Nowhere has consistency been more sought after than in the Médoc—this despite the vagaries of climate, the uncertain wine market and as seen in Margaux especially over the past twenty years, the importance of the human touch.
Americans used to the innovation and iconoclastic spirit of native winemakers will sometimes struggle to comprehend the French wine system, one rooted in heritage, where AOP laws are sacrosanct. Interestingly, one area in which tradition among French growers and winemakers may have leapfrogged a generation is in the application of artificial treatments and mechanical harvesting. More and more vineyards are today opting for biodynamics in the field and natural fermentation in the cellar, with almost 90% of Bordeaux properties eschewing chemicals and many returning to handpicking grapes, techniques that were used for centuries before commercial fertilizer and mechanical harvesters were available.
In Margaux, makers of the supple, perfumed Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines have adhered to tradition as faithfully as in any appellation, and perhaps, too much, as a modern understanding of the complexity of Margaux-specific terroir evolves. Says Jean-Henri Schÿler, former president of the Syndicat of Margaux: “The vineyards here have thick bands of clay beneath some parts of gravelly soil, and these can block the descent of roots. Tractors often cut the roots, which lie near the surface, compounding the problem. And the clay can encourage the formation of underground pools of water. Proper drainage can solve the problem but it’s a major investment.”
In part with assistance from the Syndicat, changes are happening at a faster pace, and a new guard of winemaker is losing some of the baggage left them by their forebears, creating a Margaux renaissance that is well worth exploring.
Margaux: Changes Over The Past Two Decades
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| 1999 may be viewed as the watershed year for modern Margaux; while much of the Médoc suffered from a spotty vintage, nearly all major producers in the five communes of Margaux (Margaux, Cantenac, Soussans, Arsac and Labarde) produced wines that not only drank well upon the release, but are still drinking spectacularly today.
That year was the culmination of a decade of improvements made throughout the appellation, which had previously suffered years of neglect and weak performance.
Many factors led up to Margaux’s decline; most involved greed more than ground. For many years, legal yields were pushed to the limit and sorting of grapes was less than rigorous. This allowed estates to produce more wine, and in turn, charge less for it, which may have given the false impression of Margaux at a bargain. Meanwhile, the gravel base that allows Cabernet Sauvignon to thrive is as deep here as elsewhere in the Left Bank, and if the subsoil contains less organic matter, it provided a leanness to the wine that was part of Margaux’s heralded purity, charm and elegance.
But an infusion of younger proprietors and managers have taken up posts in Margaux at various times in the past two decades, including several underperforming châteaux like Second Growth Brane-Cantenac, the fast-improving Third Growth Ferrière as well as the excellent Cru Bourgeois La Gurgue, Angludet, Issan, Deyrem-Valentin, Tour de Mons and the eponymous First Growth, Château Margaux itself, which casts a halo around the entire appellation. |
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Margaux: A Miraculous Marriage between Density and Elegance
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| Encompassing nearly four thousand acres of vines, Margaux is the second largest appellation in the Haut-Médoc (after Saint-Estèphe), but the irony remains: The quintessential character of Margaux relies not on size, but on finesse. The velvet and silk that the wine exhibits on the palate combined with the ripe plum and violet aromas that dominate the nose may confuse tasters into thinking that there is a higher percentage of Merlot in the cuvée, but geography gives rise to this softness, built primarily around Cabernet Sauvignon. Margaux is the warmest major appellation in the Left Bank and it is almost always the first to harvest, so floral, red-fruit freshness remains in Margaux, while it may turn into black currant and mulberry notes in other prestigious Left Bank appellations. |
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Margaux has up praise from aficionados as diverse as Suzi Quatro (“I’m a bit of a wine snob and like a glass of Château Margaux ’82 to unwind”) and Ernest Hemingway (“I drank a bottle of wine for company, Château Margaux. It was good company” – ‘The Sun Also Rises’), while Thomas Jefferson waxed philosophically about vintage 1784. In part that is because Château Margaux is the most user-friendly of the five classified Premier cru Classé wines: André Lurton, who grew up in a Margaux wine family in the 1930s, sums it up like this: “Wines here were never about extract or power. They were all about finesse. That’s what we looked for and admired in a wine.”
2018 Vintage: Opulent, Sensual and Deeply Colored
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| Due to the size of the appellation, the variety of its geography and the multitude of soil types it contains, no overview of a given vintage will hold equally true for every property. In general, the 2018 growing season produced some superb Margaux wines with a potential for longevity.
The winter was mild but wet, and persistent rains continued throughout spring, allowing the soils to bank up water reserves in preparation for what would eventually become a very hot, dry summer. Predictably, vines situated on the soils most waterlogged from the spring deluge tended to perform the best throughout the summer months as the heat helped push the grapes towards phenolic ripeness. Harvest commenced earlier than usual with picking beginning for some producers in mid-September.
The best wines from this vintage are rich and powerful with great depth of color, aromatics and acidity. The spectrum of flavors ranges from ripe red raspberry to earthy, forest aromatics and from dense and deep to zingy and refreshing. |
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| The eight-bottle pack is comprised of one bottle of each of the following châteaux at $395. Special price indeed. |
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Château Malescot St. Exupéry
Maître Simon Malescot, advisor to King Louis XIV, lent his name to this historic property and his family enriched it for more than a century before selling it to Jean-Baptiste Saint-Exupéry, great-grandfather of the writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
With around 75 acres planted half to Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% to Merlot, 10% to Cabernet Franc and 5% to Petit Verdot at an average age of 35 years, the soil is comprised of gravel, chalk and clay, with iron deposits found along on the gentle slopes. In some parcels, the gravel is more than 30 feet deep, and various lieux-dits have been identified over the centuries that produce the best examples of the component varieties. As such, vinification takes place in a combination of 22 temperature-controlled concrete vats and stainless-steel tanks.
Critics maintain that the classified Third Growth Malescot St. Exupéry shines with a creamy, almost Burgundian texture—a comparison rarely made between these two disparate and rival appellations. |
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Château Malescot St. Exupéry, Margaux 2018 ($84)
Intensity, richness, velvet textures and purity of fruit are in forefront of the wine, followed by a luscious middle palate with layers of ripe, sweet, dark red fruits, licorice, espresso, plums and cherries. About 9000 cases produced.
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Château Marquis d’Alesme
After a storied past similar to many great estates in Bordeaux, the modern era for Château Marquis d’Alesme began in 2006 when it was purchased by Hubert Perrodo, owner of another Margaux vineyard, Château Labégorce. Tragically, he was killed in a skiing accident shortly after the sale and it is currently owned and managed by his daughter, Nathalie Perrodo. Extensive renovations to the château, which were completed in 2015, show a fascinating blend of French and Asian influences—an homage to Nathalie, who is half French and half Chinese. Above the fermentation vats, for example, a large, bronze dragon hangs, resplendent with patterns that take into account water, earth and heaven impressed into the cement.
The 40-acre d’Alesme vineyard is divided into three unique terroirs. The section with silica and gravel soils is planted to 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Franc. A second parcel located next to the château that consists of silica and gravel soil and some clay is planted to 100% Merlot, while the third section is mostly young vines, which is the source for their second wine, Marquise d’Alesme.
Château Marquis d’Alesme, Margaux 2018 ($68)
A blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 5% Cabernet Franc, the wine is voluptuous and concentrated, showing a floral essence behind smoke, earth, bramble fruits and espresso. Promises a long future with at least 2-3 decades of positive evolution anticipated. Around 7000 cases produced.
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Château Ferrière
This Troisième Cru, formerly known as the smallest classified growth at fewer than 20 acres, now boasts 30 planted to 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Franc, with vines averaging a half century old. Still relatively obscure, some of Ferrière’s vineyard is owned by the property, while other parcels are under long-term rental agreements, with the best parcels in the commune of Cantenac, with deep Garonne gravel deposited on limestone marls.
Ferrière’s winemaker Eric Boissenot explains the driving philosophy of his art: “First of all, I strive to understand the earth. It takes a minimum of two years to understand a new terroir and to capture its expression—its faults and qualities—and to learn to handle it delicately. Here, I like to stress finesse rather than power by concentrating on the quality of the tannins. Sometimes faults may be accentuated by having too low a yield, but balanced vines are more important.”
Château Ferrière, Margaux 2018 ($59)
The blend is 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc, and the high percent of Cabernet Sauvignon comes through in the wine’s flavor profile, structural feel and ample tannins with blackberry and graphite aromas and flavors.
