Visiting D'Issan and Dauzac

WINE TALK
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Firstly, thanks for the kind words. I’m reminded of what someone told me a long time ago on a French forum - what counts is not what you get out of it but what you put in. I do my best, but I think everyone else does too, including your good self, hence the fact that WB is such an interesting place to hang out and chew the cud.

I can quite believe that Burgundy is completely different to Bordeaux - the estates are so much smaller. It’s a region which for many reasons I just never got into, but what you describe is what I have experienced in the Loire.

In Bordeaux, it’s obviously hard to get personal experiences, even in the family-run châteaux, but it helps to write ahead of any visit. Obviously, a really personal visit with someone like the cellar master is excellent!

Most châteaux are at last beginning to cotton onto the possibilities of wine tourism (it has taken them long enough), but for every d’Issan, which really looks after visitors properly, there is a Dauzac which does not. There is still a lot of progress to be made. Practically all the châteaux are closed to visits on Sundays in July and August. How silly is that? Not only for tourists visiting the Médoc, but for Bordelais themselves - when are the latter supposed to come? Worse still, there are places like Brane which are not even open for any visits in the summer. All this accentuates the gulf between the haves and the have-nots in what is mostly a very poor area.

I think that in the future, more and more châteaux will do as Giscours are doing for example. We were unable to visit this year, because of works on the cuvier, but next year, we will certainly go. Their website is one of the best I have seen: Welcome to Giscours - Château Giscours Grand Cru Classé in 1885
They have clearly thought about how to make a visit something more than just the usual tour of the cellar (one steel vat is much the same as another), even if they still offer that possibility too. Unsurprisingly they are open on Sundays.

I’m glad you had better times at PB and LB than we did - we may have just been unlucky and we aim to go back at some point to see if they have changed.

You should definitely head back to the Médoc at one time - we only began visiting again in 2019, after a 15 year break, and I must say that it’s a lot more interesting now than before. So if I have inspired you to do so, that’s great!

Mark, I can only commiserate. Since we started visiting châteaux again three years ago, we have now visited Sociando, Gruaud, Beychevelle, HBL, Lagrange, Lafon-Rochet, D’Issan, Pichon-Comtesse, GPL, Clos du Jaugueyron, Prieuré-Lichine and Dauzac - the latter being the only disappointing one. 20 years ago, there were a lot more disappointments, so they are getting better, but clearly there is still work to be done.

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We had some wonderful visits in Bordeaux when we went including to Yquem, Haut Brion and Mouton. So, we had a wonderful time. We were scheduled to go on a cruise in 2020 that would have included a couple of days in Bordeaux, but Covid intervened, and the cruise was cancelled. We have not been to Europe since, but plan to visit Italy in the fall and Burgundy and Nice next Spring/Summer. So, I hope we get back to Bordeaux at sometime.

My #1 issue in Bordeaux is that most of my Bordeaux is fairly old and there have been so many changes in estates (with many having gone over to the dark side) that I don’t know what I like anymore. And, I am age-limited in what I buy - not buying things that will take forever to age (a big issue for all red wine). It is terrible. Now that I am retired with lots of time to travel, Covid makes traveling harder and my age makes it more silly to buy wines that require lots of aging.

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My current bordeaux WOTY is the '93 D’issan…crazy old school…luv this chateau

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Well, Julian, you made me do it. Went to dinner with friends last night and opened a bottle of 2005 D’Issan. What a beautiful wine. No gobs and gobs of anything, but nice rich fruit and a bunch of different flavors I could not begin to decipher. All in one balanced comprehensible package. The wine probably did not have the finish of a 100 point wine, but boy was it awfully good. You have made me very interested in buying more D’Issan.

By, the way, we started last night with a beautifully elegant 2013 Bouchard Meursault Genevrieres. One of the friends we were with was shocked when she heard this was from Chardonnay. She said that she typically does not like Chardonnay. I said this was Meursault. Fabulous wine.

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Glad the 05 was showing well - I have a couple but haven’t tried one yet. I think that with the new vines Issan will get even better!

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What are the new vines?

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Jean-Bernard Delmas was the winemaker at Haut Brion, and I remember he once said, and I am paraphrasing “I make my wines to drink with food, not to win blind tastings.”

That is the essence of Issan. Delicious wines; not big, not showy, but balanced, refreshing and perfumed.

And the 2006, if you can find it, is one of the great off vintage successes.

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About fifteen years ago, a small vineyard was sold to Issan. They were in heated competition with Chateau Margaux among others. I understand it was replanted, and may be the young vine you mentioned.

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Actually the vines I meant were those on the land bought recently from Pontac Lynch. They were first incorporated in the 2020 vintage and include, I think, Cabernet Franc and Malbec, perhaps also some Petit Verdot.

