Chateau Haut-Batailley

Chateau Haut-Batailley is the smaller sibling of the neighboring Batailley, having split from the larger estate in 1942, with the location of the greater Batailley used to be one of the siege in the Hundred Years’ War. A vineyard was developed there by the end of the 18^th century, which gave rise to the two estates today.

At that time it was under the ownership of the Saint-Martin family. With two of the three siblings in the clergy, the sisters decided to sell the estate to Jean Guillaume Pecholier in 1791. Pecholier later passed this estate to his son Amiral de Bedout, who then sold by auction after his death, to Daniel and Barton Guestier, who purchased other lands nearby.

The brothers also renovated the chateau and improved the winemaking facilities, which brought the estate a fifth growth status in the 1855 classification. However, the family decided to sell the estate in 1866, to a Parisian banker named Constant Halphen. By then the vineyards had reached 55 hectares in total, tended by Francois and Marcel Borie.

The Borie brothers purchased the estate upon Halphen’s death in 1932, and in 1942 it was divided into Batailley and Haut-Batailley, with the larger part came to Marcel and retaining the original name of Batailley. Francois kept the smaller part to form Haut-Batailley.

Francois also purchased Ducru-Beaucaillou in that year, as well as some vines in Duhart-Milon in 1951. In 1953 the estate was passed to his daughter Francoise de Brest-Borie, but the management of the estate was still left to Jean-Eugene, Francois’ son who inherited Ducru.

The vineyards now cover 22 hectares, with gravelly soil. Planted with 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, the average age is about 35 years. Manually harvested, the fruit is destemmed and fermented in stainless steel tanks with temperature control, before going to oak for up to 20 months.

Up to 40% new oak is used each year, and a light filtration is carried out before bottling. The grand vin is Chateau Haut-Batailley, with 10000 cases per annum, and the second wine is Tour d’Aspic, with 1700 cases. It is regarded by many as a great value for money buy, generally being more feminine than the classic Pauillac.

I have recently tasted the 2004 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Good quality Pauillac with medium ruby color, a good intense nose showing good complexity of blackcurrant and blackberry, savory, sweet tobacco and pencil shavings, liquorice, rubber, smoke, coffee. A good acidity providing the structure, though the tannin is a bit rough and grippy, the palat...e is in reasonable concentration with flavors of blackcurrant and blackberry, toast and cedar, liquorice, chocolate, tobacco. Having a reasonable finish, it is ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 5-7 years.

Wineshark Recipe - 70. Mexican Baked Spiced Fish

Ingredients:

• Foil - 2 sheets
• Red bell pepper finely - 1 pc
• Green bell pepper finely - 1 pc
• Coriander finely - 2 tbsp
• Ground cumin - 1 tbsp
• Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
• Garlic finely - 1 tsp
• Salt - 1 tsp
• White vinegar - 1 tbsp
• Butter - 2 tbsp
• Lemon rind - 1 pc
• Lemon juice - 1 pc
• Black pepper finely - 1/2 tsp
• Sliced potatoes - 1 lb
• Golden thread - 2 tails

First put the bell pepper, coriander, cumin and other seasonings in a bowl and mix well.

After cleaning the golden thread, slice the two halves of the fish so to allow the flavors to seep inside.

Heat the pan and then pan-fry the golden thread till it turns golden on both sides.

Put a piece of foil on table, then add the potatoes, fish, and finally the mixed seasonings.

Cover it up and put in pre-heated oven for 20 min, with a temperature of 180 degC.

Wineshark Recipe - 69. Mexican Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

• Vegetable oil - 2 oz
• Diced onion - 8 oz
• Sliced zucchini - 8 oz
• Sliced carrot - 6 oz
• Diced green pepper - 4 oz
• Diced skinned tomato - 4 oz
• Chicken stock - 2 lb
• Tomato ketchup - 4 oz
• Salt - 1 tsp
• White pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
• Shredded cheddar cheese - 4 oz

First sauteed the onion till fragrant, then add the other ingredients to continue sauteed. Add chicken stock and ketchup to cook for another 20 min.

Add seasonings, then sparkle with cheddar cheese.

Chateau Grand-Puy Ducasse

Chateau Grand-Puy Ducasse is originated from a larger estate along with Grand-Puy-Lacoste. Grand Puy is referred to the hills a few kilometres inland of the town of Pauillac. That bigger estate was once belonged to a Monsieur de Guiraud, who got two daughters and one of them was married to a gentleman called Dejean.

