Page 49 - Blog

Today we hit the Northern Medoc, meaning St. Estephe.

We visited the 3 big boys - Calon Segur, Montrose and then Cos d'Estournel for tasting and lunch with Jean-Guillaume Prats, the managing director.

Here are my notes from these 3 chateaux.

Calon Segur - This is an old world place, and I'm a fan of this style. It's classic - not modern - and it's like wine from the 80's & 90's, but cleaner and with a touch more power. This is a medium bodied vintage. 93-95 DS.

Montrose - You are going to need quite the patience for this wine. It's traditional cabernet to the max. High note berry restrained nose, super intense and mega tannic structure with good tannins. This is like the 1989 which turned out great. It may be better than the

Wine: 2008 Expression 44 Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills
Region: Oregon
Sokolin Price: $28.99
Rating: 92 WS

As the 2010 Bordeaux futures campaign is ramping up, we decided to make a quick jump over to the US before we return to writing about Bordeaux wines. A lot of noteworthy wine action is always developing in the US, and the domestic wine market continues to grow at many levels, including our rate of consumption according to an article Decanter magazine recently published. The article stated, "The US overtook France to become the world's biggest wine-consuming nation in 2010." We find this fact just plain fascinating. To overtake a heavyweight like France, where wine is so deeply rooted in the culture, is simply astonishing.

The consumption of Pinot Noir still seems to be on the rise in the US. It seems that more and more consumers favor this grape since it is typically lighter, softer and not as full bodied as other grape varietals that can really coat your

So for my wrap up of the vintage I refer back to the Bill Blatch vintage notes that I referenced in my first blog.

This Bordeaux veteran negociant summarized the vintage with these two quotes:

The 2010's "have all the power of the 09s, they have nothing of the opulence and thickness of the 09s. They are much more rugged, have an incredibly strong tannic surge and there is more acidity in those tannins." Bill Blatch

"In terms of individual vintages, if , by its velvety texture,'09 has a lot in common with '82, '47 or '29, then '10, with its strong tannins, is more in the vein of '05, '00, '86, '49 and'45, but with more sheer alcohol than all of these." Bill Blatch

I tend to agree. While I tasted a handful

Spring is finally here!  It's time to get some whites in the fridge and start enjoying the warmer weather.  I just had an amazing white Burgundy that I would highly recommend:

2008 Bernard Moreau Chassagne Montrachet 'Vergers' 1er Cru

Green apples and minerals, with some citrus zest and great acidity!  Extremely long finish that makes this high quality Chardonnay, from the Premier Cru vineyard of Les Vergers, keep singing on the palate.  In fact, when I recently poured this at a dinner party, my guests were shocked at how long these beautiful and full flavors kept going.  And it was the perfect match for the Spring risotto with asparagus, peas and pancetta we served with it.

John Gillman, the author of the bi-monthly newsletter "A View from the Cellar", puts it this way: "...the 2008 Vergers is excellent, as it offers up a complex nose of tangerine, lemon, apples, white flowers, chalk and a touch of

This past Friday we were lucky enough to have the winemaker from Chateau D'Esclans at our tasting room to taste through their current Rosé releases.

D'Esclans is owned by Sacha Lichine, a very well-known figure in the wine world. He bought the chateau in 2006 with a clearly stated ambition "to make the Best Rosé Wines in the World." To go about achieving that goal he brought in Patrick Léon as the consulting oenologist.  Patrick has an extensive resume working for some of the best chateaux in Bordeaux, and is probably best known for his work at Chateau Mouton Rothschild. 

D'Esclans has four different Rosé's in their line-up ranging from $17.99 all the way up to $99.95.   It's fun to taste all the cuvees side by side as you can really detect the different nuances in each.

