A few wines came out yesterday that are worth looking at.
Mathilde de La Fleur Morange (St. Emilion) @ 9.00 Euros/bt
Mathilde de La Fleur Morange is a wine I like a lot. The 05 is great and it was under $20 at one time. The 09 could end up almost as good and it should retail for under $20 as well! This is one of my favorite value Bordeaux wines.
Château La Fleur Morange “Mathilde” 2009 (Saint Emilion Grand Cru) – Saint Pey d’Armens, east of Saint Emilion
This cuvée is from 50+ year old vines, all hand-harvested AND destemmed mechanically, before being twice table-sorted. Malolactic takes place in tank followed by aging in 50% new, and 50% one-wine old French oak barrels for six months. It is 100% Merlot. This cuvée is about 4.5 times cheaper than the estate’s grand vin
Sixth vintage of this unique cuvée from La Fleur Morange, it comes from the original 1.33-hectare vineyard but from more recently planted, individual vines (complantation). These 100% Merlot vines average age is nonetheless 50 years! Net yields in 2009 were 39 hls/ha. The soils are a complex mix of clay and limestone fragments. Meticulous owner, Jean-François Julien plows every other row in this vineyard block, leaving a cover crop on the alternate rows. The fruit was entirely hand-harvested into small plastic crates between September 24th and October 2nd (the soils here, and the age of the vines, make this a rather precocious growing area). After a five-day cold soak @ 3° C, fermentation took place in small, truncated, stainless steel tanks. In 2009, total maceration time ran 25 days. Microbullage was used under the cap during maceration and during aging in barrel. The new wine is aging on its post-malo lees and will spend six to eight months on the lees in 50% new, and 50% one wine-old, barrels from Darnajou (50%), Remond (30%), and Seguin Moreau (20%). 7,000 bottles. 14.5%. Since 2004, this is the first château-bottled Saint Emilion to be bottled and sold in the entire appellation: it is slated to be bottled in June/July 2010.Narbonne-based Claude Gros is the consulting enologist.
Mathilde is a different wine than the much higher priced La Fleur Morange.
Château La Fleur Morange 2009 (Saint Emilion Grand Cru) – Saint Pey d’Armens, east of Saint Emilion
Situated in St. Pey d’Armens to the east of St. Emilion; 1.51 ha, average age is 100 years; 5,500 vines/ha; sandy-clay with limestone and crasse de fer subsoil; 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc. Debudding, crop-thinned up to 4 times; deleafed twice; hand-harvested into small crates; table-sorted as at Gracia, and entirely hand-stemmed. The fruit was hand between September 24th and October 2nd (the soils here, and the age of the vines, make this a rather precocious growing area). Yields in 2009 were a whopping 25 hls/ha! After a six-day cold soak @ 3° C; the must was fermented in unique, 50-hl, truncated, stainless steel tanks with dual insulated walls that isolate the wine from eventual temperature swings in the cellar (the first of their kind in the Bordeaux region); 30-day maceration; pigeage, malo and sur lies aging in 100% new Darnajou (40%), Remond (30%), and Seguin Moreau (20%) barrels for an estimated 18 months. Blend is the same as the encépagement. Potential production is about 5,000 bottles.
This cuvée is from 100+ year old vines, all hand-harvested AND destemmed by hand, berry-by-berry. Malolactic, and aging for 18 months, takes place in 100% new French oak barrels. It is tentatively a blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc.
Also, a wine I have never heard of. Bob did not taste it. Suckling gave it 94-97 Pts! I have to admit, it sounds interesting. I’ll definitely taste it when I’m in Bordeaux in June.
Liber Pater Graves Rouge @ 60 Euro per bottle. 200 cases produced.
Liber Pater is the name of a Roman god, often assimilated with Bacchus. He was considered to be the God of vines, wine, abundance and fertility. Busy job! Initially, this struck me as quite a zany project. I was fascinated by the label and packaging. But a little dubious at the same time. Until I tasted the wine and met with the ambitious, extremely passionate, young owner. This surprising wine is produced from the fruit of what is currently a two-hectare section of his seven-hectare vineyard in the southern Graves that dates from Roman times. It is planted at a surprisingly high density of 8,400 vines/ha. The varietal mix includes 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot whose average age is 40 years, a little older than the owner. All vines are propagated from a selection massale of the property’s own pre-phylloxera, ungrafted rootstock. The soils here are a mineral-rich blend of ancient gravel from the Villafranchian and Tertiary periods. The vineyard is organically farmed with all mechanical plowing done exclusively with horses. Harvesting is manual. The Merlot was harvested on October 6th and the Cabernet Sauvignon on October 27th. Net yields were just 15 hls/ha. Fermentation took place exclusively in 100% new French oak barrels from Cadus (50%) and Remond (50%). Maceration time ran 60 days! Malo then took place in barrel where the new wine will spend an estimated 18 months on its lees that will be stirred regularly. 14%. 2,400 bottles.
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