Ditching The Expense Of Bordeaux

Thanks to Ben and Mark at the award winning Hanging Ditch Wine Merchants for organising a very enjoyable and interesting Bordeaux tasting dinner earlier this month at the St. James’s Club. Given their ethos of quality being paramount I knew that the wines on offer would not disappoint, but the objective of keeping the wines affordable was going to be more of a challenge. As is true of many other great wine producing regions, it is not difficult to find superb bottles of Bordeaux if money is no object. Unlike many other regions, however, it can be tricky to find great bottles of Bordeaux that are within the reach of a mere mortal’s wallet.

The other issue that counts against Bordeaux’s popularity at most tastings is its affinity with food. It takes a little practice to appreciate the nuances of young Bordeaux tasted in isolation. When you taste it with a meal, however, it’s as if a lightbulb flashes on and suddenly everything becomes clear. That was the logic behind this tasting dinner, plus it was a great chance for Ben and Mark to show off their buying skills!

Champagne
Delamotte Brut NV

Accompanied by a plucky chanteuse and her really rather good renditions of French favourites from yesteryear, Ben and Mark kicked off proceedings in fine style. The first wine, Delamotte Brut (12% ABV) en magnum, was actually the one I most wanted to try and was, perversely, my wine of the evening. Trust me to fall for the supporting actress before the leading lady had even taken to the stage.

Delamotte is a name that will be unfamiliar to most, but, as you would expect from the sister wine of Salon, its quality is unquestionable. A long established label in its own right, Delamotte also uses fruit from Salon’s younger vines as well as wines that don’t quite reach the exacting standards of what is probably the finest of all Champagnes. Predominantly grand cru Chardonnay (50%), the balance being Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier (30% and 20% respectively), this was bright, fresh and beautifully rounded, not at all aggressive. The rich flavours of white stone fruit and citrus, plus a gentle yeasty autolytic character, made it a beautiful apéritif. A very classy wine and a real bargain (£30/bottle, £60/magnum) when compared to a lot of the Grandes Marques’ non-vintage offerings.

Château Des Antonins
Blanc 2010

As sad as I was to finish my Champagne, when we were asked to take our seats we had both dinner and a varied selection of Bordeaux to look forward to. First up were two dry whites made in completely different styles. Château Des Antonins Blanc 2010 (12% ABV, 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Sémillon, £10) had an initial nose of candied citrus zest and typically vegetal Sauvignon Blanc aromas which faded into gently nutty Sémillon fruit. The palate had a Sauvignon Blanc edge as you’d expect from the blend which was rounded by the Sémillon. Light, fresh and a little frivolous, this was a great apéritif wine although it was rather overwhelmed by the powerful flavours of salmon goujons.

L’Esprit De Chevalier
Blanc 2008

The second white was an altogether different story. The second wine of esteemed Pessac-Léognan estate Domaine de Chevalier, L’Esprit De Chevalier Blanc 2008 (13% ABV, Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc, £25) spent nine months in oak unlike the stainless steel matured Antonins above. Through no fault of the wine, I struggled to adequately describe the nose of this one, it reminded me of apple juice and had a slightly nutty quality. The palate showed lemony fruit, a nutty/oaky weightiness and just a hint of an oxidative character that called to mind a traditional style white Rioja. With two years of bottle age and a soujourn in oak  that the Antonins lacked, this was a more serious wine whose richness and complexity were a lovely paring with the breadcrumbed fish.

Château Roc De
Pellebouc

A trio of reds from a trio of vintages was poured alongside the main course of slow cooked rump of beef with root vegetables. From Baudouin Thienpont (brother of Jacques, owner of Le Pin) came the 2007 Château Roc De Pellebouc (12.5% ABV, 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, £12.50), a modern, lightly oaked style of Bordeaux from Entre-Deux-Mers, just across the Dordogne from Saint-Émilion. Ruby coloured and showing a degree of maturity, the Merlot was immediately apparent on the nose, although the Cabernet Sauvignon did seem to exert an undue influence considering the disproportionate amount in the blend. It added blackcurrant, pencil shavings and earthy aromas to the plumminess of the Merlot. The palate showed bright fruit tempered by pepper, spice and earth, all tempered by fresh acidity and moderate tannins. Elegant and, to me, a very traditional style of Bordeaux that was lovely when tried on its own but didn’t quite manage to stand up to the beef.