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Château Labégorce
The first written mention of Labégorce’s vineyards can be found in the oddly named Cocks and Feret guidebook in 1868, dating the winemaking property to 1332. Bordering Châteaux Margaux and Lascombes, the Labégorce estate was purchased by the late Hubert Perrodo in 1989 and is today owned by his daughter Nathalie as part of the family’s portfolio, which also includes Château Marquis d’Alesme and Château Tour de Mons.
Under Perrodo ownership, the percentage of Merlot planted in the 160 acres of vineyard has increased to 45%, since much of the property has clay-rich soils. The vines are, on average, 30 years old, but there are a few parcels planted in the 1950s, and at least one plot that has reached the century mark.
Château Labégorce, Margaux 2018 ($47)
50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, the wine shows nuances of tilled earth, allspice, cedar, mocha, and fresh violets intermingled with integrated baking spice notes. 12,000 cases made.
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Château Brane Cantenac
One of fifteen Deuxièmes Crus (Second Growths) in the original Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, the estate had been producing one of the Médoc’s most highly regarded wines long before that. For four consecutive generations, the Lurton family has been at the helm, with Henri Lurton as the current proprietor. He says, “The exceptional terroir of Château Brane-Cantenac is made of deep quaternary-era gravels. Each plot has been carefully studied to plant the most suitable grape-variety, the one which will express itself the best on it. Along with my team we strive to reveal each plot’s potential by working in a plot by plot and intra-plot approach: The ‘Burgundy way.’
Brane-Cantenac’s terroir can be subdivided into several parcels; the first and most valued is planted in a large sweep of gravel in front of the château at the top of the Margaux-Cantenac plateau, providing radiant heat to the vines as well as excellent drainage. The second section is situated behind the château, where the gravel is intermixed with sand. La Verdotte is a 25-acre vineyard planted 35 years ago with 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 4.5% Cabernet Franc, and 0.5% Carmenère. A fourth vineyard called Notton is a 32-acre plot of coarse gravel over clay, and more distant from Brane-Cantenac than the other vines.
Château Brane Cantenac ‘Margaux de Brane’, Margaux 2018 ($42)
The château’s third label is still quintessential Margaux based on 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, and the remainder Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, all aged in 70% new French oak. Beautiful cassis and mulberry fruits as well as notes of leafy tobacco, spice, cedar meld with the finely-grained tannins.
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Château d’Issan
The roots of Château d’Issan’s vines delve deeply into Margaux’s gravel, but not as deeply as the roots of the estate delve into history. One of the oldest producing châteaux in Bordeaux, wines from d’Issan vineyards were used to toast the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine and King Henry the Second. Oddly perhaps, although Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant varietal today, when d’Issan was classified as a Third Growth in 1855, the wine was produced entirely from a grape that is now all but extinct in Bordeaux: Tarney Coulant.
In 2013, Château d’Issan sold a 50% stake to Jacky Lorenzetti of Château Lilian Ladouys, Château Lafon in St. Estèphe and Château Pédesclaux in Pauillac. Along with Emmanuel Cruse, the winemaking has been upgraded to include sorting tables and a new pneumatic press along with an increase of the proportion of new French oak barrels used to age the wine; currently an average of 50%.
Château d’Issan ‘Blason d’Issan’, Margaux 2018 ($38)
D’Issan’s second wine, introduced in 1995, and made from the estate’s youngest vines. It is fruity and accessible, offering a bouquet of blackberry and cranberry laced with undergrowth, mint, lavender and tobacco leading to full, fruity mid-palate and a mineral-driven finish.
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Château La Tour de Bessan
One of several properties run by the Lurton family, La Tour de la Bessan is currently run by Marie-Laure Lurton and the consulting oenologist Jacques Boissenot. Spread over three communes (Soussans, Arsac, Cantenac), the blocks that make up the winery are made up of Pyrenean gravel with various amounts of clay in each zone. The 40-acre property is planted to a much higher proportion (62%) of Merlot than is typical in Margaux, with 23% Cabernet and a small amount of Petit Verdot.
Château La Tour de Bessan, Margaux 2018 ($35)
60% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Petit Verdot showing crushed blackberries and elderberries with dark-chocolate undertones on the nose, a savory and fleshy texture on the palate, with firm tannins, minerality and floral notes at the finish.
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Listrac: Margaux’s Neighbor
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| Only a thousand acres total, Listrac is recognized for producing some of the most iconoclastic and undervalued wines in the Médoc. Situated between Margaux and Saint-Julien and a bit further back from the Gironde where soils are heavier and without the gravel that characterizes the best Left Bank properties. As such, none of the 61 châteaux that were included in the Grand Cru list at the Bordeaux classification in 1855 are found in Listrac; 30 estates are classified as Cru Bourgeois and a dozen as Cru Artisan.
Without heat-transferring gravel, the Cabernet Sauvignon that dominates Listrac vineyards requires a long, warm growing season to truly reach optimal ripeness. In the past, this was not guaranteed in the region, but as climate change has truly gripped Bordeaux, more and more vintages are proving beneficial to the specific Listrac terroir. As a result, the appellation is producing better and better wines available at prices that may belie the value. |
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Château Fourcas Dupré
Château Fourcas Dupré combines the name of the locale (the Fourcas plateau) with that of the original owner, Maître Jean Antoine Dupré, who bought the land in 1843. It has changed hands a few times since then, most recently ending up in the possession of Breton entrepreneur and wine aficionado Gérard Jicquel. The soils are primarily Pyrenean gravel, unique to the Médoc, along with chalky clay-limestone subsoil.
Château Fourcas Dupré, Listrac-Médoc 2018 ($22)
Ripe currants and blackberry appear in the perfumed aromatics, leading to the ‘sous bois’ (forest floor) character that is typical of the appellation with clove and pepper lingering amid the grainy tannins.
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AND – The following four wines are offered at special prices:
Château Rauzan-Ségla, Margaux 2018 ($179)
56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, aged for 18 months in 65% new barriques. Deep garnet-purple color, with potent energy showing crushed black cherries, blackcurrant cordial and mulberries, plus suggestions of violets, star anise, chocolate mint and a touch of tobacco leaf, finishing with fantastic length and loads of earthy sparks.
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Château Margaux, Margaux 2018 ($935)
90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, representing 36% of the 2018 harvest. The incomparable grace and depth of this lauded First Growth is displayed in layer upon layer of concentrated blueberry, cassis, acacia flowers, scorched earth, sandalwood, and violet backed by warm earth and fresh acidity.
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Château Brane Cantenac, Margaux 2018 ($106)
74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, all aged in 70% new French oak. Vibrant notes of kirsch, black raspberries and warm cassis, plus suggestions of roses, forest floor and cinnamon stick finish with a waft of cedar chest.
*click on image for more info
Château Palmer, Margaux 2018 ($476)
2018 Palmer is composed of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 7% Petit Verdot; it oozes fruit with waves of cassis, plum reduction and warmed cherry preserves carried by a dense yet polished and seamlessly embedded structure. A backdrop of violet, lilac and pastis accents add to the purity of expression with a riveting iron spine that lasts through the finish.
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Posted on 2022.03.25 in Margaux, France, Bordeaux, Wine-Aid Packages | Read more...
‘When you’re number two, you try harder.’
Had the phrase not already been copyrighted by Avis in 1962, Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande might well be using it for their tag line today. Under the 1855 Classification, which Napoleon III requested for the Exposition Universelle de Paris, Pichon-Comtesse fell under the Deuxièmes Grands Crus Classés, or Second Classified Growths. But between the years 1978 and 2007, under the ownership of May Eliane de Lencquesaing, so consistent did the quality prove (including the 100-point 1982) that the estate earned a reputation as a ‘Super Second’—a status that is unofficial if undisputable and may credibly be applied to only a select few of the original fourteen Second Growths.
In 2007, May Eliane de Lencquesaing sold the property to the Rouzaud family, owners and descendants of Louis Roederer, who have approached the property and its heralded terroir with the philosophy that auspicious geology may earn you a nineteenth century classification, but the ‘je ne sais quoi’ of producing consistently spectacular wine is as closely aligned with land stewardship as land itself and with technique as much as with perfect fruit.
This remains an ongoing pursuit that suffers no second-class efforts.