Dejean was rich and acquired other estates including Lynch-Bages. It was only in 1750 when Dejean passed part of the vineyards to a creditor named Pierre Ducasse, that Grand-Puy Ducasse was ‘founded’. The remaining portion of the estate was left in the hands of the Dejean family and remained so till today, becoming Grand-Puy-Lacoste.

Pierre’s son inherited the estate in 1797, calling the property Ducasse-Grand-Puy-Artigues-Arnaud, by which it already covered 60 hectares. There are three plots, in the north it lies close to the Mouton and Lafite vineyards, then there is the plot around the Grand-Puy, with the remaining to the south close to the Batailley estates.

It was ranked fifth growth in the 1855 classification, and most people ranked Grand-Puy-Lacoste ahead of Ducasse, even up till now.

Although Pierre was more the official founder of the chateau, the house where the current chateau is located was acquired by Arnaud Ducasse in the middle of the 17^th century. It was rebuilt in the 19-century estate, which is close to the quay in Pauillac, not among the vines, the region’s sole truly urban chateau.

The wines were not regarded highly in the decade when phylloxera, oidium, war and depression hurting the industry. By the opening of the 20^th century the estate was owned by the Deroy de Suduiraut family, a brand of the famous family in Sauternes. Later it was acquired by Mestrezat, and incorporated into the Cordier-Mestrezat firm of negociants.

The Merlaut family then purchased a substantial share of Mestrezat, and afterwards there was also investment coming from the French bank Credit Agricole. Now the vineyards cover 40 hectares, much more than the original 10 hectares under the direction of Ducasse.

With deep gravel soil over limestone bedrock, it is planted with 62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Merlot, with average vine age over 30 years. The cellar and chai were renovated in recent years, with stainless steel vats.

The grapes are harvested by hand, fermented in stainless steel, and macerated up to three weeks, with pumping over twice every day. The wine is then aged in oak with up to 40% new each vintage, for up to 18 months. The grand vin has 18000 cases per annum, and there are two second labels, Chateau Artigues-Arnaud and Prelude a Grand-Puy Ducasse of about 2000 cases.

I have recently tasted the 2003 and 2006 vintage. Below are my tasting notes:

2003
Very good quality Pauillac with medium ruby color, an intense nose showing good complexity, with blackcurrant, plum, cigar box, graphite, smoke and cedar, nutmeg, violet. Fairly high in acidity but in good balance, the tannin is ripe though a bit dried-out, the wine is quite full-bodied and with reasonable concentration, showing blackcurrant, cigar box, cinnamon, plum and violet. Reasonable in finish, if only the length can be longer it would be a much-more all-round wine. Ready to drink now and can benefit from further ageing of another 3-5 years.

2006
Good quality Pauillac with medium ruby color, the nose is fairly intense, with reasonable complexity showing black cherries, cranberry, eucalyptus, violet, chocolate, liquorice, toast. Rather youthful. Medium in acidity, the tannin is ripe and velvety, the wine is fairly full-bodied with reasonable concentration of black cherries and blackberry, cream, cinnamon and chocolate. Rather disappointing with a fairly short finish, the herbal note is a bit too dominating. Ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 3-5 years.

Chateau L'Evangile

Chateau L’Evangile is founded by the L’Eglise family, with the first appearance in the land registry in 1741 under Fazilleau. It was later renamed to L’Evangile, at the turn of the 19^th century, when it was acquired by Isambert, a lawyer in the region.

In 1862 it was sold to Paul Chaperon, and upon his death, his daughter brought the estate to her husband, the Ducasse family, who continued to own the property until 1990. Paul had made the wine famous, which by 1868 was regarded as an upper Pomerol first growth.

The Ducasse family continued to run the estate until early 1960s, but the property had been in decline, particularly after the vineyard was damaged by the frost in 1956. Louis Ducasse made considerable effort to restore the fame, with his widow Simone Ducasse taking over in 1982.

In 1990, Domaine Barons de Rothschild acquired 70% of the estate, and started with a more discriminating selection of the finest lots, at the same time creating a second wine – Blason de L’Evangile.

The team from Lafite also enhanced the vines’ health through restoration and renewal of the vines. In 2003/2004 the tank room and chai was completely renovated, starting to produce wines which showed majestic richness and compelling characters. In 2000 the Rothschild family, with Albert Frere, acquired full ownership.