Château Bel-Air
Graves De Vayres
Fût De Chêne

Red wine number two was also from Entre-Deux-Mers, but from the tiny appellation of Graves De Vayres, so called because of the deep gravel parcels that distinguish it. Château Bel-Air Graves De Vayres 2006 Fût De Chêne (13% ABV, 55% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc, £17.50) was produced by Philippe Serey-Eiffel, the great great grandson of the engineer behind the eponymous tower. This was a younger looking, deeper coloured, more purple wine than the Pellebouc, even though it was a year older. The nose had dark fruit, barnyardy, oaky/vanilla/coffee aromas and a greener edge to it than the previous wine, but the palate was softer, oakier and somehow less typical. To my palate it was a modern, international style of wine that worked very well with the main course, but somehow it just didn’t shout of its origins.

Château Barrail
Du Blanc 2008

The third red was Château Barrail Du Blanc 2008 (13.5% ABV, 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc, £17.50), a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru exclusively distributed the Mouiex family that owns Châteaux Pétrus, La Fleur-Pétrus, Hosanna, Trotanoy, and Magdelaine to name just a few! Despite an annual production of only around 1,500 cases, there has been substantial recent investment in completely refurbishing the estate’s cellar enabling a traditional style winemaking to continue at the highest quality level. Sixty per cent of the wine is matured in oak, half of which is new, whilst the remainder goes into stainless steel.

It displayed soft red and black fruit with a dusting of pepper and capsicum spice from the Cabernet Franc. Less overtly fruity and oaky than the last wine, it had an astringent/medicinal touch to the finish that I really rather enjoyed. The most interesting of the three reds and my favourite, even though its lighter style couldn’t compete with the beef.

Château De Rayne
Vigneau 2003

Cheese was served instead of dessert, the Stilton being a better match for the Sauternes than the Mrs. Kirkham Lancashire. I was unsure about the choice of Château De Rayne Vigneau 2003 (13.5% ABV, 80% Sémillon and 20% Sauvignon Blanc, £25) due to the abnormal heat of the vintage. Was there going to be sufficient acidity? Had the heat hampered the growth of botrytis? The amber hue of the wine didn’t do much to allay my worries, but the nose was certainly promising with its rich aromas of barley sugar, dried apricot, marmalade and ripe mango. Similar flavours carried through to the palate, balanced by an unexpectedly taut acidity that kept it vital. It was definitely as good as it will get so plan to drink up any bottles you might have, but it was an exceedingly pleasant drink and a very agreeable surprise.

The only thing I felt that was missing was a Cabernet Sauvignon dominated, left bank style of Bordeaux which would have been an interesting contrast to the Merlot based blends shown as well as a great pairing with the beef. That being said, it's always an adventure to tread the path less travelled and I'm not sure I would have tried the selection above if left to my own devices. A big thank you once again to Ben and to Mark, our ever charming and informative host, for a very enjoyable evening.

News Flash

We take you now to Kermit the frog with another fast breaking news story…

With something approaching the excitement that a muppet scoop engendered in me as a child, I’ve found a source for the Verhaeghe brothers’ Château du Cèdre Cahors (see "A Couple Of Malbecs" 05/07/11). Although we have only spoken on the 'phone and via email, James Bercovici at The Big Red Wine Company is a most pleasant and knowledgeable chap who specialises in Rhône wines, amongst others, and who also sells three Château du Cèdre reds.

Château du Cèdre,
Le Cèdre

As the Verhaeghes still believe in rewarding those who buy their wines in good faith, their wines are particularly good value when purchased en primeur, although they are also available to buy at retail prices should you so wish. Needless to say, a healthy chunk of my wine allowance has just been exchanged for the especially fine 2009 and 2010 vintages of the Le Cèdre cuvée. The 2009 should be delivered after Christmas, the 2010 probably around the same time in 2013.

As with their blue chip cousins from nearby Bordeaux, James’ tastings, both this year and last, of barrel samples and of recently bottled samples have confirmed the spectacular quality of this pair of vintages in that part of the world. The 2009s are opulent, rich and well structured whereas the 2010s are equally complex but a little taughter and more linear, built for the longer haul. Both vintages will need 5 years or so to compose themselves and both vintages should have 20 to 30 years of life in them. At what will work out to be less than £24 per bottle when fully paid for, I can’t help but wonder (or should I say lament?) where else you can pick up such well made wines from such well established vineyards at such reasonable prices.

Answers to that question will warrant a news flash of their own.

A Knight To Forget

Every year I think about buying a couple of cases of Bordeaux en primeur, but every year I always seem to have either just bought a case or two of something interesting or I find that I’ve just allocated my next few months’ wine allowance to several bottles of something I just can’t live without. And there’s always the knowledge that once the initial scuffle between the châteaux to out-hype and out-price each other has died down, the majority of the wines will remain in the region of their release price until they are bottled, if not for longer. So there really is no rush to buy them…

Then the next vintage rolls around and the same thing happens again. I still have next to no Bordeaux in my cellar, but I do have a whole host of other wines that excite and inspire me every time I think about them.

