Chateau Latour a Pomerol

There is some similarity of Chateau Latour a Pomerol with Petrus, namely both have been under the ownership of Madame Loubat for many years, and now under JP Moueix. The vineyards are scattered throughout the appellation.

The history can be traced to the Chambaud family, vignerons in Pomerol during the 19^th century, who owned many of the vineyards which later became Latour a Pomerol. When the sole heiress of the Chambaud estate married Louis Garitey in 1875, the estate stayed in the ownership of the couple.

Upon Garitey’s death in 1914, it was divided between the three daughters, one being Madame Loubat. Madame Loubat later acquired other properties, including Haut-Canton-Guillot next to Trotanoy, and Clos des Grandes-Vignes next to the church in the village.

These two properties plus the inherited ones formed the majority of the Latour a Pomerol today. The estate remained in the hands of Loubat until her death in 1961, inherited by her niece Lily Lacoste, along with Petrus, thus benefiting from the business relationship between the Loubat-Lacoste and Moueix families.

The Moueix family has been responsible for tending the vines, making and marketing the wines in the following year, but still under Lacoste’s ownership. In 2002, Lily donated the entire property to the charitable Fondation de Foyers de Charite de Chateauneuf de Galaure.

The total vineyards cover 8 hectares, mostly on sandy clay and gravel soil, with sand particularly dominant in the vineyards on the west of the appellation. The vines average 35 years of age, with 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. The fruit is harvested by hand, and fermented in temperature controlled concrete vats.

After malolactic fermentation it goes into barrique of which 50% are new, for 18 months, before bottling with filtration. Total output is about 3000 cases, all of which is the grand vin, without any second wine.

I have recently tasted the 2006 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Appearance

Bright and clear, it has medium intensity ruby color, with garnet rims and legs.

Nose

Clean, with medium intensity aromas showing black fruit of black cherries, plum and blackberry, oak notes of cedar, animal notes of meaty and leather, sweet spice of cloves. The wine is youthful.

Palate

Dry with medium (+) acidity, medium tannin still a bit grippy in texture, the wine has medium alcohol, with medium (+) body and medium intensity flavors of black fruit such as plum and black cherry, oak notes of cedar, sweet spice of nutmeg, herbal notes of black tea. The wine has a medium finish.

Conclusion

Good quality Pomerol with a youthful nose showing reasonable concentration and complexity, the wine has a good structure, with sufficient acidity to balance the fruit and tannin. The palate is with similarly flavors, with also reasonable intensity and complexity, plus a reasonable length on the finish. It is ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 3-5 years.

Wineshark Recipe Card - Curry Sour Cream Potatoes

Ingredients:

• Large potatoes - 5 pcs
• Cooking oil - 1.5 oz
• Salt - 0.5 tbsp
• Sour Cream - 0.5 pack
• Curry powder - 1 tsp
• Mango chutney - 1 tbsp
• Spring onion finely - 1 tbsp
• Foil - 5 pcs

Preparation method:

Wash the potaotes, drip dry, and massage with oil and salt.

Then wrap in foil and put in oven for 1 hr and 15min.

Chop the spring onion to finely.

Mix the sour cream with curry powder and mango chutney.

Once the potatoes are done, hit it couple of times to soften, and cut it open to add the sour cream. Sprinkle the spring onion on top.

The Right Bank

In contrast to the left bank, the Medoc and Graves, the right bank is referred by the French mostly as Libourne, after its ancient capital and Bordeaux’s second center of wine commerce. It used to supply Northern Europe with simple wines from neighboring vineyards of Fronsac, St-Emilion and Pomerol, with Belgium the main market.

Today St-Emilion and Pomerol are the more famous and expensive, but the other appellations are just as lively in modern times. An example is Fronsac and Canon-Fronsac, west of Libourne, which was historically got good reputation.

Although rustic when young, the quality of these appellations has been improving with investment for modernization. The difference for the two is hard to tell, with the limestone slopes along the river denominated as Canon-Fronsac.

Around Pomerol and the village of Neac is the appellation Lalande-de-Pomerol, generally less vivid, but with many under the ownership of grander property the quality is also good, like La Fleur de Bouard which is owned by Chateau Angelus.

