Blason d’Issan - Margaux - 2009
If you don’t know it, this is the second wine of Château d’Issan. The label is almost identical to that of Issan itself, hence the reason I bought it by accident along with a couple of “real” Issans. The nose wasn’t very expressive, a touch of flowers, leather and blackcurrant. The attack was bright-ish, raspberry liqueur and blackcurrant, with a little more complexity the second night in the middle section, hits of blueberry coming through and an elegant if unremarkable finish. It does taste a little like Issan, but in a muted, downbeat way. But it’s seamless and streamlined.
Belle-Vue - Haut Médoc - 2010
Much more interesting aromas of spicy, smoky plums, blueberries, dark and smoky raspberries, just a little vanilla. In the mouth it leaps out and grabs the top of the palate, with again spicy, smoky plums dominating the blueberries and raspberries, before settling down slightly with a more mellow follow-through into more familiar flavours of blackberry and blackcurrant, before quite a crisp finish which saves it from going over the top. Not at all traditional, but post-modern as opposed to modern - no mocha or chocolate, the fruit tastes like that of organic wines, very upfront and bright and I wonder if the sulphur dose is lower than other wines. The flavour profile is very arresting and original - you don’t normally get smoky plums in a Cru Bourgeois and I wonder if the 20% of Petit Verdot isn’t the cause. The only other Belle-Vue I’ve tried is the 2011, which I found pretty unpleasant - this one is high octane but saved by the acidity of the finish.
Tasting them together was interesting - at first, there was no contest: the Blason was in black and white compared to the Belle-Vue’s colour. The Blason is a well-made, decent restaurant wine, but one-dimensional and dull. So compared to the fireworks in the other glass, it didn’t stand a chance. But after a while, I was drawn back to the Blason simply because although it must be a great wine in a line-up of 50 Crus Bourgeois, the primary fruit of the Belle-Vue was a little tiring. The blandness of the Blason was a quite a relief.
In terms of style, the Blason is obviously more traditional. In terms of character, the Belle-Vue is much more interesting and will certainly taste better in another five years. In terms of price, the Belle-Vue is better value: 14€ as opposed to 20€ for the Blason. I wouldn’t put the Belle-Vue in my top five CBs from 2010, but it’s well worth a try.