The trip was courtesy of a wine-loving billionaire who invited 10 wine professionals from around the country to tour his estates in Bordeaux and his friend's domaines in the Loire Valley.During the flights, we were pampered by an attentive flight attendant with glasses of Champagne, top Bordeaux and amazing platters of foods. Once on the ground, we were whisked around the French countryside in two Mercedes vans. Of course, we drank amazing wines and enjoyed spectacular cuisine!
Highlights of the trip:
* Touring Chateau Fontplegade, a Saint-Emilion Grand Cru
* Barrel sampling the outstanding 2008 vintage in Bordeaux
* Catching air in front of Pomerol's legendary Chateau Petrus
* Dining like royalty in charming Saint-Emilion
* Goofing around the lawn of Chateau Cheval Blanc
* Staying in the picturesque village of Chenonceaux in the Loire Valley
* Visiting the "troglodyte" caves of Vouvray
* The wonderful, charming people I met, especially my fellow travelers - no self-important snoots on the trip!
* Getter better acquainted with Bordeaux and the Loire by insiders
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( 2.9 / 234 )I'm nearly recovered from jet lag so by the end of this week, I'll post a brief diary with photos of my trip last week to Bordeaux and the Loire Valley.
I had a blast, of course, and gained a few discreet pounds, alas.
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( 2.8 / 219 )Every once in a while you come across a wine that says "right back at ya!" It's almost scary how much power, weight and density resides in the fragile glass - I half expect it to burst apart!
Such is the case with Chateau du Cedre's 2005 Cuvée Prestige Cahors.
Cahors has been famous for its so-called "black wines" since the Middle Ages. It's wines were in great demand long before Bordeaux became an important wine center, up through the 19th century. The Malbec grape originated here, where it is known locally as Côt or Auxerrois.
Du Cedre's Prestige is 90% Malbec and 10% Tannat, another local grape of southern Gascony. It is an impressive example of those truly "black wines." Staining the glass with its impenetrable dense purple color, the dark wine harkens you to an earlier, more primitive epoch when monks and bandits roamed the deep, dark, ancient forests. The aromas are brooding, smoky, bristly with the blackest of fruits in its feral embrace. On the palate, rich flavors of black berries, black plum, licorice, bitter chocolate are balanced by smooth but big tannins.
This wine will age for 5-10 years and goes well with sausages, goose and smoked game like wild boar. I'd enjoy it with well-aged Gouda cheese and a creamy Bleu d'Auvergne.
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( 3 / 132 )Price and availability trends in Burgundy are of great concern. Prices of everything European have been climbing rapidly, in great part due to the falling dollar. As consumers, we face tough decisions trying to seek out top producers whose price levels have not soared so high into the stratosphere as others. We must become better educated and informed.
Availability is another matter. New buyers such as the Russians (more so) and the Chinese (less so) have come into the market with big feet. In addition to any demand-pull impact on prices, they have siphoned away significant quantities of already limited quantities from loyal, traditional buyers – such as ourselves. Hence we get a few bottles here, maybe a case there, but no more.
Last week, I met with Jeremy Seysses of renowned Domaine Dujac. Their wines are much sought after. He acknowledged the pressure to sell to these newer markets but they will not shortchange their loyal customers. Alas, that is a rare sentiment in Burgundy nowadays.
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( 3 / 171 )Monday I had the privilege of tasting an array of wines from Domaine Leroy (estate) and Maison Leroy (negotiant). As you may know, Lalou-Bize Leroy runs one of the very finest domains in Burgundy – some believe it may be the finest. Clive Coates writes of her wines in general: “The wines are magnificently impressive. The results are breathtakingly intense, pure and concentrated.”*
Lalou Bize is also an intense perfectionist. Perhaps too perfectionist, as she made a very controversial decision to de-classify all her 2004 cru wines to village appellation – a disaster for her, a gift to us all. She now believes this was a mistake as she was overcome with grief at that time by the loss of her husband. See Burghound’s Allen Meadows’ comments below at the end of this email. His amazing report is must reading if you’re curious about Leroy’s 2004s.
Her wines are very expensive – but the extraordinary always comes with a cost. The wines of Domaine Leroy are attained.
What follows below is a list of a unique offer for past vintages of her wines. These bottles are still in the domaine’s cellars in Meursault. The orders will be emailed to France next week. The bottles will then be labeled to U.S. requirements and shipped in refrigerated container. We expect them to arrive in June. So the provenance is immaculate.
I’ve included tasting notes on the wines I tasted Monday.
Maison Leroy 1978 Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru (1er cru) $1144.99/bottle
Ethereal nose with hints of pipe tobacco, truffle and picked fruits but a bit shy. Surprisingly bright with fine acidity and a basket of strawberry and raspberry fruit, restrained a bit by fine, smooth tannins. This displays elegant balance.
Maison Leroy 1997 Meursault Charmes 1er Cru $201.99/bottle
Wow. Extraordinary, fresh, vibrant, almost Perrieres-like (my favorite Meursault 1er Cru). Lemon, melon and complex spice. I loved this wine and finagled several tastes!