Similar phenomenon happens on the easternmost appellations, Cotes de Castillon and Cotes de Francs, with Chateau Puygueraud under the Thienpont family, also in possession of Vieux Chateau Certan and Le Pin.

Chateau d’Aiguilhe is under the same owner as Chateau Canon-la-Gaffeliere in St-Emilion, Chateau Joanin Becot part of another conglomerate and Clos Puy Arnaud is sister property of Troplong Mondot.

There are also the four satellites of St-Emilion, Montagne, Lussac, Puisseguin and St-Georges, all appending the St-Emilion name to their own, with the wines tasted like a slightly rustic cross between St-Emilion and Bergerac to the immediate east.

Most interesting of all, however, is still the St-Emilion and Pomerol appellations where a lot has been invested recently to push its limits of the red Bordeaux.

I have tasted the following wines from the Right Bank (excluding St-Emilion and Pomerol) so far:

Chateau La Vieille Cure

2002

Chateau Valandraud

Chateau Valandraud lies on the very outskirts of St-Emilion, near the hamlet of St-Emilion de Lisse, just 1.5km from the boundary of the appellation. The first vintage started in 1991, with the vineyard purchased by Jean-Luc Thunevin and his wife Murielle in 1989. Jean-Luc is an Algerian, who had no background on wine except when working in the restaurant business, where he got some contacts on wine.

There are two vineyards contributing to the original Valandraud vintages, one being a very small parcel of 0.6 hectare located between Chateau Pavie-Macquin and La Clotte on the eastern periphery of St-Emilion. The second parcel is a little larger at 1.2 hectare, on the sandy plain near Saint Sulpice de Faleyrens, which is surprising as the terroir was not much prized.

With little money the work was hands-on, with Murielle responsible for the vineyard, adopting careful pruning, leaf-plucking by hand, and a green harvest. Jean-Luc was responsible for monitoring the fruit for ripeness, to decide when to pick and make the wine. The name of the property reflects the location of the first plot of vines, val for vallon de Fongaban, whereas andraud was Murielle’s maiden name.

The first vintage 1991 was difficult, and across Bordeaux there were few successes. The Thunevins picked a small crop and transporting the harvest to the garage workshop in the centre of St-Emilion, where pigeage and batonnage were practiced, commonly associated with Burgundy. The grapes are destemmed by hand because the mechanical one was not available due to cost, and pigeage was also done by hand.

The work was adviced from Alain Vauthier, and some new oak barrels were used. The approach was inspired by Le Pin, and only 1280 bottles were made in the first vintage, starting the trend of the new garage wine style. The 1992 vintage was also difficult because of the rain, and Murielle carried out extensive leaf-thinning to improve ventilation and reduce risk of rot.

Green harvesting and selection brought the yield down to just 30 hl/ha, with only 4500 bottles. A second wine was produced called Virginie de Valandraud, named after their daughter. The wine was very good and stood out in the vintage, catching attention with Michel Bettane and Robert Parker, but more famous because of the high price per bottle, which matched the release price of Mouton-Rothschild, Lafite and Margaux.

The interest rocketed especially from US consumers, beginning the garage wine phenomenon. The winemaking operations of Valandraud were born of necessity because of funding and scale. Nowadays many critics are questioning the quality and longevity of the wine so the prices drop a fair bit.

The Thunevins now has slowly moved the chateau away from the garagiste style, to more concerned with the terroir, with the principal acquisition of Chateau Bel-Air-Ouy. That property now metamorphosed into Valandraud, and the property successfully got included in the 2012 classification, to the premier grand cru classe B.

The Thunevins now own 24 hectares, with about 10 hectares contributing to Chateau Valandraud, with the remaining producing wines like Clos Badon, also some white wines. They also own several hectares in Pomerol, Margaux and Lalande de Pomerol. The vineyard here is quite distant from other premier grand cru classe, with the only notable neighbor being Chateau de Pressac.