Pauillac: Cabernet Sauvignon’s Holy Land
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| For an appellation slightly under 3000 acres—only nine square miles—Pauillac, on the left bank of the Gironde estuary—boasts a surprisingly varied terroir. Top estates, including three of the five First Growth châteaux in the 1855 Classification, are located near the river, and each has built a reputation on emphasizing their differences rather than their similarities. A practiced oenophile can tell them apart by a whiff from the glass. And beyond the wine, that whiff also provides a vision into Bordeaux’s family history.
The single factor that all classified Pauillacs have in common is that their cuvées are built around a primary grape variety, Cabernet Sauvignon. Most Pauillac is comprised of at least 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, which struts its stuff amid the maritime climate and gravelly soil of southwest France better than anywhere else on earth. The irony, of course, is that what it brings to the table is enhanced, rather than masked, by the addition of complementary grapes. As such Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Carmenère, Petit Verdot and Malbec are also permitted under the Pauillac appellation laws. It is the art of the blend that creates the uniqueness in Pauillac wines; the hallmark of the individuality that is the Holy Grail of the appellation’s winemakers. |
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Château Pichon Longueville – Comtesse de Lalande
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According to the French poet Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, ‘Civilization is a heritage of beliefs, customs and knowledge slowly accumulated in the course of centuries, elements difficult at the times to justify by logic, but justifying themselves as paths when they lead somewhere, since they open up for man his inner distance.”
At Pichon-Comtesse, bordering on Château Latour, two families have been responsible for maintaining this wine’s superb reputation for more three centuries. Today, the caretakers of the estate view wine itself as a form of civilization, relying on six defining cultural features to illustrate the concept:
First, language, which transcends time and actions and kindles emotions. It is the instrument of destiny. At Pichon-Comtesse, wine is a living language, with roots that have grown deeper over the centuries, learned and passed on to revealing the nuance of its unique linguistic landscape.
Next, the land, where the French way of life is established. In Pauillac, notably poor soils comprised of gravel over clay provide an ideal foundation for Cabernet Sauvignon to grow, while the unique microclimate of the Left Bank offers a protective influence that allows it to thrive.
Third, the architecture: the neoclassical style of Château Pichon-Comtesse expresses in stone, wood and glass the harmony and understated elegance that is mirrored in the Grand Vin.
Then, the values that underscore the centuries-old fundamentals of a flourishing culture, Civilizations, as diverse as they are, share their own sense of justice. The château cultivates and honors three values above all—expertise handed down through the ages, preserving environmental heritage and maintaining lasting ties with the Bordeaux wine community.
Fifth, the technical mastery that underscores the evolution of any society. The skillset required to make a fine wine are complex and multifaceted, combining expertise and precision. Knowing when to intervene and when to sit back are crucial as a winemaker accompanies the product throughout its journey as a messenger of the terroir.
Lastly, art; the cultural cornerstone of any civilization. Pichon-Comtesse views art and wine as products of the same intention: the infinitely variable interplay of structure, harmony, and balance. Wine is both the catalyst of civilization and its most beautiful artistic expression.
| Finesse is the objective, the mission statement and the specific pursuit that underwrites all enological efforts at Pichon-Comtesse. In this quest, the château believes that they enjoy a head-start, since finesse springs naturally from the deepest parts of its gravelly terroir, offering a dazzling minerality to the raw juice. But it still needs magnifying, and this involves adhering to a set of unwaveringly high standards to which patience and gentleness form the core.
Above all, the phenolic ripeness of the grapes is paramount; pick too soon and the sugars are not sufficiently developed to achieve the requisite alcohol levels; pick too late and acids fade, leaving flabby fruit. Understanding the Goldilocks moment of optimal ripeness is the result of three key factors: Experience, experience and experience. |
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| Again, without proper technique, the fruit of a vineyard manager’s most painstaking work in the field goes to naught. Pichon-Comtesse describes the post-harvest milestones like this: In the vat room, the gravity flow process is revolutionary. Thanks to the disappearance of pumps and pipes, the integrity of the berries is preserved, while the juices are fruitier, softer and more balanced. The abandonment of pigeage techniques (punching down the cap of skins) together with more moderate pump-overs produces the same desired effects. Choosing to ferment at reasonable temperatures and optimizing the length of maceration have led to fresh, silky wines and more sensitive handling of the raw material. By exercising great rigor in the selection of press wines, oak barrels and their degree of char, elegance in the wines has also been enhanced. Throughout the 20 months of ageing in barrels, the wine is left alone so that time can perform its natural work. |
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The Second Wine: ‘Pichon-Comtesse Réserve’
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| The tradition of ‘second’ wines in Bordeaux predates the Classified Growths by at least a century. The innovation is credited to Château Margaux, who first released a wine labeled ‘2eme vin’ in the seventeenth century to indicate that the wine, while produced on the estate, came from vines considered unsuited for inclusion in the Grand Vin. In Pauillac, the first estate to make use of a second wine was Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, who debuted La Réserve de la Comtesse in 1874.
Beyond being simply a marketing tool to get the famous château name in front of consumers at a more affordable price, this second wine also serves an outlet to bottle wines from grapes from younger vines and declassified lots—a system that undoubtedly serves to improve the quality of the property’s Grand Vin. Also, a growing tradition among top estates where the selection process is most rigorous, likewise serve to improve the quality of the second wines. It must be emphasized that the primary difference between these strata of releases is the quality of the grapes used, and that the same winemaking team that creates the first label is also responsible for the others, so that the resemblance to the Grand Vin is often striking. |
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The Grand Vin: Château Pichon Longueville – Comtesse de Lalande
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| All five Bordeaux grapes are grown on the château’s two hundred acres, and the wines are considered among the most voluptuous wines in the Médoc due to the high proportion of Merlot used in the final blend; the increasing proportion of Cabernet used in modern cuvées to add structure does not diminish the amount of Merlot used; it means less of the other varieties.
The current cépage reflects the vineyard plantings, roughly 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. The heart of these plantings is a 150-acre parcel of vines situated southwest of Pichon Baron, close to the manor. The best parcels overlook the river and are filled with vines with an average age of 40 years, although the oldest vines are nearly 90, having been planted in the 1930s. |
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Winemaking techniques reflect both tradition and innovation. Winemaker and general manager at Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande (and Château de Pez in Saint-Estèphe) is Nicolas Glumineau. Born in 1974, he studied at the University of Oenology in Bordeaux with Professor Denis Dubourdieu and obtained a Master of Genetics applied to oenology. He furthered his studies at the National Agronomic School of Montpellier, beginning his career at Château Haut-Brion in 2005 and Château Margaux in 2006. He describes the innovations that Pichon Lalande offers: “A new triple-tiered cellar moves everything by gravity and double-skinned vats allow us to vinify on a parcel-by-parcel basis, helping with softer, gentler extractions and providing the wines with its legendary sensuousness, replete with concentrated layers of ripe berries and perfumed with fresh violet blossoms, tobacco leaves, earth and truffles.”
Every Vintage Tells a Story
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| In particularly poor vintages, vignerons may wish for a more even-keel climate, but in fact, for wine, homogeneity is the enemy of expression. Vive la différence; experiencing a variety of vintages allows you to learn about the process and decide which styles you prefer. You might find lighter wines from cooler vintages more to your liking than robust wines from warmer vintages. In general, Bordeaux is blessed with a mild climate that avoids extreme temperatures; moderated by its location next to the Atlantic Ocean, the vineyards benefit from warm summers and plentiful sun. Bordeaux is also the wettest wine-growing region in France, and the arrival of springtime rains may affect flowering, reduce yield, encourage vine disease and delay harvest. This frequently-shifting balance between sun and rain results in significant differences between wines from year to year, both in flavor profile and ageing potential. |
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| Overall, the 2019 vintage for Pauillac delivered excellent wines across the board, making it one of the most consistent of all Bordeaux appellations. The growing season began with a mild, if lackluster spring with cool temperatures and uneven rainfall. A warm, dry summer followed to ensure that the grapes reached phenolic ripeness and conditions remained smooth and easy for a seamless harvest. The resulting fruit was extremely healthy, and this translated naturally to the wines. |
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2019 Pichon-Comtesse Réserve, Pauillac ($55)
Well-structured and completely approachable now, there is sufficient tannin and acidity to cellar it for a while, but like most second wines, it will develop rather quickly.
