Anyone ever heard of Dauprat, a Pauillac?

Post Reply
User avatar
AKR
Posts: 5234
Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2015 4:33 am
Contact:

Anyone ever heard of Dauprat, a Pauillac?

Post by AKR »

The Best Bordeaux You’ve Never Heard of #1

Dear Friends,

For the past 10-15+ years, the most consistent Email List inquiry/request I receive (in addition to “can you get Screaming Eagle for $50?”) has something to do with the on-going series of unknown/undiscovered/unheralded Bordeaux estates we’ve offered over the years and their attempt at ascension to the top rung. Most of the requests end in the same way: “please find more Bordeaux like this!”.

That’s a very good idea.

To celebrate the unheralded and/or those that should be A LOT more famous (but are not for one reason or another), allow me to introduce a new series: The Best Bordeaux You’ve Never Heard of.

Sound like a plan?

Let’s begin with #1 in the series...

What if I told you that one of the most engaging bottles of 2015 Bordeaux hailed from Pauillac?

Sure, ok.

From one of the singular/special vineyards in all of Bordeaux?

Latour, correct?

No.

No?

Yes, no…I mean “no it isn’t Latour” but it’s next door.

Oh, Pichon Lalande!

No.

No? What do you mean no!

(first off, Pichon Lalande isn’t next to Latour and this series is “undiscovered Bordeaux”, remember?)

What if told you this wine has a chance to be the “Le Pin of the Medoc” without the fluff?

Le Pin? Ok, now I know you are crazy!

Maybe, maybe not.

From a .5 acre (not hectare) parcel next to Latour and Lynch Bages, this property is so small there isn’t room for a “chateau” or a building for that matter and the wine produced from this garden vineyard is of great (extreme!) interest in 2015: Dauprat.

A perennial “decent” example, Dauprat has been produced for a number of years in the past (at Bellegrave, by the family) but it has a new way of seeing from 2015 forward and what a Cabernet Sauvignon dominant wine it is! Let’s put it this way, when you add “.5 acre parcel”, “Pauillac” and “next to Latour” together, the potential “Le Pin of the Medoc” moniker is not that far fetched (it isn’t anywhere near that level now but there is a future to come...the problem is that it took Bellegrave too many years to realize this)! To take the argument a step further and to justify what should be an eventual rabid following for this wine (from 2015 on), it can be argued that Dauprat - not Latour, Lynch Bages, etc - is one of the only true/definitive vintage expressions of Pauillac – what you see is exactly what you get.

WHAT!

Well, think about it. Dauprat is essentially a monopole tiny production example that is (and will always be) pressed from the exact same vines (now 40-50 years of age) - there is no tinkering or blending from parcels (one of the relatively unknown “secrets” of the Medoc is the patchwork of vineyards owned and used by the very best estates that can stretch quite far away from a Chateau and are not contiguous, many abutting the border of the appellation a kilometer or more away from the mother property and its surrounding vines). At Latour, Mouton, Lynch Bages or (take your pick), each vintage is a patchwork blend of their various parcels with a goal of the best result they can muster (from their entire stock of land holdings that, in some cases, are nowhere near each other). Do they produce great wine? Yes, that is not in dispute, but it’s a very different way to cook the goose than “the exact same vines” each and every vintage.

From our friends at Schreiblehner on the 2015 Dauprat: “This wonderful 0.5 acre plot is surrounded by vineyards belonging to Chateau Latour and Chateau Lynch Bages. The forty-year-old vines that stand on large Garonne pebbles produce a great fruit. Since there is no own winery to this plot, the wine can not be called "Chateau Dauprat". The parcel belongs to the Meffre family, who vinify the grapes from this particular vineyard on their Chateau Bellegrave separately, as the terroir differs greatly from their other vineyards.”

The 2015 Dauprat is going to be glugged far too early – it is so darn delicious that the teeming stone fruit and perfectly slathered minerality (a hallmark of the vintage) tends to go on deaf palates in favor of “another glass please!”. The less eager oenophile should stash a few of these away for a rainy day when Dauprat is undoubtedly $100+/bottle so you can boast with glee how you managed to secure the first vintage of the new Dauprat era (a grand “association” vintage no less) for $23+.

$23+?

You can’t secure most top-level third wines for $23+! When something like “Les Tourelles de Longueville” is $25 (essentially the third wine of Pichon Baron, from vines that are unrelated to the Grand Vin) and the 2015 Dauprat is less $, it’s a wine geek “call in sick” day to secure the maximum number of bottles from any source available.

Where does that leave us?

With the 2015 Dauprat firmly in hand – one of the best Bordeaux you’ve never heard of!

(this wine is generally not submitted to critics – the production is too small and they don’t want to “waste” the bottles. They have no problem with critics reviewing their wine but the bottle has to be purchased and not many critics will go out of their way to do that)

This parcel has the finest/freshet original provenance available – it’s a mint parcel that was just released.

FIRST COME FIRST SERVED up to 24/person until we run out (remember the .5 acre situation):

2015 Dauprat Pauillac 750ml (Bordeaux) - $23.70
User avatar
AKR
Posts: 5234
Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2015 4:33 am
Contact:

Re: Anyone ever heard of Dauprat, a Pauillac?

Post by AKR »

That was from Garagiste. I've never heard of that estate. Vaguely tempted.
User avatar
JimHow
Posts: 20106
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:49 pm
Location: Lewiston, Maine, United States
Contact:

Re: Anyone ever heard of Dauprat, a Pauillac?

Post by JimHow »

Eh, just buy some Pibran instead.
User avatar
DavidG
Posts: 8280
Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2008 1:12 pm
Location: Maryland
Contact:

Re: Anyone ever heard of Dauprat, a Pauillac?