There are some Sauvignon Blanc planted at high density, producing a white wine that is now on sale. The vines in the original 1991 vineyard no longer contribute to the wine, but only those in the old Chateau Bel-Air-Ouy, with 8500 vines per hectare, double Guyot-pruned, with many processes still by hand.

In late 1990s plastic sheetings were laid between rows of vines to encourage run off of rainwater, but INAO required the wine as a result to be marketed as VDT. Jean-Luc kept the vines separate, and sold the wine as L’Interdit de Valandraud. Now with more money, harvest is still by hand but the fruit is transported and sorted with the aid of a machine.

After cold maceration the fruit is fermented in a mix of wood, cement and stainless steel vessels, with temperature control. Pigeage and remontage are used, and after post-fermentation the wine is run off into barrel of 100% new for malolactic fermentation, with no fining and filtration.

Virginie de Valandraud now is regarded as parallel cuvees, with the true second wine being Le 3 de Valandraud. The wines are blind-tasted to determine the proportion in the final blend, with the rest downgraded to second wine. It is normally dominated by Merlot, with some Cabernet Franc and others. The grand vin will see 18-30 months in oak.

The white is made from Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris and Semillon, with cold maceration and pressing, fermented and allowed to age for 10-12 months, with some new and old barrels. Virigine de Valandraud is handled similarly but the assemblage depends on the vintage, with less new oak used. A generic Bordeaux blend is introduced under the name Bad Boy, plus a Bad Girl which is a Cremant de Bordeaux.

I have recently tasted the 2003 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Appearance

Bright and clear, it is of deep intensity ruby color, with garnet rims and legs.

Nose

Clean, with medium intensity aromas showing black fruit of bramble, dark plum and blackberry, pungent spice of licorice, maturity notes of forest floor, some dried fruit of prune, kernel notes of dark chocolate, oak notes of cedar. The wine is developing.

Palate

Dry with medium acidity, medium (+) tannin of ripe and velvety texture, the wine has medium (+) alcohol but did not feel warming, balancing with medium body and medium (+) intensity flavors of black fruit such as blackberry, dark cherries and plum, kernel notes of cocoa, maturity notes of tobacco, sweet spice of nutmeg. The wine has a long finish.

Conclusion

Very good quality St-Emilion garage wine, with highly complex aromas though not showing overt intensity, a delicate and elegant wine on the nose, but on the palate it is quite different, with good concentration and ripeness jumping out, with equally impressive range of flavors. Despite fairly high on alcohol level, it did not show any warming, complemented by the body and flavors, to give a long finish. It is ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 3-5 years.

Sauternes and Barsac

The local conditions of Sauternes are special, thus enabling the development of the unusual fungus botrytis to make the arguably under-appreciated sweet wine. One key element is the mists that form along the River Ciron on autumn evenings, lasting till dawn.

Only the well-financed chateaux can afford to employ pickers to go over as many as eight or nine times to pick the berries, often lasting from September to Novemeber. Botrytis cinerea, also called noble rot, is formed on Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle during the misty nights, multiplying in the morning heat to attack the skins to brown pulp.

But instead of giving the grapes a moldy flavor, the botrytis draws out the water, leaving the sugar, acids and flavors more concentrated in the juice. The result of the painstaking fermentation of the extremely rich grape must in small barrels impacts the intensity of flavors, a smooth and rich texture, and exceptional ageing potential that no other wine can compete.

However, it means the each berry needs to be picked one by one, with the less financially competent chateaux having to pick the entire crop at once and hope that the botrytis affected grapes are concentrated.

Production volume is also very low with each 100 hectare, in Chateau d’Yquem for example, makes fewer than a thousand bottles, which a comparable first-class Medoc will make five to six times more.

The risk is also high, with the humid weather in October could turn the mould into the noxious fungus known as grey rot, rendering it not possible to make the sweet wine or even any wine at all. The costs are correspondingly high, so it is less profitable to the producer.

With the prices now rising, it remains underpriced especially when compared with the red counterpart. Sauternes is the only commune outside Medoc to be classified in 1855, with Chateau d’Yquem ranked a First Great Growth, a unique ranking for all Bordeaux.