That being said, I do sometimes take advantage of en primeur offers from other quarters of the wine world, although the first time I did so was the start of a rather steep learning curve. I don’t buy wines to sell for profit, rather my investment is in my future drinking. However expensive the wines that I love are today, the one thing I do know is that I definitely won’t be able to afford (or to find) them in ten years’ time when they are ready to drink.

About eleven years ago, an en primeur offer from Lay & Wheeler fell through my letterbox that was too good to pass up. It contained a selection of northern Rhône wines from the spectacular 1999 vintage by, amongst other producers, the legendary Maison Paul Jaboulet Aîné. 1998 had been THE year for Châteauneuf and for the southern Rhône, but I’ve always been more of a fan of the complex purity of the north’s Syrah and 1999 was its year to shine. It didn’t take much more than a single read through of the offer leaflet to persuade me to pick up the phone and order a case of the red Hermitage La Chapelle and a case of its white counterpart the Hermitage Le Chevalier De Stérimberg, both for delivery about eighteen months hence.

The chapel of Saint-Christophe

The Stérimberg was something of an impulse buy, I really like Rhône whites and this seemed a great way to introduce myself to white Hermitage. In fact, the etymology of its name sold it to me. The knight Gaspard de Stérimberg returned wounded from the Albigensian crusade and, in 1235, gained the permission of the White Queen of Castille to build the small chapel of Saint-Christophe to establish his hermitage on what is now the hill of Hermitage. Jaboulet purchased the chapel in 1919 and it has inspired the names of their top wines.

Whilst waiting for my wines to arrive, I occasionally browsed the wine literature, the wine press and the still fledgling internet for any tasting notes of what was obviously a pair of fantastic wines, but very little news was forthcoming. When the 1999 northern Rhônes eventually began to hit the market, everyone else’s wines were garnering rave reviews, but mysteriously little was being said about these two icons of their ilk. When I did eventually find some tasting notes, matters became clearer. What I hadn’t known is that although vintages of La Chapelle such as the 1961 and the 1978  are some of the finest wines of the 20^th century, Jaboulet was in the middle of a slump during the late nineties which continued until fairly recently. Jaboulet was bought in 2006 by Swiss financier Jacques Frey (owner of Médoc third growth Château La Lagune) and a concerted effort was made to turn things around. (These improvements also happened to coincide with a rebranding of many of its wines and a deliberate doubling of their prices. Cynical? Me?)

Needless to say, all of the tasting notes I read of these wines smacked of disappointment and wasted potential. No-one went so far as to say that the wines were outright shockers, just that they really weren’t what should have been expected from this terroir in this vintage. I think I’d have preferred it if people had actually hated the wines, at least they’d have had strong feelings one way or the other and that has to be better than blanket ambivalence. As Michelangelo said, the ugly can be beautiful, the pretty never.

Paul Jaboulet Aîné, Hermitage
Le Chevalier De Stérimberg 1999

I have not yet tried the La Chapelle – I think I’m just delaying any possible disappointment – but I tried my first bottle of the Chevalier De Stérimberg about three years ago. The cork was fine, but the wine began to darken on pouring and was quite definitely oxidising before my eyes. I’d opened it for a special occasion and foolishly I didn’t have anything else suitable in reserve. I poured as little of it as I could reasonably get away with and moved on to the red as quickly as possible.

I can’t say that I’ve been in any rush to open another bottle, but the common wisdom is that white Hermitage should be drunk within four years or after ten, and neither of us is getting any younger. A Friday night is a great excuse for most things, so why not give the Stérimberg another chance?

Again, the very long cork was in perfect condition, with no signs of anything untoward. The wine was quite a deep yellow gold, almost apricot coloured, but it did darken a little during the course of dinner. The nose had smokey, honeyed, white and stone fruits and a hot-pebble minerality, but definitely showed signs of oxidation/age.

The palate was dry yet rich and full bodied, with a firm, smokey acidity and minerality. White fruit and floral characters completed the ensemble, but all I could focus on was the oxidation/tiredness of a wine that should have just been hitting its peak.

I'm trying very hard to write more effusively and to enthuse in a way that befits this wine's appellation and vintage, but to be honest it really wasn't all that special. Ten bottles of white Hermitage will be heading off on a crusade to auction rather soon.