After a day off to, gasp, see the sights, it was back on the wagon today for 4 visits.
CHATEAU HAUT-BAILLY
Always classically-made wines that appeal to me, Anne-Sophie Brieux was wonderful to squire me around after just a day’s notice for an appointment. We did almost the whole tour in French and I think I did understand almost everything. They do have some old vines that they use of 100 years…or more. They do make 3 wines, the grand vin, La Parde de Haut Bailly and a third wine. And, while they have the full 5 grape blend, they also use some carmenere as well. If I understood (I may not have), 10 days’ initial fermentation at 26-30 degrees with 3 further weeks in vats. No whole cluster and they use 7 tonnelleries, including Mercurey from Burgundy. 16-18 months in oak, with 50% new and the rest 1-2 years. Different for the Parde, which is at most 15% new. They do 120,000 bottles annually.
2011 Parde de Haut-Bailly
They’ve made Parde since 1967. This was 65% merlot, 35% Cab Sauv. All vines at least 35 years. Already lots of mineral, graphite, some smoke, blackberry and black raspberry. Even this has structure up the wazoo. Delicious tart berry fruit and more mineral.
2007 Chateau Haut-Bailly
Anne-Sophie explains—and shows—that there are 4 layers of soil influencing the wines. This has scents of graphite and pencil lead with plenty of earth and plum weaving through. As I would have expected, this is very structured, plenty of tannins, but still with hinted balance. Needs a LOT of time, as they all do. A vin de garde, even in this vintage.
CHATEAU LARRIVET HAUT BRION
No tour or “special treatment”, but was happy to taste 4 wines.
2010 Demoiselles
Their 2nd label white, 95% SB, 5% Sem. Tiny notes of vanilla sneak in. Grapefruit and some toast. this is quite round, a little sweet and peppery bite and the front–surprised me—guessed 14.5% and that’s dead on. Melon flavours still with acid frame but quite tropical.
2006 Larrivet Haut Brion Blanc
Apple–apple pie. Varnish too and a little sherried, actually. To taste, has some lines, and some sweeter lime and minerals, but wonder if it’s a bit oxidized/ If not, an unusual flavour profile.
2008 Chateau Larrivet Haut Brion
Plumm jam for sure, touches of strawberries and cinnamon too…and camprifre…maybe even burnt sugar. This is from 30 year vines, 16-18 months in 100% new oak. It’s quite fun dans la bouche, snaps at you with red and black raspberry, currant and sweetmeats. On the ripe side of things, but good.
2010 Chateau Larrivet Haut Brion
Much more layered, with various spices, plum pie, blackberry mineral, hints of graphite and faint tobacco. this is 55% merlot and 45% CS. Loads of structure on palate, a rooty aspect to go with present red fruit. Pipe tobacco is definitely there at the back. This too needs time, but seems to be an archetypal Bordeaux. Good stuff.
I would love to have people weigh in, but on VERY limited data, I’m starting to view 2009 and 2010 Bordeaux as a next-generation 1989 / 1990 discussion, where excellent wines were made across the board in both years and some estates did better in one year than the other.
CHATEAU LA COUSPAUDE
As much as I enjoyed my brief meeting with Vanessa Aubert at the UGC in Toronto in January, that enjoyment was magnified meeting her on her home turf with Lynn, Jon and dad in tow. What I loved–and love—is the sparkle in her eyes and voice when she talks about her passion for the family’s wines, and the honesty with which she makes–and assesses–them. That, and the fact that she does want to hear what we think. She’s one of the good people, for sure. So off we went.
The estate has been in the family since 1750, and Vanessa is the 10th generation. She tells us St. Emilion used to be the poor people’s centre and was perceived so vinously until about 40 years ago or so. The vines are 35-40 years, but some are up to 80 years old. It is the traditional St. Emilion blend, 75% merlot, 20% CF and 5% CS. 18-20 months in oak and very cool, they have their own custom barrels made, though they use others too. In a good year, they look to use 100% new oak—she cites the breathing through the wood as the important factor for using new oak. For this, they have just 7 hectares to work with. She gets about 40 pickers in for harvest, 30 in the vineyard and 10 for sorting. 1 vat, she says, will give you 4 lots of different presses of wine. Fermentation at 20 degrees or so (ambient temperature 30 degrees for malolactic, done in barrel and for about a month) in the vats, and they turn their barrels every 2-3 weeks to start, then once every 5 weeks. But at a certain point, for I believe 40% of the assemblage (if I have understood Vanessa’s follow-up email to me) they do the small rotations of the barrels every 3 hours. This happens at extraction time, then 2-3 times a day during the settling period and once per day at the end of maceration—this whole part of the process lasts about 3-4 weeks.