There are eleven other chateaux ranked first growths while another twelve made it to the second growths. There are five communes which could use the appellation Sauternes, including Barsac which is the biggest, and it could be called either Barsac or Sauternes.

The style can vary, with Lafaurie-Peyraguey can taste floral, Suduiraut can be lush and sumptuous, Rieussec is deep-colored and rich. Other top performers include Clos Haut-Peyraguey, de Fargues, Raymond-Lafon, La Tour Blanche. A different style with unoaked treatment is made at Chateau Gilette. In Barsac, Climens, Coutet and Doisy-Daene lead the group with fresher feeling than Sauternes.  

 

 

I have tasted the following wines from Sauternes and Barsac so far:

 

Chateau Caillou Private Cuvee	1996
Chateau Caillou	2005
Chateau d'Arche	2003
Chateau de Malle	2003
Chateau de Rayne-Vigneau	2001
Chateau Filhot	2005
Chateau Guiraud	1989
Chateau Lamothe-Guignard	2005
Chateau Lamothe-Guignard	2005
Chateau La Tour Blanche	1998
Chateau Rabaud-Promis	1999
Chateau Raymond-Lafon	2005
Chateau Romer	2007
Chateau Romer du Hayot	2005
Chateau Suau	2001
Chateau Climens	2005
Chateau Nairac	1996

Chateau Climens

Chateau Climens has a distinctive appearance, with the single-level villa flanked by rectangular towers on the two sides, each of those topped by a slate pyramid for a roof. It has a lengthy history, but viticulture did not start until the 17^th century. In the early days it was owned by the Roborel family, with Jacques Roborel first purchased land within the commune of Barsac.

When his son Guirault Roborel purchased the lieu-dit known as Climens Oli in 1547 the story of Chateau Climens really started. The name probably was originated from the poor quality of the soil, which was expressed as climens in an ancient local dialect.

In those days the chateau produced both red and white wines, as part of the traditional Graves style, in the 27 hectares of vineyards up to the latter of the 18^th century, surviving the Revolution. It was soon sold however following the death of Jean-Baptiste Roborel in 1800.

Jean Binaud was the new owner, and contributed to the construction of the chateau as described, with the towers actually added afterwards, apparent from the different style. In 1835 it was sold to the Lacoste family, who replanted the vines and got the estate classified as a premier cru in the 1855 classification.

Eloi Lacoste, a well-known negociant and mayor of Barsac from 1844 to 1860, sold the estate to Alfred Ribet in 1871, during which the property was failing, with only a portion of the vineyards was in production. The arrival of phylloxera made it worse and in 1885 Ribet sold the estate to the Gounouilhou family.

Henri Gounouilhou was a publisher of a local newspaper, who got a connection at Doisy-Dubroca through marriage to Marguerite Dubroca, and he decided to purchase Chateau Climens in 1885. Henri and his descendants worked hard to fight phylloxera and oidium, replanting the vineyards and restoring the Semillon dominance.

He also repaired and refurbished the chateau, bringing a golden age to Climens, with the property growing in size and reputation, rivaling d’Yquem in some vintages on quality and price. Henri died in 1913, passing the estate to his widow and later his son Marcel, but ultimately it was sold to Lucien Lurton.

Lucien was head of the Lurton family who already owned Brane-Cantenac and Durfort-Vivens, in 1971, and he acquired both Climens and Doisy-Dubroca at about the same time, when Sauternes were neglected by drinkers for red Bordeaux. Since 1992 the estate has been under Lucien’s daughter Berenice, who took over the property aged just 22 years.

Under her rein some significant changes were made, including better tracking of fruit from plot to plot, facilitating understanding of vineyard and selection in future. A sorting table was also introduced at harvest time. She also traveled worldwide to show her wines, and in 2008 she was elevated to the position of president of Les Grands Crus Classes de Sauternes & Barsac in 2013.

Chateau Climens sits on the highest point of the Barsac appellation, although it is only 20 metres above sea level, with 29 hectares of one continuous vineyard surrounding the chateau, but divided into 20 different parcels. The soil is the typical clay over ferruginous sand in Barsac, sitting on deeper limestone.