Surrounded by famous vineyards like La Conseillante, Vieux Chateau Certan and Petrus in the north, and Cheval Blanc in the south, the estate is situated on deep gravelly soil mixed with both clay and sand. Total vineyard area is 14 ha, planted with 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc. Average vine age is 35 years.

Manually harvested with strict selection in vineyard, the vinification process took place in small to moderate sized cement and stainless steel vats. The wine will spends 18-20 months in new oak barrels, with annual production around 5000 cases.

 

I have recently tasted the 1996 vintage and below is my tasting note:

 

Good quality Pomerol with deep ruby color and a garnet rim, the nose is fairly intense, with good complexity of blackberry, black cherries, prune, liquorice, black tea, cocoa, forest floor and truffle. Medium in acidity, the tannin is ripe and silky, with medium body and showing reasonable concentration of blackberry and black cherries, raisin, cinnamon and cedar. However, the palate is not as complex as the nose and less interesting. Despite the age there is still ample freshness, with a reasonable finish. It is ready to drink now but not intend for further ageing.

Chateau Pavie-Macquin

Chateau Pavie-Macquin is one of the three Pavie vineyards in St-Emilion, the others being Pavie and Pavie-Decesse. All three were once part of the holdings of Ferdinand Bouffard, a Bordeaux negociant in the 19^th century. Most of Bouffard’s properties formed the current 40 ha Chateau Pavie, but two were kept quite distinct, with the Pigasse vineyards forming Pavie-Decesse and Chapus-Pavie vineyards becoming the basis of Pavie-Macquin.

The vineyards were acquired by the owner of Chateau La Serre, Albert Macquin, giving his name to formally create Pavie-Macquin. Albert was a pioneer in the battle against phylloxera, favoring the grafting of French vines onto American rootstocks, successfully protecting the St-Emilion and other right bank properties from total devastation.

There are 15 ha at Pavie-Macquin, lying on limestone with clay soils. It is planted with 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, averaging 40 years of age. The estate has been practicing biodynamics. It was at Pavie-Macquin that the famous Stephane Derenoncourt made his name, with the 1993 vintage attracting many attentions.

The estate includes an ancient farmhouse with new cellar, and each tank in the cellar bears a woman’s name. After fermentation the wine will spend up to 20 months in oak, of which 80% are new for each vintage. A second wine called Les Chenes de Macquin is produced, with annual production around 6400 cases.

Today the estate is owned by the Corre family, who contracted Nicolas Thienpont to manage the property. Under Nicolas and Stephane’s guidance the quality improved significantly, with the estate promoted to Premier Grand Cru Classe in 2006.

On a side note, the label shows two oak leaves and a rope, and the holm oak is in fact the landmark and the tree had used to hang people underneath.

I have recently tasted the 2002 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Good quality St-Emilion with a deep ruby color, the nose is reasonably intense with fairly good complexity, showing aromas of blackcurrant and black cherries, liquorice, cedar, blackcurrant leaf, game and chocolate. Medium in acidity, the tannin is ripe and clay-textured, of fairly full-bodied and having reasonable concentration of blackberry and black cherries, nutmeg and cedar flavors. The wine has a reasonable finish, in balance, though the flavors are relatively simple. It is ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 2-3 years.

Chateau Monbousquet

Dated back to 1540, the property was belonged to Francois de Lescours. Then owned by Henri de Geres from 1682, and inherited by Jean de Geres in 1750, Chateau Moubousquet was later succeeded by Jean-Jacques de Geres, and subsequently by his daughter Jeanne, who wed Francois de Carles.

In 1779 General de Carles built the main residence, and he later married Marie-Rosalie Vacher, who ceded the estate to her sister-in-law Marie Gabrielle Desaigues. Purchased in 1835 by Pierre Saujon, it was then sold to the Lascombe family in 1855.

Under Comte de Vassal-Montviel, who expanded the vineyard to the current size, in 1877 the estate was sold to Bellanger, but the quality started to deteriorate. Starting from 1945 Daniel Querre rebuilt the estate, continued by his heirs till 1992. But it was Chantal and Gerard Perse who purchased the estate in 1993. They also owned Pavie and Pavie Decesse.

A lot of new investment was made by the Perse family and they also planted white vines. With the improvement in quality, the estate obtained the GCC status in 2006. Located about 500 yards from the south hill of St-Emilion, it has 33 ha of vineyard.  The old vathouse was demolished and built anew, along with a new barrel cellar.

Consulted by Michel Rolland, this estate is sitting on a vein of gravelly soil among the flat sands, with the deep gravel to the south and sandy-clay to the north. A blend of 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, there is a second wine called Angelique de Monbousquet.

