Your poor associates, Secretary and wife.
The 2009 Bernadotte [Haut Medoc] is drinking great at age 15! It’s mature, balanced, resolved, and low enough acid to enjoy while prepping dinner. I find it has a kirsch, minty complex nose with baking spices too with lush sweet fruit, on a medium frame. 13.5% abv, which seems surprising for the vintage and our modern times. This has always been one of my favorite of the Cru Bourgeois, but I don’t see it all that often, despite it having a large production. It’s had some ownership changes in recent times, so I don’t know if current releases are as good as prior ones, but I’d take a chance if I saw any. It’s a machine harvested property, so one might have to focus on the cooperative years where all the fruit was healthy. For my taste, this K&L sourced bottle - although near release - is an A-.
Does anyone have any history with Jean Faure. Apparently they had no cash to plant Merlot back in the day so they were stuck with a vineyard full of Cabernet Franc. Also they are next door to Cheval Blanc. Must be good right?
You’d think but nah…
I enjoyed the early vintages under the new owners (04 and 05) but they did not age into anything. I tried the 2020 recently but didn’t enjoy it or find anything interesting in it even as a young wine.
La Dominique is another St. E in the Cheval neighborhood that has had some notable successes though.
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Thank you Keith. I will pass then.
My experience of Jean Faure is limited to one bottle of 2017, so I’m not much use here! But Robert A enjoyed the 09 and the 19. Keith is less enthusiastic, so although our three palates tend to overlap, the jury seems to be still out. I think it depends on what sort of Saint Emilion you like. The 2017 was much more like a Loire CF than what we tend to expect a St.Emilion to taste like today.
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Glad to see Keith commenting favorably on La Dominique, I had given up while Thunevin was involved. Seems like he is out now, yes? I’ll grab some of that 19. Many they produced wonderful wines in the late 1980s.
La Dominique was and is a long term client of Rolland! I’m a big fan of La Dominique. You might like it. It’s a 50/50 guess on my part.
I took about a 30 year break from Bordeaux. Now I am back but not for the Sam Perkins (Big Smooth) style wines. I prefer CF to Merlot so this one sounds interesting. Only the 2020 is available in B.C. I may give one a try.
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Aha. I didn’t see that notes on your website, and even checked before I posted! Are you slipping, or am I failing again at reading comprehension?
Yes, I did chuckle a bit! Rolland has been there since time immemorial - I’m not sure, but I think since the late 70s! In your defence, I remember they did take on Thunevin (such a marvellous name, meaning cash-wine!) for a couple of years in the late 00s. Like you, I have very fond memories of the 89 and 90. Things started going downhill after that - I gave up after the 01, which I was good young but which by 2014 for me had faded into an alcoholic mess - 14.5%, which was high at the time. I’ve never tasted anything since so it may well have improved, but it’s one of those wines that was really in a lot of conversations in the early 90s, but which I don’t see mentioned much now.
The new cellar is remarkable but the wines I have tasted have not been
Was he really there in 1982. I think I had the 82 only once but don’t remember it being a Rolland style wine.
Thunevin means more like moola wine than cash wine. Thune is more like grisbi than argent or espece.
Well he was very young at the time - if he was there. I remember reading it somewhere but cannot remember where. Anyway, he probably didn’t have the same sort of influence until much later on.
That’s perhaps an American vs British thing, which is not intended as a criticism - and anyway, Moolawine sounds better!
If you mean that moola is American slang, yes, of course. Would you prefer dosh wine?
I’ve had the 1982 around a dozen times over the years and loved it. Also surprised to hear that Rolland was around back then but maybe they just ignored his advice
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Or maybe his palate, like that of Robert Parker, “evolved” over time!
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Do you mean “devolved” over time?