Unusually the estate is entirely devoted to Semillon, with a planting density of 6600 vines per hectare, at average 35 years of age. There is a program of actively replanting vines, with biodynamic practices and the estate was certified in 2011. The harvest is brought in by a number of tries, normal for the region, with the picking berry by berry.

The yield is low, which can drop to single digits for Climens and some vintages have as low as 9 hl/ha. The grand vin is Chateau Climens, which is typically just harvested at 7 hl/ha, showing the selection and concentration of the must. The second wine is Cypres de Climens, with typical yield at 13 hl/ha.

The fruit is pressed and fermented in barrel without addition of yeast, with each tri and plot vinified separately under temperature control, arrested by chilling. The process is overseen by Frederic Nivelle, and the wine is aged in barrels about one-third new, for up to 22 months.

The wine will undergo selection and blending throughout the process, to determine which plot to go to for the grand and second wine, with the rejected sold off in bulk. In bad years all the wine will be sold off without making any grand and second wine, like in 1984, 1987, 1992 and 1993. The bottling is done without filtration, with typical production of 3000 cases per annum, two-third being grand vin.

I have recently tasted the 2005 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Appearance

Bright and clear, it is of deep intensity gold color, with long legs.

Nose

Clean, with pronounced intensity aromas of stone fruit of apricot, maturity notes of honey, oak notes of butterscotch and caramel, dried fruit of raisin, citrus fruit of orange marmalade and lemon, sweet spice of cloves. The wine is developing.

Palate

Sweet with medium (+) acidity, the wine has medium alcohol and full body, with pronounced intensity flavors of citrus fruit of orange peel, stone fruit of apricot, oak notes of butterscotch, maturity notes of honey, sweet spice of cloves. The wine has a medium (+) finish.

Conclusion

Very good quality Barsac with an extremely intense nose showing highly complex characters, the wine is sweet but balanced well with the acidity, making it refreshing and not cloying at all. The palate is equally impressive with good concentration and complex, at the same time having a very long finish. A good indication of how well a dessert wine can be. It is ready to drink now though can further develop for another 8-10 years.

Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte

Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte has a history dating back as long ago as 1365, when the Bosq family had undertaken viticulture there. In the 16^th century there were records proving the existence of the domaine, but it was only two centuries later that the first Smith came to the scene, with George Smith, a Scottish merchant, purchasing the estate.

The name ‘haut lafitte’ means high hillock and refers to its topography. George Smith was also responsible for developing the estate, constructing a manor house, maintaining active viticulture and exporting the wine to England.

By 1842 the estate came to French ownership, with Lodi Duffour-Dubergier, the one-time mayor of Bordeaux and the sole signatory of the 1855 classification of the Medoc, inherited it from his mother.The family further built the reputation of the property, selling the wine worldwide, carried by Louis Eschenauer.

In 1958 the Eschenauer company purchased the estate, constructing the underground cellar but the quality of the wine was still fairly lackluster. Then the current owner, Daniel Cathiard and his wife Florence, took over in 1990, and bringing the quality of the wine to an unprecedented level.

The Cathiards invested heavily in the estate, restoring buildings, replacing vats and constructing a new cellar. The estate has since augmented by Les Sources de Caudalie, a complex of restaurants, a hotel and a health spa. An interesting feature is the addition of an entrance to the cellar underneath, opening from the tasting room floor.

Recently there is a purchase of 11.6 hectares from the neighboring Chateau Le Thil in 2012, which was once owned by Georges Duffour de Raymond, a nephew of Lodi Duffour Dubergier. The area planted to vines now is approximately 78 hectares, with 67 hectares of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot.

The remaining 11 hectares are planted with white varieties, of 90% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Sauvignon Gris and 5% Semillon. The average vine age is 38 years in red and 40 years in white, with density of 7500 and 10000 vines per hectare. The soils are typical of the region, mainly Gunzian gravel.

The vineyard management has moved away from mechanical and chemical influences, with herbicides banned in 1992, and overall it is working towards organic. The fruit is harvested by hand, with the yield reduced to 30 hl/ha for both red and white.