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I remember being there at a French restaurant in Midtown east. It was along with Ch. Corbin and one other from Margaux which I can’t recall right now. Fun times.

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Probably Lagrange. Emmanuel traveled with Marcel Ducasse the winemaker, and they shared a PR agent.

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Yes, I remember Marcel from Lagrange at the event. I seem to remember someone hectoring him why they couldn’t make a 1990 Lagrange every year.

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Well, he did pretty well either way!

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Well, Julian, you made me do it. In late August - early September my wife and I will be on a cruise that will have a day and an evening in Bordeaux. Unfortunately, the day is a Saturday when many wineries are closed, but I have contacted Henri Challeau to take me around again My trip to Bordeaux - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers and he has come up with some good places that are available. First, he has made us an appointment at D’Issan, a must see after your wonderful description of your visit there.

And, I will need to pick two others from the following list for other places to visit that day. The boat docks in Pauillac, so we will only be going to the Medoc. The places he has said that are open on Saturdays are Leoville Poyferre, Gruaud-Larose, Branaire Ducru, Beychevelle, Brainare Ducru, Lagrange, Pichon Baron, Lynch Bages, Haut Bages Liberal, Pédesclaux and Boyd Cantenac (among classified growths), and wineries not classified like Teynac, du Glana, la Bridane, Domaine des Sadons and Pouget. Apparently, one advantage to the last two is that the owner would be giving us the tour. I have never heard of any of these non-classified growths so ask whether any of them make good wines and how the visits are?

My thinking is that since I visited Pichon Baron and Lynch Bages the last time we were in Bordeaux, we would try something else this time - although apparently Lynch Bages has what Henri termed quite amazing new facilities.

If I were just going by wineries where I have tasted and loved the wines, I could easily pick among these, but as you said Julian, some wineries are more fun to visit than others and this is where I need help from you and others. Has anyone visited any of these places and what are the visits like? I am looking at Jeff Leve’s wonderful website on Bordeaux and just from a quick look last night I found that Chateau Haut Bages Liberal and Chateau Gruaud Larose are owned by the same people. The owners apparently also own Chateau Ferriere and Chateau Chasse Spleen, among other properties. I plan to ask Henri whether it would be possible to taste the wines from more than one property if I go to one of these - I know that when we tasted a couple of wines at Chateau Ferriere last time we went we also got to try a Haut Bages Liberal there also.

Any thought from anyone where I should visit in addition to D’Issan?

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Howard , that is really awesome, and knowing you, we are going to get a fantastic and graphic write-up from that trip. My wife and I need to do this again, we did it on our honeymoon.

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I would certainly see Branaire Ducru as they are on such a great quality curve ala d’Issan.

I love Pichon Baron and Lynch Bages so one of those two would be hard to pass up as 3rd stop, especially since it is a decade later…Lynch Bages would likely be my choice.

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What fun! That’s a great idea and I’m glad to have given you the itch to do it!

There are lots of possibilities.

Firstly, you need to think about how many visits you want to do in the day. This also depends on when the cruise ship is scheduled to dock at Pauillac (or maybe they arrive there the night before?).

Personally, I like doing one in the morning and one in the afternoon, because each visit lasts at least 90 minutes and it gets pretty hot in the afternoon, but two in the morning and two in the afternoon is quite feasible.

Secondly, which châteaux you visit also depends on personal taste for the wines. But let’s assume you like them all.

Thirdly, you need to plan the trip in two halves because of the driving. It takes around 35 minutes to get from Pauillac to Issan, so it would make sense to plan one or two visits in the Margaux area and one or two in Pauillac/St.Julien.

I’m going to assume you choose two in each location.

If you choose to start in Margaux, Henri will take you from Pauillac on La Route des Châteaux, which is wonderful as you will drive past a host of iconic châteaux. You’ll see Haut-Bages Libéral, then the Pichons and Latour, then Beychevelle and the Léovilles, before getting to Margaux, where you will drive past Palmer on the left and see Ferrière, plus others I have forgotten.

In Margaux you are visiting Issan, which is a great choice. I hope Marion is still doing the visits because she was so good, but I’m sure you’ll have a great time anyway. Then you could either visit Giscours, which is open on Saturdays, or Ferrière. I visited Giscours last year and can thoroughly recommend it: Visiting Giscours + shopping at Sociando-Mallet
It was similar to Issan, in that you actually go inside the château, and the trip around the grounds in the golf cart was great fun.
I plan on visiting Ferrière this summer. It probably isn’t the same visual experience as Issan and Giscours but I’ve no doubt it will be extremely interesting. Ferrière belongs to Claire Villars-Lurton, who also owns HBL, and her husband, Gonzague Lurton, owns Durfort-Vivens. Therefore, I expect that Henri could get you a tasting of all three châteaux included in the visit, which would be fascinating to do. Chasse-Spleen is now run by Claire’s sister, Céline.

