I took a day off work yesterday and visited a few estates in the Médoc with a Danish journalist friend, Izak Litwar.
We went first of all to Château Margaux where Paul Pontalier was kind enough to spend a fair amount of time with us despite the busy harvest season. In fact, this was the last day of the vintage, so he was in a very good mood! For once, Paul did not hype the new vintage, which was reassuring… He said quality is good, but definitely one notch down from the previous 2 years. 2011 made him think of 2008 – possibly a smidgen better
. The problem with 2011 was the yield, which was just 28 hectolitres per hectare. This was due to very hot weather at the end of June that “burned” up to one third of the crop. However, he warns against comparing this situation with 2003 which was quite different.I asked about rot, and Paul said they really had very little. Proof of this, he explained, is that the picking schedule was not altered at all – there was simply no need. The estate’s full-time staff of 80 was, of course, totally involved with the vintage, and 220 outside pickers were brought in too. I was shown what seemed to me a fairly sophisticated computer program to keep track of analyses for each hopper of grapes and the state of each vat. I asked Paul who designed the software. He replied “we did – we have two full-time IT employees”. Not bad for a wine château, eh?
Thomas Do Chi Nam, previously technical director at Pichon Comtesse, was headhunted by Margaux and has just started in the same capacity there.
We tasted the 10, 09, and 08 vintages. The 10 had been racked less than a month ago, but was still showing well, with the trademark Margaux nose and a long, sweet, classic finish. However, it was the 09 that captured my heart! Forgetting (honestly!) reputation, hype, and the fairly outrageous price for this wine, I must admit it is absolutely gorgeous, rich and ethereal at the same time, with seamless development on the palate. It is together NOW and totally unaggressive, which seems to belie the fact that it will age for decades… The 08 was on a different register – obviously quite good, and very worthwhile, especially if one dares introduce the notion of value for money! Less exciting, but classic and very good. Once again, all 3 vintages show that Margaux starts out luscious and round – almost simple – on the palate, and then spreads out to reveal its magic. As for the bouquet, it’s hard to imagine anything better.
We next went to Lascombes, which I hadn’t visited in a long time, and were welcomed by the manager Dominique Befve (pronounced “Bev”). We tried his 2010 which is, not surprisingly, a different kettle of fish from Margaux, but also quite enjoyable (bigger, more “modern”, however perhaps less typical of the appellation). Lascombes was less further along with the harvest than Margaux and had encountered problems with rot. I saw their spanking new optical grape sorting machine and the speed at which it works is truly amazing. It is nevertheless significant that they still hand sort once again thereafter. This is just as well since I did see some rotten bunches that had made it through. They also put dry ice into the grapes after destemming, like Margaux.
We had lunch with the pickers accompanied by 2008 Chevalier de Lascombes (2nd wine) and 2006 Lascombes. The château has just changed hands, having been sold by Colony Capital (US) to a French mutual insurance company for the medical profession. This change didn’t seem to affect M. Befve one way or another. He has just gone on doing his job as before,he said.
The next stop was at an estate whose wines I have long admired: Château Saint-Pierre. I don’t know exactly why, but I had never made it here before in all the years I’ve lived in Bordeaux. We were welcomed by Jean Triaud and his brother-in-law, and tasted through three vintages of Gloria and Saint-Pierre. I asked Jean why Saint-Pierre isn’t more well-known. Was it the small size? He replied that that is indeed a major factor. There are just 18 hectares of vines, which makes Saint-Pierre the second smallest great growth, after Ferrière. The three vintages we sampled were 2010, 08, and 07. In each instance, Gloria was more forward and less complex in all instances – partly due to the lesser influence of oak. 2008 Gloria was the only wine that wasn’t showing particularly well. Every vintage of Saint-Pierre was very good and so long as it remains relatively little known, that’s fine by me… Saint-Pierre has recently joined the Union des Grands Crus and during tastings in the States. Jean said that everyone there had heard of Gloria but was puzzled by Saint Pierre, often asking if it was the second wine of Gloria.
Last stop was at Lynch Bages, where I friend of mine is doing the vintage. We wet our whistle first of all at the Café Lavinal, the wine tourism complex next to the château. This was necessary because of the warm weather (32°C in Bordeaux today). We then did a quick tour of the cellar, sampling one vat of 2011 (I’m pretty unqualified to see much in such young wine) and tasted the 2005 Ormes de Pez and 2004 Lynch Bages. The latter had a less than sterling bouquet, but was very nice on the palate. Lynch Bages are finishing their harvest today.
As I was driving, I drank very little, but rewarded myself with a 2000 Ch. Rollan de By with an entrecote steak in the evening. Perhaps not great growth quality, but a very nice wine indeed.
Best regards,
Alex R.