2019 Château Pichon Longueville – Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac ($255)
Having spent 18 months in cask, 60% new French oak, the blend is 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc. Unerring symmetry and poise, it offers an array of warm cassis and wild blueberries scents with underlying hints of Morello cherries, redcurrant jelly, pencil shavings, menthol and aniseed with a touch of charcoal.
| 2018 came in as a lion, but left as a lamb, producing a stunning vintage throughout most of Pauillac, with the best wines able to improve in the cellar for many years and the rest quite amenable to luscious early-drinking. Torrential rains in the spring on a scale seldom seen before in Bordeaux took place, but when the skies cleared, the water-logged soils proved beneficial in sustaining the vines throughout an arid summer. Although some of the younger vines suffered from dehydration, the majority of well-established vines successfully pulled through and the good weather remained in place over the harvest. |
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2018 Pichon-Comtesse Réserve, Pauillac ($68)
The wine exhibits cassis, blackberry, pepper and tobacco notes behind aromas of dried violets, blackcurrants, oyster shells, ink and bitter chocolate. It’s medium-bodied, with firm, tight-grained tannins and a nicely austere finish.
2018 Château Pichon Longueville – Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac ($315)
A massive wine that lends credence to the château’s ‘Super Second’ status. First Growth intensity with both stature and structure, offering deep undertones of blackcurrants, crushed stone, scorched earth, lead pencil shavings, and tobacco leaf and finishing on a lingering, fragrant-earth note.
2018 Château Pichon Longueville – Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac ($630) – en magnum
What is twice better than a bottle of Pichon-Comtesse 2018? A magnum of the same.
| 2016 provided a very wet spring throughout much of Bordeaux, but the free-draining soils of Pauillac were able to weather it without incident. Water reserves were built, and the hot, dry summer that followed drew upon them to keep vines healthy. Cool nights, consistent throughout the late summer, helped to preserve the acidities and aromatics in the grapes. The steady nature of the summer allowed for a long, luxurious growing season and, when the harvest finally arrived, producers could pick at their leisure.
These are marvelous wines with backbone for aging or suppleness for early enjoyment. |
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2016 Pichon-Comtesse Réserve, Pauillac ($82)
54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, 4% Cabernet Franc. The luscious ripe berries and plums on the nose are attractively dressed with rose-petal and violet notes to provide fullness on the palate. Balanced and elegant with a hint of pastis at the end.
| Decanter editor Steven Spurrier referred to 2015 as “A very modern Bordeaux vintage—not like Bordeaux 10 years ago, when tannins could be hard as nails. In 2015, the fruit dominates the tannins and the acidity.”
A mild winter preceded a benign spring, ensuring both a successful budburst and flowering. The summer months were exceedingly hot and dry, but older vines with well-established roots did not suffer. August delivered much-needed rain, while cooler nights helped retain both acidity and fresh aromatics in the grapes. Good conditions then ensued making for an easy and relaxed harvest. Château Latour’s Frederic Engerer, Pichon-Comtesse’s neighbor, goes further, comparing 2015 with 2005 and 1982. “Our ‘15 has a touch of the ‘82’s creamy caress,” he notes. “But I also think it is better than 2005. The ‘15 Latour has even more elegance and precision. 2005 might have been an easier vintage to make than 2015, but this is a better vintage.” |
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2015 Pichon-Comtesse Réserve, Pauillac ($76)
A blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot with the balance in Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot; it reveals a deep purple color as well as medium to full-bodied notes of cassis, plums, garrigue herbs and spring flowers. This is a ripe, sexy, opulent second wine that’s ideal for drinking tonight or over the coming decade.
| After three less-than-stellar vintages (2011, 2012 and 2013), 2014 managed to produce many excellent wines, some—from Pauillac especially—verging on the superb, with quality reaching deep into the unclassified estates. A cool, rainy summer threatened to make the vintage a repeat of the dismal year before, but a remarkable Indian summer in September, where the weather grew freakishly warm, saved the harvest. (By all accounts, it was one of the warmest and driest Septembers ever recorded).
As a whole, the 2014s are not universally exceptional, but the Classified Growths produced wines that are consumer friendly in profile (also in price), with concentrated, pure fruit, good acidity and silky tannins. |
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2014 Pichon-Comtesse Réserve, Pauillac ($79)
59% Cabernet Sauvignon and 41% Merlot, offering a classic Pauillac profile of cassis, iron and graphite with layers of blueberry, blackberry and boysenberry washing over the tannic grip; suave and concentrated, but equally robust and structured.
2014 Château Pichon Longueville – Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac ($221)
This is a finely structured wine with dark tannins and intense black fruits, providing an immaculately pure wine packed with tight serious tannins and a fine structure of black-plum skins and acidity. It is direct, firm and with a huge potential over many years.
| Considered a legendary year nearly across the board, 2010 was another ‘vintage of the century’, following closely on the heels of 2009, which was referred to in the same glowing terms. The high gravel content in vineyards nearer the Gironde provided wine with more elegance while the inland communes with more clay created wines that are proving to be more robust. Of all the communes, Pauillac—the most Cabernet-orientated—played this card to perfection and produced very great, almost unsurpassable wines with very good quality overall. |
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2010 Château Pichon Longueville – Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac ($382)
A showstopper that offers first impressions of explosive power, but with aeration, a delicate, floral profile that emerges replete with violet, graphite, crème de cassis, licorice and menthol. A wine as big as those from 1996, but with the tannic backbone softer, sweeter and more polished.
| A decade ago, the vintages 2009 and 2010 were often spoken of in tandem; they were said to resemble 1989 and 1990 in that the older vintage was riper, with richly-textured fruit while the second was firmer and drier with grippier tannins—in other words, 2010 were considered more classical in style and perhaps, more authentic.
This is, like all things vintage, the result of nuances in generally favorable weather. 2009 offered gentle, progressive conditions, with gradual concentration in the juice coming from perfect summer ripening and a picture-perfect autumn. 2010 produced bolder wines from more aggressive and extreme weather, thanks in part to El Niño, and much of the concentration comes from dehydration rather than a long stretch of steady ripening.
Overall, Cabernet-based reds from the Left Bank are superb and deliver more consistently than the Merlot-heavy wines of the Right, which suffered devastating hail earlier in the year. |
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2009 Château Pichon Longueville – Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac ($314)
The wine shows cassis, plums, cedar, lead pencil, fennel, coffee, and the elegantly textured palate is filled with intense fruit and, pure, supple tannins, finishing with exotic plum compote and chocolate-covered cherries.
| If you believed the media hype at the time, 2005 produced the greatest Bordeaux of all time, and in keeping with that, prices skyrocketed. Beyond the press, 2005 was a spectacular, but hardly flawless vintage.
The greatest years in the appellation have shared characteristics. 2000, 1990, 1982, 1961, 1959, 1949, 1947 and 1945 all boasted remarkably long, torrid summers that remained dry all the way through the October harvest with only a scattering of sprinkles to keep drought at bay. 2005 did not see such extremes, and the wines—however superb—were among the most tannic in modern-day Bordeaux, requiring many years of softening before they become truly approachable. In Pauillac, the tannins were especially pronounced.
Fortunately, those years have now passed and the 2005s have come into their own, although they probably have a shelf-life that can last another fifty years or more. |
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2005 Château Pichon Longueville – Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac ($320)
A wonderfully extracted effort that captures the complexity and rich brambly fruit for which the Pauillac appellation is justly revered, and does so with a remarkable sense of balance and composition. The ample tannins have mellowed, but the wine retains the depth of its juicy substance.
| Certainly, 2000 was a spectacular way to begin a wine millennium, with Bordeaux producing some of the best wines in its history. The season got off to a rocky start with a steamy, rain-drenched spring producing waterlogged soils and mildew, but by mid-July, the sun was consistent and temperatures above normal. There was no rain until the third week of September, falling heavier in the Médoc than the Graves, but it was short-lived and harvest took place under ideal conditions. The quality of the individual wines was often in the hands of producers; those who picked too early and may show unripe tannins; another handful picked rather late and may exhibit overripe jammy flavors. But overall, this is an outstanding vintage; arguably the best since 1990. |
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2000 Château Pichon Longueville – Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac ($390)
The wine’s spicy, meaty nose is lovely and robust with plum and berry fruits. The palate is showing wonderful evolution: elegant berry fruits, hints of spice, earth and roast coffee.