The grapes are initially sorted upon picking, then at the winery after destemming, with vibrating table installed and in 2009 the optical sorting technology is introduced. The white grapes are pressed using new equipment installed in 2008, then cooled during settling, with the red going straight to alcoholic fermentation, with up to 32 days of maceration.

The white is fermented in 13 small stainless steel vats while the red in 80 hl tronconic oak vats, with the cap submerged three times per day plus pumping over. It is under the supervision of Fabien Teitgen and Yann Laudeho, consulted by Michel Rolland and Stephane Derenoncourt.

Both wines then undergo malolactic fermentation in oak, followed by elevage, with the red up to 18 months in 60% new barrels, the white 12 months in 50% new oak with batonnage. All the barrels are made by the on-site cooper Jean-Luc Itey. The wines do not go through any fining or filtering.

The grand vin is Chateau Smith Haut-Lafitte, with the red producing typically 8300 cases and white 2500 cases. The second wines, a red, a white as well as a rose, go under the name of Les Petit Hauts de Smith, around 5500 cases per annum. Starting 2009 the second label is called Le Petit Haut Lafitte.

I have recently tasted the 2007 and 2008 vintage for the red, and the 2007 vintage for the right. Please see if you have some comments:

Appearance

Bright and clear, it is of deep intensity ruby color, with thin garnet rims and legs.

Nose

Clean, with medium (+) intensity aromas of black fruit such as blackcurrant and blackberry, kernel notes of chocolate, pungent spice of licorice, oak notes of cedar, maturity notes of savory and tobacco. The wine is developing.

Palate

Dry with medium acidity, the wine has medium (+) tannin, a bit bitter and silky in texture. Medium in alcohol, it has medium (+) body with medium intensity flavors of black fruit such as blackberry and cassis, oak notes of cedar, pungent spice of licorice, maturity notes of cigar box. The wine has a medium finish.

Conclusion

Good quality Pessac-Leognan with a nose that shows good concentration after opening for two hours, with plenty of different aromas showing good complexity, the wine is elegant with a good structure, a bit bitter on the tannin which probably can be due to the vintage. The palate has nevertheless reasonable intensity and complexity, and finishing with a good length. The wine is ready to drink now but can benefit from further ageing of another 2-3 years.

Appearance

Bright and clear, the wine is of deep intensity ruby color, with legs.

Nose

Clean, with medium intensity aromas of black fruit such as blackberry and ripe cassis, oak notes of cedar, kernel notes of chocolate, maturity notes of savory, pungent spice of licorice, sweet spice of cloves. The wine is developing.

Palate

Dry with medium acidity, the wine has medium (+) tannin, ripe and silky in texture. Medium in alcohol, it has full body with medium intensity flavors of black fruit such as blackberry and blackcurrant, oak notes of cedar, kernel notes of cocoa, pungent spice of licorice. The wine has a medium finish.

Conclusion

Good quality Pessac-Leognan with reasonable concentration on the nose, showing good complexity, the wine is of elegance, yet demonstrating the structure which is well-delineated. The tannin is ripe and smooth even at the young age, with fair intensity and a reasonable length. Overall the wine is a bit too young to drink now, and need to further age for another 2-3 years.

Appearance

Bright and clear, it is of medium intensity gold color, with long legs.

Nose

Clean, with medium (+) intensity aromas showing green fruit of pear, citrus fruit of lemon peel and grapefruit, mineral notes of wax, stone fruit of peach, oak notes of toast, kernel notes of pine nuts, maturity notes of cereal. The wine is developing.

Palate

Dry with medium (+) acidity, the wine has medium (+) alcohol and full body, with medium (+) intensity flavors of citrus fruit such as lemon peel, green fruit of grapefruit and lemon peel, stone fruit of peach, oak notes of toast, kernel nuts of almond. The wine has a long finish.

Conclusion

Very good quality Pessac-Leognan white with a good intense nose, ample of different characters showing high complexity, the wine is elegant and lively, with vibrant acidity balancing well with the full body. The palate has equally concentrated flavors, also showing the complexity and a very long finish. It is ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 4-6 years.