Wine ChroniclesBordeaux 2017
Posted on April 8, 2018
The “multiple” vintage
8 April 2017
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com
“The only candle I lit was the one at church,” quipped Guillaume Thienpont of Vieux Château Certan, where the terrible frost of late April that struck many other estates in Bordeaux did not reach his estate. Some estates used large candles (or bougies) to raise temperatures. Special windmills were used to bring down hotter air onto the surface (useful for Spring frost, but absurd for Winter frost, because there is only cold air). Anyway, we get it: frost was an issue in 2017. But not everywhere. Thienpoint thus had one massive worry off his mind, and 2017 basically completed a fine trio of vintages starting with 2015. I would make it a quattro because the Vieux Château Certan 2014 is excellent, and may better the 2015 for lovers of freshness and elegance.
Indeed, as some writers have already stressed, some with excellent humor, like Yves Beck, 2017 “does not exist,” as it is several vintages in one. For those who had to deal with frost – and deal with it efficiently – that not only reduced their yields, but also increased their work load.
Not too far away at Château Evangile, director Jean Pascal Vazart calls 2017 “the best vintage ending in 7 since the 1947.” But it was not free and easy for him and his team: in May and to mid June – 45 days of meticulous work – they marked vines with paint to differentiate even parts of single vines damaged from the frost and parts which were not, so as to avoid harvesting under-ripe, second generation grapes.
At Château Palmer across in the Médoc, Thomas Duroux and his team also had to deal with some frost damaged vines (not as many as at Evangile), but they opted for green harvesting those that were not as quickly ripening so as to avoid putting them into the wine.
According to Vazart, labeling with paint was essential because harvesters could not taste every single grape to detect the difference: this was meticulous work – and it paid off. How is Evangile in 2017? Very silky, with opulent ripe red and dark fruit, and touches of fine dark cocoa powder. The alcohol? 14.6%.
Now some may say: “Hold on a second; is 2017 not a ‘classical vintage’ of lower alcohols?” Well, hold on a second. Or a minute or an hour.
Is Bordeaux “the new Burgundy”?
Posted on March 31, 2018
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com
31 March 2018
What in the heck prompted this title? Believe it or not, a dear friend who has been on allocation lists for the last 15 years or so of some of the top Burgundy producers.
When I went to Burgundy earlier this month for a tasting of Clos de Vougeot wines (notes coming soon), I also visited domaines with decent price/quality ratios to get some Burgundy wine. Producers like Sylvain Pataille or Domaine Bart come to mind as Marsannay is a great choice for getting more bang for your Burgundy Pinot Noir buck in this day and age of ever higher (some would say “crazy”) pricing for Burgundy wines.
I also went to Domaine de Varoilles for a few bottles of Gevrey-Chambertin. The producer is solid, and I liked some of the 2015s. I actually wanted to purchase the 2016s, as they seemed better, when tasted at the Grands Jours de Bourgogne, also earlier this month, but they had not yet been bottled. Of course prices have gone up, as the appellation is more famous to consumers than Marsannay: it includes premiers and grands crus, as well. A premier cru purchased at this domain costs about $60 today but not too long ago, it was less. Price differences here however are not like they have been at, say, Clos des Lambrays, especially since it was purchased by LVMH. I can no longer afford it. That goes for many other domains in this great wine region.
Reasonable pricing, at least for today – and for Gevrey
Domaine de Varoilles – and others – have been more “fair minded” in pricing, considering (a) recent below average harvests, with less wine and (2) increasing worldwide demand for Burgundy. Domaine de Varoilles actually lowered prices for their 2016 offerings over 2015: “Because we made more wine,” said a friend of the domain, who was lending the owners a hand, when I purchased a few bottles.
But the image of Burgundy is changing.
Which brings us back to my friend, the long time Burgundy buyer. “In Bordeaux, the image has been of very well dressed people buying expensive wine, but not knowing so much about it; in Burgundy, people are less well dressed, but more in tune to terroir and wine,” he quipped.
Of course this description is a simplification that does not reflect the many serious wine fans of Bordeaux, who also may not bother to dress all that well. And, as it turns out, Burgundy is seeing an increasing number of nouveau riche (well heeled, well dressed and full of cash) buying grands crus from Burgundy as a status symbol or “luxury product” (Indeed, that last term has been so overused to justify ridiculous pricing for top tier Bordeaux, that has become a de facto synonym for such Bordeaux). But this has been happening in Burgundy more recently, my friend pointed out. My friend recalled a recent visit to a famous domain where one buyer asked if the red wine had any Pinot Noir in it. “I never saw that before,” he said. Read More
Tasting 2017 Bordeaux barrel samples: Coming soon!
Posted on March 28, 2018
Press Release from the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux
28 March 2018
En Primeur Week, organised by the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux – an intense time for wine producers and Bordeaux négociants – will be presenting the 2017 vintage to the international wine trade from Monday the 9 to Thursday the 12 of April 2018.
Yours truly will be there one week before to taste wines from other organizations and non members, but at two weeks from this important event, some 5,000 professionals and journalists from 60 different countries (1. China, 2. UK, 3. Switzerland, 4. Germany, 5. United States, among many others) already have confirmed their participation in this essential event for Bordeaux wine.
