TN: 00 Pierre de Lune [St Emilion]

[AKR]

00 Pierre de Lune [St Emilion] This is a tiny estate that is owned by the winemaker at Clos Fourtet. I think its an acre or so and produces a scant 200 cases a year. According to Jeff Leve's website, its the smallest of the grand crus in the AOC. I bought this EP, and misplaced the bottle in the wrong bin, so somehow I don't think I'd tasted it before. The label is rather plain, and states 13% abv. Cork is clean, and extracts smoothly. The color is a medium ruby, with a tinge of lightening at the edges. On the nose I get mint, resin, forests - it feels 'cab francy' to me - even though that's only a small part of the merlot majority cepage. Today has been a Sunday of cooking, holiday decorating, baby sitting my nephew, and puttering around the house so the bottle is out on the counter most of the latter part of the day -- by the evening I realize I've drunk most of it, except for one glass my sister in law threw back. On the palate its very balanced as the tannins have rounded out and the acidity seems to tie in nicely with everything else. It's an easy drinking wine despite being deep and traditional in style. I think its nearly as good as the 1998 Clos Fourtet* we had in the spring, so if you like limestone St Emilions, this could be worth a try, if you can find it. I can't decide if this an A- or a B+ but its somewhere right on that cusp. I've saved a glass for tomorrow so we'll how it is with a little air. It seems fully mature and I think would be best drunk up.

* http://www.bordeauxwineenthusiasts.com/ ... 84&p=59259

[AlexR]

Hi Arv,

Yes, this is a rare wine. I bought a bottlle in Jean-Luc Thunevin's shop in Saint-Emilion.

There is an eternal confusion between "grand cru" and "grand cru classé" in St. Emilion.
The latter are classified - in theory - every 10 years or so.
The former are subject to a few spécifications and a taste test, and there are more of them than you can shake a stick at.

The confusion is all the greater in that the AOC for a 10 euro a bottle grand cru and a 1 000 euro a bottle premier grand cru classé "A" is exactly the same...

Only a tiny percentage of French people know the difference between grand cru and grand cru classé, so I imagine that there would be even fewer abroad.

It is very difficult to find any statistics about non-classified grand crus. The winegrower's association themselves don't know, in part because things changes from year to year.
Also, since a cooperative cellar is seen as a "property", blends from the coop can be sold as "grand cru"...

Best regards,
Alex R.