Pichon-Comtesse Masterclass With The Château’s Director Charles Fournier
As a special expression of thanks to valued patrons who have purchased Château Pichon over the years, Elie Wine Company is proud to extend an invitation to a special tasting and dinner on March 29, 2022. Hosted by Charles Fournier, Commercial and Marketing Director at Château Pichon-Comtesse, we will make a vinous trail through a decade of Pichon wines, both the Pichon-Comtesse Réserve and the Grand Vin. Fournier will taste and discuss the following vintages: Pichon Comtesse Réserve’s 2018, 2015, 2014 and Grand Vin’s 2014, 2010, 2009. The tasting will be followed by a special dinner.
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Posted on 2022.03.21 in Pauillac, France, Bordeaux | Read more...
CHAMPAGNE JEAN JOSSELIN
‘Aux Origines’ 2016 ($71)
100% Pinot Noir
| Honest wine strives to be as natural as possible, and a new generation in Champagne finds itself with an unexpected gift from providence: A warming climate. In certain vineyards, Pinot Noir is enjoying longer hang times and winemakers are presented with a wider array of stylistic options. Although still wine remains the base and bubbles the embellishment, increasing attention is being paid to the quality of the raw product. These days, a visit to a Champagne house will often include a taste of the base wine, the non-mousseux. Several Champagne estates now market limited quantities of Coteaux Champenois (Champagne without the sparkle) and in 2022, the irony runs full circle: Says Dominique Demarville, chef de cave for Veuve Clicquot, “We make a Coteaux Champenois rouge as our house wine to be used on special occasions.”
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| Although a single AOP covers all sparkling wine produced in Champagne, there are seven distinct sub-regions, each of which was originally associated with a single grape variety. Of course, geography changes throughout the area, so pockets of Champagne’s three main grape varieties (Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay) can be found in each district. |
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From north to south, the sub-regions are The Montagne de Reims, The Grand Vallée, Vallée de la Marne, The Coteaux Sud d’Épernay, The Côte des Blancs, The Coteaux du Morin, Côte de Sézanne, Vitryat & Montgueux and Côte des Bar in the Aube.
The last region is notable not only for being closer to Chablis than to Rheims, but because prior to World War II, it was planted primarily to Gamay. Once they saw the light, those vineyards were re-established with Pinot Noir, and nearly 90% of Côte des Bar’s modern vineyards are planted to that grape. The fact that the soils of Côte des Bar is composed almost entirely of Kimmeridgian marl means that the terroir is much closer to Chablis, Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé, regions heavily associated with white wines.
That is only one of the iconoclastic tendencies displayed by Champagne’s most intriguing wine region, which has grown exponentially in size and reputation over the past twenty years.
South Rising: Aube’s Côte des Bar For The Course
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| (Since the Côte des Bar is the Aube’s only significant wine producing area, the two names are generally interchangeable in winemaking discussions.)
‘Aube’ translates to ‘dawn’, so it is fitting that this district is Champagne’s rising star. In part this is because of the district’s push towards a culture of artisanal, experimental, terroir-driven Champagne. Situated further south than the other six regions, it is less prone to frost and the Pinot Noirs of the Aube are rich and fruit-driven. Although the district is devoid of Grand or Premier Cru vineyards, since the 1950s, grapes grown there have formed a vital backbone of the blend produced by many of the top Champagne houses.
Perhaps the lack of a historical reputation means that the AOP has less to lose, but the overall mindset of the region encourages mavericks, which in tradition-heavy Champagne is rarely seen. It is these independent winemakers that are primarily responsible for district’s mushrooming growth, which now makes up almost a quarter of the entire Champagne region.
The vines of the Côte des Bar can be found scattered patches within two main districts, the Barséquenais, centered on Bar-sur-Seine, and the Barsuraubois, centered on Bar-sur-Aube.
Helping to forge the region’s new identity is a crew of younger grower/producers and boutique négociants, many of whom have traveled abroad and trained in other winemaking regions. As a result, they tend to focus more on individuality; single-variety, single-vintage, single-harvest and single-vineyard Champagnes from the Côte des Bar are quite common. Not only that, but land remains relatively inexpensive, which encourages experimentation. Even though many of Côte des Bar’s Champagnes are 100% Pinot Noir, styles can differ markedly from producer to producer, bottling to bottling and, of course, vintage to vintage. |
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Exploring Pinot Country: It’s The Terroir Stupid!
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| Michael Edwards, the lawyer turned ‘Decanter’ Champagne pro, writes, “The Aube’s semi-continental climate, the close proximity of water, and its soils of calcareous clay and Portlandian limestone combine to shape wines that have more in common with Chablis than with any from Reims or Épernay. The main wine grape may be Pinot Noir rather than Chardonnay, but it’s really the terroir rather than the grape variety that speaks most originally to the taster. The extra summer warmth in the Aube endows Pinot Noir with a round, overt fruit character rarely found further north and gives Aube Champagnes their characteristic color, mid-straw as opposed to pale green. Traditionally, Aube wine was used by the Marne houses as a softener or bolsterer of a blend, but this was kept quiet from Marne growers. Even today rivalry is fierce, with the Marne houses viewing wine from the “inferior” Aube as ‘Champagne du Sud.”
For the most part, Aube elevations are low-lying, with the valleys prone to frosts, so the best Champagnes produced from a handful of vineyards well-situated on the steeper slopes of hillsides under a thousand feet in height. The best sites face south-east, but there is nothing sacred about planting to this aspect alone, and vineyards in the district can be found at most suitable elevations. |
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(Village Gyé-sur-Seine, Côte des Bar)
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Gyé-sur-Seine is a small village in the Aube department, with a population under 500 and about the same number of acres planted to Pinot Noir. The commune is as picturesque as its name, as are the hillsides where Jean Josselin worked the soil—Beauregard, Davasgné, Cosvigne—before founding the house in 1957.
Today, the estate is run by his son Jean-Pierre and grandson Jean-Félix and granddaughter Lucile, who have maintained the rigid standards of their forebears. At time, admittedly, they have struggled to remain independent producers rather than succumb to the temptations dangled by the grand marques; financial incentives that saw one producer in the village recently sold to Moët et Chandon. Remaining independent has involved extensive upgrades, including the new production facilities—a modern building about a mile away from the old domain. The family also takes pride in its commitment to sustainable viticulture, and is proud to be certified to ‘Terra Vitis’, a label that subjects the estate to regular audits scalable to the size of the property—in the case of Champagne Josselin,18 parcels scattered over 30 acres.
| Says Jean-Pierre, “In the past, Josselin Champagnes were mostly made from Pinot Noir, but we have expanded our range with a blend of the three traditional varietals as our Blanc de Blancs, thus exploring the other varietals that grow well in specific locations. We are a small producer—no more than 100,000 bottles a year—but we are always looking to improve. For instance, my son Jean-Félix, who joined the family operation in 2010, has created a new cuvée, as yet unnamed. It’s a secret waiting to be uncovered, as many ideas arise and provoke discussion between father and son! The adventure is far from over!”
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Champagne Jean Josselin ‘Cuvée des Jean’ ($50)
Three generations of ‘Jean’ lent equity and their name to this blend: Jean Josselin (founder), Jean-Pierre (owner) and Jean-Félix (winemaker). Bottled on December 7, 2019, it is made from 100% Pinot Noir, with 70% from the 2017 récolte (harvest) used as a base wine and 30% from the solera—wine the family keeps in perpetual reserve. This is a pure, clean, driven Champagne that still maintains the signature coolness of Pinot Noir fruit. Bright and elegant, the citrus-colored Champagne offers a precise and fresh nose with white peach notes and strawberry aromas. 50,000 bottles produced.
Champagne Jean Josselin ‘Audace R.19’ Rosé ($68)
100% Pinot Noir; récolte 2019. The name means ‘audacity’ and the wine is from a single high-elevation parcel, Beauregard. 30% of the grapes undergo cold maceration for a minimum of 24 hours while the rest are pressed in the traditional stainless steel Coquard basket press personally modified by Jean-Pierre. The result of a careful assembly of macerated and non-macerated juice is a dazzling pomegranate pink rosé that oozes cranberries, red currants and spring raspberries, finishing with saline and mineral notes. About 5000 bottles produced, though only in certain vintages.
Champagne Jean Josselin ‘Alliance R.17’ ($58)
70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay; récolte 2017. So-called because of the marriage, or alliance, between these traditional Champagne varieties. To be labeled ‘vintage’, the wine must spend three years ‘sur lattes’—lattes are the thin wooden strips between the layers of bottles stacked on their sides in the cellars of Champagne, so the Champagne phrase translates to ‘on the strips’. The wine displays a golden hue with silver highlights while a subtle nose opens with ethereal hints of rose petals and brioche. The palate evolves to reveal honey and apple jelly. 9000 bottles produced.