The schedule for tastings restricted to professionals in the trade:
Monday, 9 of April: 115 crus representing all appellations will be tasted at H14 in the heart of the city of Bordeaux (173 Quai des Chartrons), during a first day of tasting that has already been booked by 1,000 professionals.
From Tuesday the 10 to Thursday the 12 of April: Tastings for each appellation are organized at the following châteaux:
– Ch. Malartic-Lagravière
– Ch. La Couspaude
– Ch. Gazin
– Ch. Citran
– Ch. Siran
– Ch. Beychevelle
– Ch. Lafon-Rochet
– Ch. La Lagune
Monday, 9th of April
– Tastings of crus from Sauternes and Barsac at Château Coutet and Château de Rayne Vigneau, presentation of the new vintage by the Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences at Château Guiraud and dinner with Union des Grands Crus members and journalists at Château Kirwan
From Tuesday the 10th to Thursday the 12th of April: Tastings by appellation restricted to 100 journalists at H14.
About the UGCB
The Union des Grand Crus brings together 134 estates in prestigious Bordeaux appellations. Benefiting from the diversity of its members as well as its shared values, the Union and its members pursue their primary mission in conjunction with distributors, brokers, and the Bordeaux trade: to meet nearly 50,000 professionals and wine enthusiasts a year in order to present their recent vintages. From Tokyo to Montreal, by way of New York, Shanghai, London, and Paris, the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux organises nearly 80 events a year in 65 cities around the world.
Further information? Consult their webpage: www.ugcb.net
Eating well in Alsace
Posted on March 24, 2018
Le Buerehiesel in Strasbourg (restaurant review)
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com
24 March 2018
OK so it cost me more than €120 … but lunch here was fabulous.
I had enjoyed lunch here a few years back with a work colleague and it was a positive experience for about the same price. But this time, it was even better.
Since he took over the restaurant from his father Antoine, son Eric Westermann has slowly increased his imprint. “His cuisine is getter finer,” remarked a longtime client of the restaurant, who knew Antoine very well and with whom I enjoyed the lunch.
The cuisine here – in the gorgeous setting of the Orangerie Park near the European institutions of Strasbourg – combines Alsatian tradition and originality, perpetuating the legendary reputation of the establishment, which at one point enjoyed three Michelin stars. It now has one.
In any case, the lunch we enjoyed on a freezing late March day this year could have been less expensive, had my friend and I not ordered a bottle of wine, plus two glasses of white port for the dessert.
But who would we have been kidding? We both love wine and food, so we went for the Jean Francois Ganevat Cuvée Florine Sous La Roche Chardonnay Côtes du Jura 2010. This was my first experience with this Chardonnay, which was not oxidative but rather reductive in nature (for a primer on these terms, wine author Jane Anson published this informative article several years ago). Read More
Bordeaux 2015 from bottle: Conclusions
Posted on March 20, 2018
Very good to great
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com
20 March 2018
Dear readers, pretty much all my notes on Bordeaux 2015 from bottle – many wines assessed since late November last year – are online. Including, finally, some splendid wines from Sauternes and Barsac.
For a quick look at each section, here the links to click:
Pomerol (recently updated) – Saint Emilion – Grand Cercle – Cru Bourgeois – Margaux – Saint Julien – Pauillac – Saint Estephe – Graves/Pessac-Léognan – Fronsac Focus (I mean, do you want QPR, here is your QPR!) – Sauternes/Barsac
Some are hyping the vintage as the next best thing since sliced bread, and retailers love using big scores to sell wine. Nothing wrong with that. I’m “guilty” too, for hyping the vintage, but I try to be realistic, so you do not get that many inflated numbers from me.
Having said this, 2015 is a very good to great vintage.
It depends on where you are, which appellation, and which producer, to find greatness. Of course some of the most expensive wines are great (Petrus, Lafleur, Margaux among others) but not all, so you should not just choose wines by (lofty) price.
Further comparisons with 2014
Some like to say that 2015 is the best since 2010. In many ways, sure. But it ain’t that simple. Much truth comes from longtime Bordeaux critics, like Jean-Marc Quarin, who says that 2014 can be comparable to 2015. His conclusion on 2015? Here en français:
La poursuite de mes dégustations révèle que certains 2015 ne dépassent pas les 2014. Or, les 2014 sont moins chers ! C’est le cas dans le Médoc entre Saint-Julien et Saint- Estèphe. Plus au sud, en descendant vers Margaux et le haut-médoc, il a moins plu en septembre et la situation varie. Je savais les Saint Estèphe 2015 moins réussis que les 2014 . Eh bien ! à Pauillac et St Julien certains 2014 font jeu égal avec les 2015…
Basic translation:
The continuation of my tastings reveals that some 2015s do not exceed the 2014s. Furthermore, the 2014s are less expensive! This is the case in the Médoc between Saint-Julien and Saint-Estèphe. Further south, down to Margaux and Haut-Médoc, it was less rainy in September and the situation varies. I knew that the Saint Estèphe 2015s are less successful than the 2014s. In fact, in Pauillac and St Julien, some 2014s are equal to the 2015s … Read More
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