I have recently tasted the 2002 vintage, and below is my tasting note:

Good quality St-Emilion with medium ruby color, the wine has reasonably intense, developing nose of fairly good complexity, showing aromas of blackberry and blackcurrant, plum, liquorice, earth, cocoa, toast, forest floor and soy sauce. Fairly high on acidity, the tannin is a bit dusty with grippy texture. A fairly full-bodied wine, it has reasonable concentration on the palate, showing flavors of blackberry and blackcurrant, cloves, meaty and cocoa. It has a fairly long finish and of good balance. Ready to drink now, it can benefit from further ageing of another 2-3 years.

Chateau Bellefont-Belcier

Chateau Bellefont-Belcier is located on the south hill of St-Emilion, between Pavie and Larcis Ducasse. The name Bellefont means ‘beautiful fountains’, and refers to a cluster of freshwater springs nearby. Belcier stands for a powerful family of Bordelais nobility.

At the end of 18^th century, Count Louis Francois Belcier, who was secretary to King Louis XVI, created an estate as a stopover for the king, but the project was stopped because of the French Revolution. Later the estate was sold for many times, and in 1889 passed to the hands of the Faures, a family of Bordeaux wine traders. Pierre Faure built the famous and unique circular vathouse under an umbrella-shaped framework, reputedly designed by Gustave Eiffel.

Later the estate was sold to the Labusquiere family, and in 1994 Jacques Berrebi and Alain Laguillaumie acquired and renovated the buildings, with Dominique Hebard joining them in 2004.

Totaling 13 ha, with limestone-clay soils, the vines are averaging 30 years of age, planted with 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines are matured in new oak casks for 18-24 months before bottling.

 

I have recently tasted the 2001 vintage and below is my tasting note:

 

Acceptable quality St-Emilion with medium ruby color, a reasonable nose though without much complexity, showing blackberry, plum, liquorice, wet leaves and coffee. Quite high in acidity, the tannin is a bit astringent with grippy texture. The wine is fairly full-bodied, with reasonably intens...e palate of blackberry, plum, smoke and liquorice. With a reasonable finish, it should be consumed now and not intend for further ageing.

Chasselas

An old variety, Chasselas is Switzerland’s favorite grape variety, but also widely planted throughout the world, with many variations. In Switzerland it reflects the terroir, with flowery and fair acidity at granite soil, fruity and honeyed at chalk, more weighty and characters at clay. In Dezaley and Vaud it is more mineral.

It is the symbol of Swiss white wine, the most widely planted white variety, with most planted in Vaud, representing 62% of production there and distributed in 6 main regions: Vully, Bonvillars, Cotes-de-l’Orbe, La Cote, Lavaux, and Chablais. Some of the villages and appellations have acquired a local reputation of grand cru, like Dezaley, Epesses. Second most important canton is Valais, giving more powerful, aromatic, sunny Chasselas called Fendant.

Light weight, it is neutral wine, with more acidity in Switzerland than elsewhere. It used to be known more often as Fendant, and only by beginning of 20^th century started using the name Chasselas, with the village name added. In Germany it is known as Gutedel, mostly grown in Baden, with flavors of almond and hay, minerality. In Austria it is more often known as Walscher and Moster.

Its name is derived from the village of Chasselas near Macon in Burgundy, and in France it has been replaced, after phylloxera, to produce table wines for Paris. In Loire the variety is used to make wines denoted as Pouilly-sur-Loire, to avoid confusion with the Sauvignon Blanc Pouilly-Fume.

Best Chasselas came from Crepy in Savoie, similar to the Swiss style but lighter. It is also grown as a table grape, like in Romania. Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Italy and North Africa have all some Chasselas, but in California the Golden Chasselas is most probably Palomino instead. But it is indeed grown there as Chasselas Dore, with some grown in Pagani Vineyard in Sonoma as a varietal.

Most probably originated around Lake Geneva, the grape is mid-budding and early ripening, with moderate to high vigor, also having high yield but prone to coulure and millerandage. The berries are large and thin-skinned, often having premature shriveling.

Best producers: Serge Dagueneau, Kientzler, and Schoffit (France); J & P Testuz, Robert Gilliard (Switzerland), Ziereisen, Lammlin-Schindler and Dorflinger (Germany).

