trust me…Bobby could do it
Real men drink Les Carmes while riding!
Dozens of posts and I can’t believe nobody has raised the fact that Les Carmes Haut-Brion (OK, a small part of the final blend) is vinified in terracotta amphora. I’m disappointed. ![[basic-smile.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/83717c74df9b0ce202453063bc4f11baf0ee6b8a.gif "smile"){kind=small}
Not to mention the fact they are using stems in some of the ferments, pretty much unheard of with the usual Bordeaux varieties. I think for those tired of the uniformity of Bordeaux, the suits, the new barrels, the optical sorters, Les Carrmes Haut-Brion has to be a ‘go to’ château.
They have follow Range Rovers, but they typically fall out by mile 6. Bobby’s is in the shop now to have the riff-raff repellers recalibrated (they were deterring too many drunk coeds)
Only one way to roll . . . .
British cars and Italian bikes.
It is indeed worth mentioning. What they put in clay is pretty miniscule, but still pretty cool.
I knew about the stems - Leve’s site says 45% - which could partly explains this estate’s appeal to me. I think Clos du Jaugueyron is not fully de-stemmed either, plus it has very old vines and far more judicious use of new oak.
Cheers, Chris, thanks for jumping on!
Had a 2002 Jaugueyron the other day; seemed a little modern for you, buddy. Nice wine though
Interesting. Was it the Marguax?
Neither the 2000 nor the 2005 showed modern at all to me, had them both this year. Quite the opposite.
Sorry it didn’t show for you! Leve doesn’t score it high, either. ![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}
Couple of write-ups on the estate:
I’ll gladly buy your remaining bottle, as I do feel a bit little responsible!
Yes, the terracotta jars only make up a tiny percentage of the total blend, just 4% of the 2014 vintage for example.
On stems, there is no one figure to describe the practise, as it will vary from year to year. At harvest time the fruit passes over a single sorting table of a specific design with channels/troughs on each side of the central conveyor belt. Sorters move bunches with brown (ripe) stems into the troughs, these go for whole-bunch fermentation, while the bunches left on the central conveyor belt are destemmed as per the norm. They do whole-bunch mainly on Cabernet Franc, perhaps a little Merlot, but never on the Cabernet Sauvignon.
Figures thus vary for the vintage. For Le Clos des Carmes, not a second wine but a wine sourced exclusively from very distant parcels (with no clos involved, so not sure how they get away with that), the first vintage to see some whole bunch was 2012, with 30%. The grand vin also started whole-bunch in 2012, with 35%, followed by 28% in 2013 (pretty amazing considering the difficulties of the vintage), 40% in 2014, and I don’t have figures to hand for 2015 and 2016 yet. In 2016 I tasted from different vats, some with 50% and 60% whole-bunch, so it will almost certainly be a feature of the final blend.
Chris what is the main benefit of aging the wines in clay?
It adds a different flavor and texture to the wine. Don’t quote me, but in my limited experience, I’d say more minerals and a more creamy texture.
Of course I’m not Chris, though I was almost named Chris, until my grandfather pointed out that it was only one letter away from being Christ.
I am not sure, for my palate, there is one. The use of amphora/jars definitely has an impact on the texture of the wine as Corey indicates, and the rationale behind it varies from the shape of the vessel (different shapes than you can get with a barrel) which can impact of whether the cap is submerged and apparently how the wine/lees move during fermentation, to removing oak infuence, to getting back to more ‘traditional/natural’ winemaking, and so on. But I am struggling to think of any wine where I didn’t prefer another wine in the portfolio vinified by more ‘ordinary’ methods. There is a cross-over with skin-contact orange wines, which is a style I generally don’t like, and I have found some wines oxidised in style (which might be the vessels, but might also reflect cross-over with low/zero-sulphur regimens), but even if we exclude these I can usually find something else I would rather drink.
The jars at Les Carmes are porous, and slowly seep wine, which collects underneath, and as the water evaporates what slowly forms on the undersurface of the jar is a thick, sticky, Cabernet Franc concentrate. If you taste it is is like essence of ripe Cabernet Franc, but with a really salty kick, like Greek-style olives. It was interesting - but it did make me wonder what was happening to the wine inside the jars (which I didn’t get to taste).
Wait . . . you mean here is salinity?!?!
Catch up, old man, I called the salt lick way back at Post 30. Or, perhaps you just needed expert opinion!
Back on point, I do believe this is an estate that would benefit from less new oak so as to let its terroir and unique grape composition shine through. I prefer less oak on Cab Franc.
Do you by chance have a photograph of you in the act of licking it?
Just kidding.
Great posts, thanks.
I was almost named Corey until my grandfather pointed out it was only one letter away from being corny.
Greek Olive? Salty…Oh no, not more saline!! Here today…Kalamata …I apologize
Chris I must say, I am finding this saline streak in some of the Pessac wines…not sure if this is a unique terroir characteristic or an outside factor like the terra-cotta?
I was almost named Marcus until our family doctor pointed out that everyone would call me mucus.
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Robert was almost William, but the doctor pointed out that everyone would call him Silly Billy.
So really, it’s the doctor who’s responsible for Snobby Bobby.
If it means more threads like this I am in.
No mention yet of how giving wine air doesn’t really do anything? I am disappointed.