This technique has always intrigued me and I finally had the chance to ask why. Vanessa explained that it is, they have found, the best way to accomplish a gentle and even mixing of the liquid and the solids within the wines as they mature, and she added they try to keep the wine in the fermenting barrels as long as possible. They can make a second wine, but haven’t done so in about 15 years.
2008 Chateau la Couspaude
Slight cherry accents to some meatiness with plum and small prune & blackberry—lots of blackberry. This really drinks prettily, it stays sharp on the cheeks with the raspberry and sour cranberry, but with a firm thread of sour cherry and all mixed with light coffee and espresso tones. This is pretty superior for a 2008, I was extremely impressed, and so was everyone else. Dad, in particular, is hard to please, and he unequivocally said he liked this wine.
2011 Chateau La Couspaude
Cracked pepper sniffs first. Then dark raspberry, some buried blueberry. And no small portion of cured leather. Quite rough-and-ready right now, no surprise probably. Lots of supporting tannins for chewy plum and blackberry. Should settle down to fulfill the promise I tasted at the UGC in January. From then, my notes:
“I had a delightful conversation with owner Vanessa Aubert, mostly in French. It is clear that the wines are dear to her as children. The vines for this wine are from 35-80 years old. This has an interesting pepper dynamic and also what I’d almost call baked potpourri in the aroma. And she’s certainly right about the minerality (she was explaining to me the layout of the vineyards and how the roots reach into some stony soil there), this has that, but in a soft sandpaper way and the result is very enjoyable mouthfeel with meaty sidebar. For the vintage, very well done. Plum and some mint leaves in there too. #6”
BEAU-SEJOUR BECOT
Our chateau owner made the appointment for us at my request, and we were met by Caroline Becot, who squired us around and, I think, enjoyed the visit almost as much as we did. They are positioned in a beautiful spot just behind Clos Fourtet and just down/up from St. Emilion itself. They have 22 hectares and run out 60,000 bottles or so a year. Again, it is 75% merlot, 25% CF, 5% CS. she says 10 years is best for the vine age to start giving something. I asked her about the butterfly infestations and they also use pheromones to hold them off. She also told us that the going rate for a hectare nowadays is between 3M and 4M Euros. They have 20 hectares in one block and then (I didn’t know this), 2 hectares for La Gomerie, which is also in the family. At harvest, they have 25 people sorting, 15 people inside. They use no whole cluster and produce no second wine, I don’t believe. 2 days’ cold maceration at 12 degrees and then 3 weeks to 1 month in tank. They use pumping over to mix, and they taste each tank twice a day during the process. 16-18 months in oak with 10 different coopers and again, if a good vintage, they look for 100% new oak. they have also been experimenting for the last 4 years with a super-size 600L barrel that they do everything in—cold soak, initial ferment, malo ferment and ageing, 12-14 months. Caroline hopes to have a memorial cuvee for her grandfather coming out of these barrels. In the underground storage cellars (you absolutely MUST come here to see this incredible marvel—it is an amazing thing to experience), she relates a terrific experience to us, about a Chinese buyer who laid down 2M euros to buy just about everything in stock from 1969 onward. It took 8 people 2 months to put the order together!
Caroline was terrifically charming and it was a pleasure to have her explain everything about the domaine and serve us the wine to taste. I will note that both she and Vanessa were sublimely delighted with the shot-bottles of icewine I presented them as gifts.
2011 Chateau Joanin-Becot
40,000 bottles produced, her cousin. Same percentages, same coopers, treated the same way. Lots of rich dark fruit, and christmascake aromas waft up the glass. Still young and gangly, with detailed currant and cedar/oak. Leave for 4 years. 13.7%? No, 14%—I picked up the heat at the front.
2007 Chateau Beau-Sejour Becot
Curiously, truffles, mocha and even some tobacco, with just a little green, make up the bouquet. Le gout, well now—that’s quite nice. Round cherry, raspberry and meat note too. I’m actually reminded of the 1998 vintage a little bit. Yes, a tad stricter and thinner, but no sham for this vintage. This is very, very fine and, in fact, for the others, their favourite wine they’ve tried in Bordeaux. It seems a likely combatant in my eventual Top 20 list.
Offline on the reports for a while as we transition to Burgundy for the 2nd half of the tour.
Best,
Mike