Chateau Berliquet

Chateau Berliquet is among the most ancient names in St-Emilion, with the name appearing on the Belleyme maps as early as 1768. The wine was already selling at a high price in 1784, one of the oldest registered examples of wines known by a proprietary name.

The estate was acquired by Count Louis de Carles in 1918, with his grandson Patrick de Lesquen now running the estate. The Carles family was famous for setting up the Bordeaux hospital in the 14^th century.

Adjacent to Chateau Magdelaine and Chateau Canon, there is about 9 ha of vineyards, planted with 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon.

I have recently tasted the 2001 vintage and below is my tasting note:

 

Good quality St-Emilion of medium ruby color, the wine has a reasonably intense nose, showing developing characters and fair complexity, with blackberry, plum, vanilla, cloves, chocolate and mint. Medium in acidity, the tannin is ripe and silky, of fairly full-bodied and showing reasonable concentrated flavors of blackberry, plum, cloves and toast. The wine is of balance but has only a fairly short finish. It is ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 2-3 years.

Chateau Gruaud-Larose

Exact origin of Chateau Gruaud-Larose is unknown, but the knight Joseph Stanislas Gruaud is often credited with taking the first step to create the estate known today in 1725. Two descendants of Joseph, one a magistrate and the other a priest, owned a number of vineyards, which they combined into a single estate named Fond-Bedeau, but still producing wines under two separate cuvees.

The part owned by the magistrate, Chevalier de Gruaud, was later passed to his son-in-law Joseph-Sebastian de La Rose, who bought the other parts inherited by others, adding his name to create Gruaud-Larose. He died in 1795, leaving the estate to his heirs, until 1812 when the property had to be auctioned to pay for the family’s legal bills.

The consortium of Pierre Balguerie, Baron Jean Auguste Sarget and David Verdonnet purchased the estate, and upon David’s death his portion was sold to the other two families. Pierre passed the estate to his two daughters, Marie Henriette and Marie Clemence, with the former marrying to Charles Alexandre de Bethmann. Thus by the 1855 classification, in which the estate was ranked second growth, it was divided between three owners.

The property was split into two in 1867, one half remaining with Baron Sarget, the other under the Bethmann descendants, as Marie Clemence died without an heir, with the estate later renaming to Gruaud-Larose-Faure because of marriage to Adrien Faure. Baron Sarget had more success and had built the chateau still gracing the property today. Then the Sarget portion was sold in 1917 to the Cordier group, with the Faure portion sold also in 1935, effectively reuniting the property.

It was sold again in 1983 to a French bank Compagnie de Suez, then to Alcatel a decade later. In 1997 the property was sold to another Bordeaux family headed by Jacques Merlaut, also owning some other properties in Bordeaux.

Chateau Gruaud-Larose has 150 ha in total, of which 82 ha are planted. The vineyards are around the chateau, separated from the Gironde by the small village of Beychevelle. There is deep gravel in the vineyard, planted with 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec, with vine averaging 45 years of age, at a density of 10000 vines per ha.

An interesting sonic anti-hail system is available, essentially a sonic cannon. The grapes are harvested by hand, with the winemaking overseen by Jacques’ son, Jean Merlaut. There are two new cellars with wooden fermentation vats and new grape reception rooms to improve quality, an investment from Alcatel. The berries are sorted and undergo cold soaking in temperature controlled fermentation vessels, a mixture of wooden and concrete vats, with pumping over twice a day.

The concrete vats help to mix the wine as it ferments by creating currents, also chemically inert and maintaining a stable temperature. A third of the vintage undergoes malolactic fermentation in oak barrels, before ageing the entire wine in 50% new oak for eighteen months. There is light fining and filtration before bottling, with the grand vin Chateau Gruaud-Larose producing about 25000 cases per year. A second wine was introduced in 1979, called Sarget de Gruaud-Larose, of about 16000 cases.

On the label there is the wordings ‘the wine of kings, the king of wines’, with the wines originally destined as a gift for the Emperor of Vietnam in 1872 but unfortunately the vessel sank.

I have recently tasted the 2004 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Good quality St-Julien GCC with medium ruby color, a reasonable concentrated nose showing developing and fairly complex aromas of blackcurrant, blackberry and black cherries, cedar, savory and tobacco, liquorice, meaty and leather. Medium in acidity, the tannin is quite high with ripe and talc-like texture. Fairly full-bodied, the reasonably intense palate has blackcurrant, blackberry and black cherries, liquorice, vanilla and cedar. With a reasonable finish, the wine is a bit too mediocre for a second growth. Ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 3-5 years.