abv, and the color is a clear red, with no bricking yet. The nose shows perfumed red berries, and in the mouth its well balanced between fruit/tannin/acidity. It drinks very well before and during dinner. Even family members who don't usually drink reds enjoyed this and the bottle didn't survive 5 minutes into a family dinner*. It's medium bodied and has that wonderful smooth Pomerol texture in the mouth. I've had a few 00 de Sales recently -- a comparable priced/quality nearby estate -- and I thought this showed better. Perhaps the concentration and complexity are gaps between this and the bigger league right banks, but its still a very nice wine, and one that I'd try/buy again in good vintages for merlot. Easy B+ It's at its peak now I think so enjoy them.

* we shifted to the consistent 99 Barde Haute afterwards, which didn't get a decant, but tasted as good as it usually does.

I'm surprised that I haven't posted a note on the 00 de Sales, but at least a cursory search didn't turn up anything on this board, but we had one of those last night. That bottle was pretty good, not as evolved as others from the same case. Always lovely wines for sipping while on the sofa as they don't need food to shine. Even at age 15 still needs a little air to blossom.

[AKR]

00 Bellegrave [Pomerol] I don't see this around much, but picked up a bottle on release, mostly out of curiosity. There are a large number of Pomerol estates, relative to the small size of the appellation, but many simply don't reach US consumers through normal channels, since their production is typically well subscribed by Europeans, who may be less fickle in their purchasing patterns regarding perceived vintage quality. To me, this estate seems irregular in its availability in the US. This bottle was served at 60ish F, and 2 hours of air, along with a double decant to clean up the medium level sediment. The label states 13% abv, and the color is a clear red, with no bricking yet. The nose shows perfumed red berries, and in the mouth its well balanced between fruit/tannin/acidity. It drinks very well before and during dinner. Even family members who don't usually drink reds enjoyed this and the bottle didn't survive 5 minutes into a family dinner*. It's medium bodied and has that wonderful smooth Pomerol texture in the mouth. I've had a few 00 de Sales recently -- a comparable priced/quality nearby estate -- and I thought this showed better. Perhaps the concentration and complexity are gaps between this and the bigger league right banks, but its still a very nice wine, and one that I'd try/buy again in good vintages for merlot. Easy B+ It's at its peak now I think so enjoy them.

* we shifted to the consistent 99 Barde Haute afterwards, which didn't get a decant, but tasted as good as it usually does.

==========

We had an 00 de Sales tonight, which didn't get finished. The aforementioned Bellegrave was definitely better. This 00 de Sales is on the fading side of its maturity plateau already, unlike the 98. It seems like I'm having some bottle variation issues with this case.

[JimHow]

I had a 2001 de Sales last winter that was very weak.

[AKR]

We had an 00 de Sales tonight, which didn't get finished. The aforementioned Bellegrave was definitely better. This 00 de Sales is on the fading side of its maturity plateau already, unlike the 98. It seems like I'm having some bottle variation issues with this case.

We had another of the 00 de Sales yesterday. This example was good, but it needs to be drunk up, I think. I thought I'd commented on this somewhere in its own named thread, but I guess not, as this seems to be my only reference to this. Hard to believe this family has owned the estate for 500 years.