Post by DavidG »

I could tell it was Rimmerman without even reading it, based on length alone.
User avatar
AKR
Posts: 5234
Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2015 4:33 am
Contact:

Re: Anyone ever heard of Dauprat, a Pauillac?

Post by AKR »

Usually the more he hypes something, the worse it is.

I decided to pass.

Still, I've never heard of that Pauillac.

And there aren't that many estates there, or at least anymore.
User avatar
Chateau Vin
Posts: 1522
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2011 3:55 pm
Contact:

Re: Anyone ever heard of Dauprat, a Pauillac?

Post by Chateau Vin »

AKR wrote:The Best Bordeaux You’ve Never Heard of #1

Dear Friends,

For the past 10-15+ years, the most consistent Email List inquiry/request I receive (in addition to “can you get Screaming Eagle for $50?”) has something to do with the on-going series of unknown/undiscovered/unheralded Bordeaux estates we’ve offered over the years and their attempt at ascension to the top rung. Most of the requests end in the same way: “please find more Bordeaux like this!”.

That’s a very good idea.

To celebrate the unheralded and/or those that should be A LOT more famous (but are not for one reason or another), allow me to introduce a new series: The Best Bordeaux You’ve Never Heard of.

Sound like a plan?

Let’s begin with #1 in the series...

What if I told you that one of the most engaging bottles of 2015 Bordeaux hailed from Pauillac?

Sure, ok.

From one of the singular/special vineyards in all of Bordeaux?

Latour, correct?

No.

No?

Yes, no…I mean “no it isn’t Latour” but it’s next door.

Oh, Pichon Lalande!

No.

No? What do you mean no!

(first off, Pichon Lalande isn’t next to Latour and this series is “undiscovered Bordeaux”, remember?)

What if told you this wine has a chance to be the “Le Pin of the Medoc” without the fluff?

Le Pin? Ok, now I know you are crazy!

Maybe, maybe not.

From a .5 acre (not hectare) parcel next to Latour and Lynch Bages, this property is so small there isn’t room for a “chateau” or a building for that matter and the wine produced from this garden vineyard is of great (extreme!) interest in 2015: Dauprat.

A perennial “decent” example, Dauprat has been produced for a number of years in the past (at Bellegrave, by the family) but it has a new way of seeing from 2015 forward and what a Cabernet Sauvignon dominant wine it is! Let’s put it this way, when you add “.5 acre parcel”, “Pauillac” and “next to Latour” together, the potential “Le Pin of the Medoc” moniker is not that far fetched (it isn’t anywhere near that level now but there is a future to come...the problem is that it took Bellegrave too many years to realize this)! To take the argument a step further and to justify what should be an eventual rabid following for this wine (from 2015 on), it can be argued that Dauprat - not Latour, Lynch Bages, etc - is one of the only true/definitive vintage expressions of Pauillac – what you see is exactly what you get.

WHAT!

Well, think about it. Dauprat is essentially a monopole tiny production example that is (and will always be) pressed from the exact same vines (now 40-50 years of age) - there is no tinkering or blending from parcels (one of the relatively unknown “secrets” of the Medoc is the patchwork of vineyards owned and used by the very best estates that can stretch quite far away from a Chateau and are not contiguous, many abutting the border of the appellation a kilometer or more away from the mother property and its surrounding vines). At Latour, Mouton, Lynch Bages or (take your pick), each vintage is a patchwork blend of their various parcels with a goal of the best result they can muster (from their entire stock of land holdings that, in some cases, are nowhere near each other). Do they produce great wine? Yes, that is not in dispute, but it’s a very different way to cook the goose than “the exact same vines” each and every vintage.

From our friends at Schreiblehner on the 2015 Dauprat: “This wonderful 0.5 acre plot is surrounded by vineyards belonging to Chateau Latour and Chateau Lynch Bages. The forty-year-old vines that stand on large Garonne pebbles produce a great fruit. Since there is no own winery to this plot, the wine can not be called "Chateau Dauprat". The parcel belongs to the Meffre family, who vinify the grapes from this particular vineyard on their Chateau Bellegrave separately, as the terroir differs greatly from their other vineyards.”

The 2015 Dauprat is going to be glugged far too early – it is so darn delicious that the teeming stone fruit and perfectly slathered minerality (a hallmark of the vintage) tends to go on deaf palates in favor of “another glass please!”. The less eager oenophile should stash a few of these away for a rainy day when Dauprat is undoubtedly $100+/bottle so you can boast with glee how you managed to secure the first vintage of the new Dauprat era (a grand “association” vintage no less) for $23+.

$23+?

You can’t secure most top-level third wines for $23+! When something like “Les Tourelles de Longueville” is $25 (essentially the third wine of Pichon Baron, from vines that are unrelated to the Grand Vin) and the 2015 Dauprat is less $, it’s a wine geek “call in sick” day to secure the maximum number of bottles from any source available.

Where does that leave us?

With the 2015 Dauprat firmly in hand – one of the best Bordeaux you’ve never heard of!

(this wine is generally not submitted to critics – the production is too small and they don’t want to “waste” the bottles. They have no problem with critics reviewing their wine but the bottle has to be purchased and not many critics will go out of their way to do that)

This parcel has the finest/freshet original provenance available – it’s a mint parcel that was just released.

FIRST COME FIRST SERVED up to 24/person until we run out (remember the .5 acre situation):

2015 Dauprat Pauillac 750ml (Bordeaux) - $23.70
....Yaaaaawn....
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot], Google [Bot] and 13 guests