Here are my tasting notes:

2010 Whispering

Right around this time every year, the Bordeaux futures campaign starts heating up big time, especially if the vintage is a great one. To get in the spirit of the campaign, we always like to take this time to sample some of our favorite producers of back-vintage Bordeaux. And lately, back-vintage Bordeaux has really been pushed to the forefront of the wine market due to the increased demand from Asian consumers and the high release prices of the more recent vintages. If you've been following any of our blogs or subscribe to our email lists, then these words probably sound familiar. With the 2010 vintage in particular, we expect the prices to be high and with the weak dollar, it will be even worse for US customers.

Taking all of these factors into consideration, back-vintage Bordeaux, for the most part, is a smart wine buy for both the wine drinker and collector. For the drinker, the beauty is that the wine has already spent considerable time aging and doesn't require the patience

I've traveled around Europe for about a week now from Paris to Amsterdam to Belgium.  Two nights ago, we arrived in center Bordeaux where we are staying for this final leg of the trip.  Here in Bordeaux, my two travel companions and I will be touring some of the top chateaux of the region for barrel tastings of the 2010 vintage. 

Day 1:
It was an absolutely beautiful day in Bordeaux, 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.  On to our first wines of the day, mind you it was 10am local time - tastings start early here.

It was about an hour drive north from center Bordeaux to St. Estephe where we were headed to our first tasting of 2010 at Cos D'Estournel.   The closer we got the more excited I became trying my best not to work myself up.  Dressed to the T in my Sunday best, I pressed the buzzer for the gate to Cos D'Estournel.  "Bonjour, Ca va?" I hear from the speaker, Oui, Ca va bien! 

Robert Parker's highly anticipated reviews of 2010 Bordeaux arrived last night and it's good news all over again. Parker went into such detail about the wines, the comparisons, and the wine and global markets that I'm going to condense his quotes a lot here in order to cut to the chase.

THE WINES
In the article he made reference to his amazement about back-to-back great vintages of 2009 & 2010 and spent time comparing and contrasting them.

"2009 will always be the more "fun" vintage because of its more sumptuous, fruit-forward, lower acid wines with soaring aromatics as well as fleshy, exuberant flavors and plush, succulent personalities. Their style vaguely recalls ripe, precocious vintages such as 1982 and 1990. 2010 exceeds 2009 in record setting alcohols, but, paradoxically, it is the fresh acids, lower pHs and massive tannins

Wine: 1988 Mouton Rothschild
Region: Bordeaux
Sokolin Price: $525/btl
Rating: 91 RP-HG

Last Wednesday, Robert Parker published his scores and tasting notes of the 2010 Bordeaux futures. Every year at this time, members of the trade - from producers to retailers - anxiously await the release of his scores. We constantly check our smart phones waiting for Parker to announce to the world how each chateau ranks. And last Wednesday, Parker confirmed what the buzz has been the last few months - that 2010, in fact, was another good vintage, which also marks the fourth great vintage of the first decade of the new millennium. To be able to produce four superb vintages in ten years is a pure testament to the excellent winemaking skills of the Bordelaise. And on this day, we thought it would be appropriate to honor, toast and enjoy the fruits of their labor by opening up a bottle of back vintage Bordeaux, and a first

As the years pass, it becomes increasingly more difficult to source great family owned Puligny-Montrachet. Whenever a new generation fails to follow in their father's footsteps large corporations swoop up the vines for their mass-produced blends that are destined for the international market. When Gerard Chavy retired in 2005, he left the family estate to his two sons Alain and Jean-Louis, and their 200 year history was safe for another generation.

This past week, we pulled the cork on their 2007 Puligny-Montrachet. Immediately, I was overwhelmed by the bursting ripe tropical fruits that were complemented by its limey acidity. Normally, I wait and see what the rest of the group has to say and then I add my 2 cents, but this time I couldn't wait. I immediately inquired about the price and was amazed that it was only $39.99. "You'd be hard pressed to find Puligny of this caliber at that price" I said.

As the Spring flowers bloom and the cover comes off your pool,