The three-bottle pack is comprised of one bottle of each of the above listed cuvées for $176.
Chardonnay in A Sea of Pinot Noir
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| In Champagne as a whole, Chardonnay represents about 25,000 acres, behind Pinot Meunier at 26,000 acres. A fruitier, earlier-maturing relative of Pinot Noir, only Pinot Meunier will ripen reliably throughout the region, and is the most planted variety in the cooler vineyards of the Marne valley and the outlying Aisne vineyards to the north.
The cool climate results in base-wine Chardonnay with a delicate fragrance, along with floral, butter, and citrus notes, which adds racy acidity and structure to a blend. It is not often vinified as a mono-varietal.
In the Aube, Chardonnay represents about 10% of the plantings, but at Champagne Jean Josselin, the percentage is higher. |
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Champagne Jean Josselin ‘Les Blancs’ 2016 ($77)
100% Chardonnay, bottled July 16, 2017. Vines were planted in the 1980s on soils without chalk, producing a wine lower in acid than those from nearby Marne. At a modest dosage of 4 grams per liter, the wine is labeled Extra Brut, but complete malolactic fermentation and three years’ aging sur lattes adds a balanced texture and depth to what might otherwise be a much leaner Champagne. It has fresh floral aromas with notes of ripe apple, spice, and a touch of butter enriched by fine, lively bubbles. Overall, it is crisp, elegant, and complex, with good minerality from the limestone soil and a nice long finish.
The Champagne Society
Members Only Selection – April 2022
As a member of The Champagne Society, you’re in a select community of like-minded folks who appreciate the exceptional in life and recognize that sparkling wine is a superlative among man’s culinary creations. Cuvée ‘Aux Origines’ is selected for members only. None is available for sale.
Champagne Jean Josselin ‘Aux Origines’ 2016 ($71) 100% Pinot Noir
Formerly named ‘Cordon Royale’, this 100% Pinot Noir originates from the most highly prized of Josselin parcels; it bottled July 17, 2017, dosed at 4.85 grams per liter. Pinpoint bubbles and a seamless texture only enhance the spectacular wine underneath, bursting with minerality and clean earth flavors effortless balanced with warm, buttered croissant, honeyed baked pear and a touch of cinnamon and licorice. 5,000 bottles made.
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Posted on 2022.03.13 in France, The Champagne Society, Champagne, Wine-Aid Packages | Read more...
The earth speaks an exotic and mysterious language. In place of syntax, soil expresses itself through minerals; for grammar, it relies on organic matter. It’s a fluid tongue, ever changing, but maintaining characteristics that long outlive the efforts of a single interpreter.
In metaphor, wine is a lexicography intent on compiling native dialects of specific plots of earth. Terroir is communication; the subtle interplay of dialogue between variety and soil. In a glass of wine, one does not exist independent of the other. New world wines label by grape—you know that it’s a Pinot Noir before you know it’s from Russian River. French wines, with centuries of trial and error, do not need to; variety is a given and codified by law. A Burgundy will label by region, by estate, by climat and even by lieu-dit, which may be as small as a few rows of vines.
In Burgundy, the vigneron says, “It is not just Pinot Noir; it is this Pinot Noir.”
| Pinot Noir is to its wild ancestors what an Irish Setter is to a wolf. One of the first of the domesticated cultivars, mention of it as a wine grape dates to the thirteenth century when it was known as ‘Moreillon.’ With Pinot Noir as a parent, more than 21 unique varieties have emerged, mostly through spontaneous crossings; they include Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Burgundy’s other keystone, Chardonnay. In addition, over 500 Pinot Noir clones exist.
A thin-skinned grape that tends to bud early in the growing season, Pinot Noir is susceptible to extremes of cold and heat, and vineyards in which it excels tend to be sunny but cool. Then again, too much sunlight shrivels the thin skins and frost can quickly decimate crops, and even in Goldilocks conditions, yields tend to be low.
And yet, despite all the drawbacks, finicky Pinot Noir is responsible for some of the priciest, most enigmatic wines that humankind has ever produced. |
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Pinot Noir: Earth’s Interpreter
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| Cistercian monks of the Middle Ages were the first to grasp Pinot Noir’s unique ability to transmit terroir. So transparent is Pinot Noir’s reflection of location that it is function as a conduit, and this is one of the reasons it is rarely found in an assemblage, even where blending is legally permitted.
It is among the most aromatic of red wine grapes, and this quality is vital to its ability to mirror origin: German research in the early part of this century revealed a more pronounced link between soil and aroma than soil and taste. Terroir is genuine, in other words, but shows up in the nose more than the palate. The same study underscored the science that winemakers know from experience: Vines grown amid slate showed citrus notes; Basalt soils produced richer fruit flavors and smoother acidity; Limestone lent itself to more intense color and Sandstone showed mineral characters on the nose.
That different vineyard sites can produce markedly different wines was recognized long ago, and that some are unquestionably superior formed the foundation of the Burgundian cru system. |
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Gevrey-Chambertin: Making Sense of The Landscape
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| Location, location, location; within an undulating landscape, the finest sites in Gevrey-Chambertin are found along a belt in the Côte d’Or at elevations that range between 900 and 1200 feet. Snaking down this magical route, south of the village of Gevrey-Chambertin and ending at the outskirts of its neighbor Morey-Saint-Denis, nine Grand Cru vineyards can be found, more than any other village in the Côte de Nuits. Eight of them feature ‘Chambertin’ in their names, homage to Le Chambertin, the most respected among them. Each are entitled to wear their individual appellation on the label, and so do not bottle under the AOP ‘Gevrey-Chambertin.’ They also produce the world’s most exclusive and expensive Pinot Noirs.
Commanding slightly less prestige—and as a result, more reasonable price points—are the Premier Cru vineyards, of which Gevrey-Chambertin has 26. Some are located around the group of Grand Cru vineyards south of the village, while some are located together on a slope to the northwest. Below this in classification, and often in elevation as well, are village-level wines, of which Gevrey-Chambertin has more than any other appellation in the Côte de Nuits and in the Côte d’Or, second only to Beaune.
In Gevrey-Chambertin, Premiers Crus occupy the upper portion of the Côte at heights of averaging a thousand feet; they consist of shallow brown limestone soils. Below them, the appellation Village vines, sit on brown calcic or limey soils. With situations generally east and southeast, the vines also reap the benefit of marls covered with screes and red silt washed down from the plateau. These stony mixes offer the wine elegance, while the rich marls add body and firmness. |
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Gevrey-Chambertin ‘Combe-aux-Moines’: Muscularity and Structure
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| Half of the Premiers Crus in Gevrey-Chambertin are located within the Combe de Lavaux, a small valley that cuts into the Côte d’Or. This topography is ideal for maximizing Pinot Noir’s potential; it provides slopes with a southern exposure, ensuring the vines are exposed to sunlight for a large portion of the day to aid ripening. Conversely, it funnels a cold wind from the west into the vineyard area, slowing ripening and bringing about significant swings in diurnal temperature that preserves acidity.
The Premier Cru ‘Combe-aux-Moines’ vineyard is situated at the north end of Combe de Lavaux, next to the Premier Cru ‘Cazetiers’ vineyard. It faces south and offers soil high in chalk and clay content. |
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The Truth About Old Wine: A Scented and Fugitive Soul
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| The primary myth about wine is that it invariably improves with age; in fact, the number of wines that benefit from being kept beyond a year or two of the release date is extremely limited, and those that can become ever more nuanced and intriguing after a decade in the bottle is probably a fraction of 1%. The second myth is that you, as a consumer, prefer the subtle flavors of a mature wine more than the fruity immediacy the same wine when young.
Well-aged wine, particularly from Burgundy, may even be an acquired taste, and understanding it is certainly an exercise requiring the same patience it takes to cellar it.
