I was on a European cruise for a couple of weeks and we stopped for a couple of days near Bordeaux. So, I arranged for Henri Challeau to pick my wife and I up and take us to a number of wineries over the two days.
Channeling our inner Robert and Julilan, our first stop was at Chateau D’Issan. What a beautiful property. Julian’s recent visit notes had much better pictures than I took, so go to his visit summary to see how beautiful the property is. Over recent times, I have had and really enjoyed 2005 and 2020 D’Issan and so was excited to visit there. We tasted a 2017 D’Issan while there (we tasted second and/or third wines here and in a number of other places but I am going to skip those and just discuss the main vines). I thought this was an excellent wine for the vintage with good fruit. But, I did not think the wine was nearly as good as the 2020 I had recently as the finish seemed a bit clipped in comparison to that wine. So, while I have been buying more D’Issan recently and will continue to do so, I probably won’t be buying any 2017.
Our second visit was at Chateau Ferriere. While there, we had a 2014 Ferriere, a 2009 Durfort Vivens and a 2015 Haug Bages Liberal. Ferriere and HBL are owned by Claire Villars-Lurton while Durfort Vivens is owned by her husband, Gonzague Lurton. We were told that the husband and wife manage the properties they own separately and use different techniques in making their wines. We were at Ferriere, so that is what we saw.
Fascinating place to visit. They are aging some wine in oak, but also some wine in clay amphoras and some in concrete diamonds to reduce the overall oak exposure of the wines. Their fermentation tanks were also modern temperature controlled concrete fermentation tanks rather than in stainless steel vats.
As for the wines, I thought the 2014 Ferriere was a really nice medium bodied wine on its way to maturity. It is not there yet as for me there was some tannin still in the wine that hopefully will resolve itself with more age. Liked it well enough that I bought some.
The Haut Bages Liberal was really impressive. Possibly because it was a 2015, it seemed not to have any raw edges to it but just seemed soft and luscious, but not at all overdone. However, since that had some 2005 of this at a decent price, I bought that instead (I love 2005s and want wines closer to maturity).
The 2009 Durfort Vivens was really a very well made wine that was very impressive, but it had a taste of the roasted quality of so many wines in the vintage, which I found off-putting. I bought some 2016 and 2019.
The next morning, we were at Leoville Poyferre. Very different property than the two wineries from the day before as it was full of new oak in a beautiful setting.
At Leoville Poyferre, we had several wines, but the only Leoville Poyferre was a 2015. While this wine was soft (as one would expect from a 2015), I rather enjoyed it (much more than I did when having it at a LP vertical a few years ago). Nice richness and just really tasty. From this and the Haut Bages Liberal, I am wondering if 2015s are turning out better than I would have expected. Seems from limited experience the wines are becoming very nice.
Of interest, while driving to Leoville Poyferre, I learned that Leoville las Cases is changing its name to just Las Cases.
Our next visit was at Lafon Roche in St. Estephe. This property was sold in recent years to one of the owners of Chateau D’Issan. New owners for Lafon-Rochet - Liv-ex
Lafon Rochet is also taking steps to reduce new oak including putting some of the wine in old Fuders.
We had a 2023 barrel sample and then four wines - 2021, 2018, 2016 and 2002.
The barrel sample was very interesting. Clearly the wine was very good, but I cannot say too much more about it as I don’t have that much experience with Bordeaux barrel samples (I have a lot more experience with Burgundy barrel samples).
Of the four finished wines, I thought the 2016 was by far the best and bought some. Of course, when I taste Bordeauxs from a number of recent vintages, I often find the 2016 to be the best wine. I was not that wild about the 2018 - seemed rich but harsh to me - but my wife loved and it was her favorite wine. My guess is that a lot of wine lovers who are not wine geeks will love this wine. Clearly, the 2002 was a lesser vintage, but the wine was very nice.
Now, for the 2021. I know that 2021s have been panned and this is the first one I have had, but I really liked it. Seemed like an old fashioned Bordeaux (reminded me of how 1979s first tasted when I first came to DC - to the extent I can actually remember that far back). I know that a lot of you are now thinking I have lost my mind or that I am just a Burg guy who is a fish out of water in Bordeaux. But, 1979s provided a lot of pleasure over a lot of years and I bet this one will as well. It is only $35 locally at MacArthur Beverages and I think this will be a steal at this price, IF what you want is a well balanced medium weight wine with good acidity and NO GOBs of anything.
For lunch the second day, we stopped at Maison D’Estoureal, a beautiful inn and restaurant near Cos D’Estournal and owned by them. The duck we had there was really good (oh to be eating real French food). We had a glass of Cos Labory 2019 (owned by the owners of Cos D’Estournel) and it was very nice. Rich and well balanced. Then, we had a 2010 Tokaj-Hétszölö 5 puttanos for dessert (also owned by the owners of Cos). Tokaj-Hétszölö, a Hungarian legend (estournel.com) I have not had a Tokaj in years and loved this one. Really nice acidity that provided a great balance with the richness and sweetness of the wine.
I learned so much from him during our couple of days together, as well as when he took us around 10 years ago.