After all that, a good lunch is called for. I can think of two places - La Cave D’Ulysse, which is close to Ferrière, or the Relais de Margaux Golf Club, just down the road towards the river. Both offer wines by the glass (or at least did the last times I went).

In the afternoon, you could visit one or two châteaux in the Pauillac/St.Julien area.

I visited Pichon Baron last year: Visiting Pichon Baron
It is very impressive albeit a different experience to Issan, for example. You won’t go inside the château and it is quite a corporate set-up, but very professional and definitely one to consider. I haven’t been to Lynch for sometime but I would imagine it is similar.

Léoville-Poyferré as a wine is an acquired taste, as a visit I cannot say - I visited it 20 years ago and really enjoyed it, but it wasn’t the same wine tourism experience as other places and I doubt that it is now, simply because the original Léoville domain has been split into three.

I would certainly recommend Beychevelle, which I went to in 2020: Visiting Beychevelle
It is certainly corporate, but impressive, and the gardens offer a spectacular view.

Gruaud-Larose is also worthwhile - the view from the tower is magnificent. It belongs to Jean Merlaut’s group - I believe he is Claire Villars-Lurton’s uncle, although I’m not sure.

Lagrange is another possibility I have tried: Visiting Lagrange
The visit itself is not as visually memorable as others, and you won’t go inside the château, but the wines were brilliant.

Of the other names you mention, I would certainly consider Branaire Ducru, which I will probably visit this summer. All the others are fine, but not quite as compelling.

Of course, you could always start in Pauillac/St.Julien and head down to Margaux after lunch. One fabulous possibility for lunch in St.Julien is simply to get sandwiches from the bakery in Pauillac before heading to Port Beychevelle, which is what we do every year!

Anyway, I look forward to reading what you decide - again - what fun!

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Howard, my wife and I visited Bordeaux in 2022. Of the wineries you list, we did tastings at Gruaud Larose, Lagrange and Leoville Poyfere. The Gruaud tasting was spectacular - the best of any place we visited in the area. We ponied up for one of their top tastings, which was a private 2 hour experience and included the '96, '00, '05 of the grand vin and the '12 of their second wine. The tour started with a trip up their tower, which admittedly looks a bit out of place on their otherwise historic property, but provides a beautiful view of their vines. Our guide pointed out the limits of their property in each direction and I found it particularly interesting to visualize exactly what 82 hectares looks like. After that we visited the winemaking areas and barrel room, and then tasted inside the Chateau. Our guide was fantastic and we felt like we were treated like visiting heads of state.

Lagrange was nice too and worth a visit, but didn’t come close to our experience at Gruaud. Leoville Poyferre is interesting in that it’s one of the very few major Chateaus that welcomes walk-in visits. So we just did a 30 minute stop there. Worth considering if it’s on your way between other appointments (obviously, confirm they still allow walk-ins).

Enjoy your trip!

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I just visited last month and Lynch Bages was my first stop of the day. The new facility is gorgeous. The tasting was Ormes de Pez, Echo and Lynch Bages. Maybe because it was our first tasting of the trip but I did not find the visit to be exceptional. We enjoyed the tour and tasting, it just wasn’t as good as the others that day in terms of quantity of wines tasted.

Leoville Poyferre was our last stop that day and we paid for the library vintage and pairing to do 08-09-10 side by side with cheese and meats. The tour through the facilities was nice as they were fining the barrels so we got to go in and take videos of them mixing the egg whites and blending those into the barrels. The wine was one of the tops for our trip as well. They have a small bottle shop where you can purchase wine as well. We didn’t buy any bottles.

We did Leoville Barton in between the other two and they had a library tasting for us as well so we got to taste more of the portfolio across several vintages. I find this to be more appealing v just tasting 3 wines after a tour of the facilities.

Henri is awesome! I look forward to visiting again and learning more from him.

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Howard, from your list, Pedesclaux, Lynch Bages, Beychvelle, and in a few months, Branaire Ducru all have new cellars worth visiting. Pichon Baron recently opened one of the most beautiful tasting rooms in all of Bordeaux, and that is saying something.

Maybe HLB will let you taste Ferriere, but most will not let you taste wines from other estates at different properties. Late summer is vacation time, August several, but not all estates are closed. Check in advance.

As you know, you can find out most of what you need to know on my site.

Enjoy your trip.

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