Certainly, the Domaine Gallois Gevrey-Chambertin selections in this package have been sculpted by time and curated by a master sculptor, but no human intervention or winemaking technique has (or could) compare to the mysterious and enhancing effects of age. They display a true expression of terroir and specificity of site rather than general varietal characteristics, and the nexus of age and beauty within these wines is emblematic of what properly-aged Burgundy is capable of producing: a sublime blend of fruity and savory sensations. |
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| Prior to taking over the family estate in 1989, Dominique Gallois studied catering in Paris and ran his own restaurant for six years. When he returned to Burgundy, the domain consisted of six acres in Gevrey-Chambertin which his father had managed for forty years, selling the grapes to négociants. Dominique began to renovate the property and in 1989 (after purchasing additional acreage in Combe aux Moines, Petits Cazetiers and Goulots) to bottle his own product, looking first to private customers to build a reputation. Recognizing that he works in terroir that is the envy of the world, Dominique takes special care to work the domain by hand, without pesticides or herbicides. Says Gallois, “Our year is quite full; winter months are dedicated to vine maintenance and Guyot-style pruning. During spring and summer, several tasks are performed allowing yields to be controlled and managing the healthiness of the future grapes. Harvesting is manual—we count on a small, faithful team to carry out the first sorting on the vine. Thereafter, grapes pass over a sorting table where bunches are inspected so as to conserve only the best fruit.” |
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2016 Vintage: “Promising”
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| After a series of short vintages, a warm winter and an early, vigorous bud burst left Burgundy with hopes of a bumper harvest, but those thoughts were short-lived: On April 26, a perfect storm of conditions—light rainfall followed by a sharp drop in temperature overnight, and a sunny morning that magnified the light through the prism of ice that had formed on the buds. Worst hit were the highest vineyards, often the most valued for quality; lower vineyards were shrouded in fog and somewhat protected.
Throughout the Côte d’Or, it was the most damaging frost since 1981.
In Gevrey-Chambertin, the higher-altitude vineyards close to the Combe de Lavaux (such as Les Veroilles, Poissenots, Lavaux Saint-Jacques and even Clos Saint-Jacques) suffered significant crop losses. Le Chambertin was pummeled, and lost two-thirds of its production.
As is often the case in reduced yields, the grapes that remained were concentrated and convey a strong impression of density. Ultimately, full phenolic ripeness was reached with Pinot Noir’s better examples characterized by wonderfully smooth tannins and showing a beautiful balance of fresh fruit, lively acidity and ripe tannins. |
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2016 Domaine Gallois Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Combe-aux-Moines ($124)
From a small parcel planted in 1952, the vines are steeply-sloped and east-facing, situated between 1100 and 1200 feet. Soil is shallow clay/limestone, and production is limited to around 2400 bottles.
The wine is rich ruby color with a bouquet of underbrush, black cherry, wild blackberry and licorice. It has evolved into a complex profile with nutmeg and leather up front, and damp earth and mocha making an appearance. Delightful now, but will continue to improve.
2016 Domaine Gallois Gevrey-Chambertin ($71)
Gallois’ Gevrey-Chambertin Village is a cuvée of 10 climats: En Songe, En Jouise, En Billard, En Dérée, Croix des Champs, Sylvie, La Justice, Charreux, and two parcels of the clos surrounding the family home. Average age of vines from these different parcels is fifty years, and annual production is around 10,000 bottles.
A nicely layered wine with aromas of spicy cassis, cherries and rich soil tones.
2014 Vintage: “Surprising”
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| Gevrey-Chambertin’s Pierre Damoy confessed his summertime blues: “Given that this was supposed to be an early vintage, the awful weather in August slowed everything down and caused us great anxiety.”
The cure was improved weather from mid-August onward, producing dry, sunny conditions that lasted well into September, giving the grapes a steady-state for maturation. The reds of the Côte de Nuits are said to be slightly less voluptuous than the giant vintages of 2009 and 2012, but riper than 2008, which had a similar growing season. |
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2014 Domaine Gallois Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Combe-aux-Moines ($114)
Linear, precise, rich and sumptuous, the wine shows nice notes of mulberry and smoke underscored by anise and an iron-rich minerality.
2014 Domaine Gallois Gevrey-Chambertin ($71)
Solid and firm, balanced between fruit and savory with raspberries and red plums laced together with acidity, the iconic Gevrey-Chambertin earthiness and gripping tannins.
| A charitable overview of the 2013 vintage in Burgundy is to call it ‘complicated.’ Denis Bachelet of the eponymous Gevrey-Chambertin domain says, “The acidity of 2013 is not like 1996, which was created by a similar month of exceptionally cool wind and drought. In 2013 it was the three weeks immediately before the harvest which finally ripened the grapes, but because the harvest was so late, well into October for the reds – the days were shorter and cooler than usual resulting in higher acids in a very classical, typically Burgundian way.”
Despite the terrible flowering and disease pressure, Burgundy’s Pinot Noir crop wound up achieving full ripeness thanks to what turned out to be of the longest growing seasons on record. Aubert de Villaine of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti admits, “Frankly, we were initially afraid of the 2013s. When we picked the grapes, we thought the wines would be much thinner than they have turned out, but since their first summer in cask they have become much more fruity and tender. Such difficult vintages can often be more interesting than the sunnier ones, which can sometimes leave their mark too strongly.” |
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2013 Domaine Gallois Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Combe-aux-Moines ($114)
Extremely well-defined aromatics with blackberry, briar and limestone scents across the mid-palate, gaining intensity in the glass. Ripe, supple tannins with red cherries, wild strawberry and a touch of iron on the finish.
2012 Vintage: “Exceptional”
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| It may be stated without argument that 2012 was tough on organic or fully biodynamic domains: A wet, cool spring brought some early frost, and steady rains led to a difficult flowering, which in some places took a month to complete. Extensive hail fell on June 6 followed by constant outbreaks of mildew, and although some growers could treat against them, estates that eschew such treatments could not.
Some growers in Gevrey-Chambertin reported losing half their crop, although the fruit that remained was concentrated and ripe. Sorting was a must, and the Pinot Noir-based wines have, for the most part, entered their optimum stage of drinkability. |
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2012 Domaine Gallois Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Combe-aux-Moines ($105)
Having moved well beyond its youthful austerity, the wine is markedly cool with a nose that offers up notes of cassis, spice, earth, underbrush and menthol. A lovely mineral streak runs through the rich and relatively large-scaled flavors with excellent mid-palate concentration and a complex and impressively persistent finish.
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Posted on 2022.03.12 in Gevrey-Chambertin, France, Wine-Aid Packages | Read more...
| Saturday Sips returns March 5, 2022 with a tasting of several wines from the Henry Marionnet selection. As always, we place safety at the forefront of wine tasting experiences, and whereas we will provide glassware, feel free to bring your own if it makes you feel more comfortable. |
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Loire Valley: Diversity of Wines
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| The wild Loire is the longest river in France, and its associated winemaking region covers more than 185,000 acres. Originating in the deep south—virtually in the Rhône appellation—the river scrambles up through Orléans and hooks over toward Tours in the country’s heartland. It’s here, in central France, in the northeastern limit of the Loire Valley, that the appellation’s anointed whites are born.
But the heart of the region—Chinon—is red, and produces blood-rousing wines saturated with iron-tinged summer berries and often touched with elusive herbal notes like mint, tobacco and green peppercorn, the signature of Loire’s main red variety, Cabernet Franc. |
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But there’s another red grape variety grown in Central Loire; the one that Philippe de Bourgogne cast out of Burgundy with his scathing edict six centuries ago. Gamay is grown in small quantities and used primarily for rosé or to lighten up blends. In Touraine, however, Gamay is capable of producing monovarietals of note, and the best of these (arguably) come from a single producer.
| The city of Tours sits half-way between Sancerre and Nantes and lends its name to the regional appellation ‘Touraine,’ home to about 12,000 acres of vineland. 59% of Touraine production is white predominantly made from Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc; reds account for 22%, led by Gamay, grown in 21% of Touraine vineyards. Rosé represents 8% of the region’s output and sparkling, another 11%. |
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The Touraine appellation follows the Loire for roughly 60 miles; from Blois in the east to Chinon and Bourgueil in the west. Beyond this, the river continues into adjacent Anjou. Sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and the northern Massif Central hills of central France, Touraine’s climate falls somewhere between maritime and continental. The favored vineyard sites are those featuring free-draining, tuffeau-rich soils, and throughout the region, ‘tuffeau’ is the magic word. It is the calcareous rock that forms the foundation for Loire terroir and makes a marvelous building material for most the valley’s famous châteaux. Not only that, but tuffeau caves provide perfect conditions for long-term wine storage and ageing.
Domaine de la Charmoise
(Jean-Sébastien et Henry Marionnet)
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| Over the centuries, many popes have passed through Loire (the Château de Chambord, the region’s grandest manor, contains private papal apartments) and Henry Marionnet applies the job description to oenology, reckoning himself an honest man making honest wines.
And by that he means natural wines, grown without pesticides and vinified without sulfur or oak. As he explains it, “My family has owned Domaine de la Charmoise since 1850; my father Claibert was a winemaker, of course, and I was expected to follow in his footsteps. But I never attended viticulture school—my parents were traditionalists and they didn’t want me coming back with revolutionary ideas. Therefore, my winemaking education involved working with the horses ploughing and clearing, and with a pickaxe, working the ground between the vines by hand. When I took over the domain in 1967, I began to change things. Some of the vines I inherited were of questionable merit, hybrids or similar sub-standard stock, so I set about replanting and expanding the vineyards. But I remained true to the words of the great Émile Peynaud who said, ‘Give me the most beautiful grapes in the world and I will make you the greatest wine in the world’.”
The vines of Domaine de la Charmoise—150 acres mostly dedicated to Sauvignon Blanc and Gamay—grow at the highest point between the Loire and Cher rivers, where a combination of situation and geology provides plenty of sunshine and shelter against spring frost.
Having recently succeeded his father in managing the estate, Henry’s son Jean-Sébastien has brought his own perspective to Domaine de la Charmoise, expanding the range to include Côt (Malbec) and Chenin Blanc as well as some Loire’s rarest varietals. To be sure, however, Henry’s presence is still widely felt. |
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This 8-bottle pack, at $196, contains two of each of the following four wines.
Sélection Massale: Diversity in Vines
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| Like skirt length and the width of ties, outdated viticulture techniques occasionally find favor among a modern generation. In the 1960s, UC Davis researchers developed a method of treating imported vine cuttings to clean them of disease and viruses, and then registered them as clones. Much of the wine we enjoy today (Pinot Noir Clone 777, Cabernet Sauvignon Clone 6, for example) is the result of this work, and since then, most new vines are purchased from vine clone nurseries—a method known as clonal selection.
The issue with clonal selection is that the wines tend to be somewhat homogenous—and that is the arch-enemy of the unique expression that is sacred to the French concept of terroir. The older, more labor-intensive method of propagation is Sélection Massale (or Massal Selection), which involves replanting new vineyards with cuttings from exceptional old vines from the same, or nearby properties. This method results in vineyards that appear less uniform and produce slightly smaller yields, but by virtue of genetic diversity (varietals mutate fairly easily) there is greater disease resistance.
Jean-Michel Cazes, owner of Château Lynch Bages and Château Les Ormes de Pez, champions Sélection Massale: “Our older vines represent decades of observations, adaptations and optimization and their genetic diversity leads to less exposure to catastrophic disease or adverse condition that might gravely affect a cloned vineyard. We use only cuttings from only our top vines; it’s a long-term and highly time-consuming process, but one that is well worth the effort both for safety and quality.” |
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Domaine de la Charmoise ‘Sauvignon’, Touraine 2018 ($19) WHITE
100% Sauvignon Blanc, hand-picked, hand-sorted, fermented without added yeasts, then aged for a year in stainless steel vats before release. The flint in the soil translates to a slight smokiness on the palate along with spring flowers, lemon, pineapple and grapefruit. The finish is restrained and elegant with softer acidity and more complexity indicative of slightly longer skin contact.
Domaine de la Charmoise ‘Gamay’, Touraine 2020 ($20) RED
The Gamay originates in 80 acres of vines planted between 1967 and 1978. The soil is stony, flinty clay combined with silica which warm up quickly and is known locally as ‘perruches’—a word that translates directly as ‘parakeets.’
A perfect spring-summer wine, best served with a slight chill; the lovely raspberry color is reflected in a refined nose and juicy palate, with notes of violet, peony and carbonic red fruit syrup. The freshness of the fruit persists through a long finish.
The Raw ‘Natural’ Gesture: All About Purity
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| As in the world of popes, in the world of wine, irony abounds. One of the more noteworthy ironies in this week’s offering is that Domaine de la Charmoise nestles deep with the forests of La Sologne, home to the great Limousin oak trees that makes the best of French wine barrels. But the Marionnets, both father and son, eschew wood as ‘unnatural’ in their winemaking process.
Raw or ‘natural’ wine is unadorned; in its purest form, it is wine made from unadulterated fermented grape juice and nothing else. After all the Loire is a place where the purest French is spoken.
Winemaking consists of two steps; growing grapes and fermenting juice. Proponents of natural wines understand that the purity mission begins in the vineyard, so do not spray vines with pesticides or herbicides and handpick grapes instead of relying on machines to harvest them. Only ambient yeast is used in fermentation, and the wine is generally bottled unfined and unfiltered, occasionally leading to a slight cloudiness in the finished product. Sulfur is a bone of contention among natural winemakers, although its use does not necessarily disqualify a wine. As an additive, sulfites serve to preserve and stabilize wine as an assurance that the wine you drink tastes roughly the same as it did when it went into the bottle. Small amounts of sulfites (around 10 to 35 parts per million) may be considered acceptable to natural wine adherents, since that amount is ten times lower than the maximum allowable addition for ‘conventional’ wines in the United States, 350 parts per million.
As might be surmised, ‘Zero-Zero’ wines contain none at all, and are neither filtered nor fined, giving rise to the name: Nothing is added and nothing is taken away. |
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Henry Marionnet ‘Première Vendange’, Touraine 2019 ($23) RAW RED
As defined above, this scrumptious wine is not quite a zero-zero, undergoing a light filtration just prior to bottling. Otherwise, it is whole-cluster fermented in cement without sulfur, non-indigenous yeast or pigeage—a French term meaning ‘to punch down the cap.’ (When crushed grapes ferment in vats, the skins rise to the surface to create a thick cap that may or may not be punched down.) Punch-down is not done here, and the result is a wine that is arguably more complex than is typical for a Gamay, largely because without sulfur, the yeasts have a longer time to work and release secondary aromas and flavors. The wine is medium ruby in color with aromas of plum, cherry, dried flowers, and spices, dry on the palate with moderate tannin and acidity, and additional notes of grilled meat and forest floor.
Ungrafted Vines: Back to The Roots
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| As even a moderately informed wine drinker knows, phylloxera—an aphid-like insect that feeds Vitis vinifera rootstocks, stunting growth of vines or killing them—decimated the French wine industry in the late nineteenth century. Accidentally brought to Europe by Victorian-era botanists via American vines, the infestation killed 915,000 acres worth of vines, representing more than 25% of France’s total. By 1895, French wine production was halved.
The solution wound up being in the country that caused the fuss in the first place; Vitis berlandieri is a native American variety whose roots are not only resistant to the pest, but are able to thrive in the calcareous soil that underlies much of France’s most prized vineyards. A vast program of grafting saved the French industry, but some purists insist that it signaled the end of French wines themselves.
Is there a difference between wine grown on different rootstocks? “Wines from ungrafted vines tend to show a little more mineral, herbal and tertiary characteristics” says Daniel Callan, a winemaker from California, while Nik Weis, owner of St. Urbans-Hof Weingut is less ambiguous: “The indisputable greatness of ungrafted vines lies in their homogenous structure. They are not from two different pieces of wood, so there is no disturbance of the sap flow by a grafting cut. It is one, closed, plant system. It is the plant the way nature or God created it, original and non-manipulated, a true and pure cultivar. It is the best way to grow grapes and to produce great and authentic wines which reflect their regional character and provide maximum quaffability.”
In fact, although nearly all French vines are grafted, there were a few rootstocks which survived the phylloxera epidemic. Most of the vines have since died (not all, though), but their roots were used to propagate newer vines of the same type.
For Henry Marionnet, they are something of a specialty, and he has 15 acres given over to ungrafted Gamay, Malbec, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc and Romorantin—a rare, late-ripening white wine grape. Marionnet claims that one plot of Romorantin dates to 1850, making them the oldest vines in France. |
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Henry Marionnet ‘Renaissance’, Touraine 2018 ($36) RAW RED
From an ungrafted plot of Gamay planted in 1992, the wine is racy and elegant, powerfully ripe and full of black cherry and spice with a core of tannins that is softening comfortably behind a backbone of acidity. Emphasis is on natural minerality unmasked by barreling.
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Posted on 2022.03.06 in Touraine, France, Wine-Aid Packages, Loire | Read more...
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