Maison Leroy 2000 Volnay Santenots 1er Cru $294.99/bottle
Silky and rich as Volnay should be. Dark fruits here, more cherried than berried. This has more years ahead of it and it is a fine Volnay. This would be fabulous with a duck confit. Allen Meadows writes, “Leroy has fashioned some incredible wines in 2000, many of which are the reference standards for their respective appellations.” I couldn’t agree more, especially after tasting the wine below.
Maison Leroy 2000 Bourgogne Rouge $48.99/bottle
As Clive Coates suggests, if you want to know how good a producer is taste their basic Bourgogne or village wines in a year like 2000. Taste this Bourgogne and you know there’s something special here. I could drink way to much of this wine with its lovely medium red fruit and surprisingly good concentration.
Domaine Leroy 2004 Vosne-Romanée (from Richebourg, Romanée St. Vivant, Brulées, Beaumonts and Genevrières) $280.99/bottle
Wow – raw power and that amazing Vosne nose. The class of this wine is evident; aristocratic Grand Cru clothed humbly. I’ve appended Allen Meadows’ tasting notes.
“Another step up in aromatic complexity with classic Vosne spice notes as well as the Asian spice cabinet notes associated with a fine RSV that add nuance to the potent mix of red and black pinot fruit aromas that merge into rich, mouth coating, concentrated and powerful flavors that put the attribute of class on parade. This is an exceptionally stylish wine with a richness and velvety quality that is incredibly seductive.” 95 points
Domaine Leroy 2004 Bourgogne Rouge (from Pommard "Vignots", Savigny "Narbantons", Volnay "Santenots", Clos de Vougeot, Clos de la Roche and Corton-Renardes) $89.99
If there’s a value wine to be had, this is it. I may buy this for my own cellar! As Allen Meadows (Burghound) writes, “As one might reasonably expect, this is by far and away the most complex nose I have ever experienced with a so-called Bourgogne, revealing notes of red raspberry, spice, earth and violets that are followed by rich, classy and stylish flavors that possess a textured, pure and wonderfully refined finish that goes on and on. This is of top 1er quality and while the structure is supple, this clearly will age.” 92 points
Domaine Leroy Wines not tasted but highly recommended (scores and tasting notes from Burghound):
2004 Gevrey-Chambertin (a blend of Latricières, Chambertin, Combottes and a bit of villages) $280.99/bottle
“Again, the aromatic profile is completely different with a much deeper emphasis on iron-infused earth, underbrush and an understated sauvage quality that leads to stylish, powerful and almost implausibly complex flavors that exude a sense of raw power yet the overall impression is one of control and near perfect balance. A stunner of a wine that has complexity to burn.” 95 points
2004 Chambolle-Musigny (a blend of Musigny, Charmes and Fremières) $280.99
“This is equally stylish and classy though completely different with a stunningly complex and ultra floral nose combining spice, earth and dark pinot fruit aromas that continue onto the detailed, powerful and fantastically long flavors that stain the palate with almost painful intensity and sap. This may very well equal the Vosne one day as the qualitative difference between the two is subtle indeed.” 94 points
2004 Nuits-Saint-Georges (a blend of the two 1ers Boudots and Vignerondes plus the villages vineyards) $236.99/bottle
“Surprisingly, given the vineyards blended into the respective cuvées, this is actually more elegant than the Bourgogne with a floral and wonderfully spicy aromatic profile and delicious, sweet, textured and intense medium full flavors that are powerful, muscular and powerful, all wrapped in a strikingly long finish. This is a 'wow' wine.”93 points
2004 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru $649.99/bottle
“A positively gorgeous and impressively refined nose of green apple fruit, pear and a distinct floral note complements perfectly the unbelievably complex and hugely powerful flavors that seem to be carved out of a solid block of stone. This is a massive wine that is textured, concentrated and muscular yet it remains precise, pure and balanced with a finale that seems to go on and on without end. One of the great wines of the vintage and one that will live for years. Don't touch it for at least five years and it will easily improve for ten.” 95 points
- A list of Older Vintages from Maison Leroy are available upon request -
“Lalou Bize-Leroy took the most extraordinary step of declassifying all of her upper level wines to villages level, creating in the process the most striking examples that I have ever tasted for their respective appellations. Given the incredible range of vineyards that Domaine Leroy possesses, this is not surprising but it does raise the obvious question as to why Mme. Bize elected to do such a thing in the first place. Creating a superlative Vosne by blending in the entirety of the Richebourg and RSV isn't hard to do but why do it at all? She explained that when her late husband Marcel Bize passed away, she became seriously depressed and found it difficult to take her normal interest her wines and even though she has a very capable team in place to look after them, she found the wines lacking in vibrancy and the level of quality with which she believes are what her clients deserve to find in the wines of the domaine. Thus, she elected to declassify all of them, including the wines from Domaine d'Auvenay (see above) which she owned outright with her husband. After tasting through the range, I commented that the wines were astonishing and in response, Mme Bize allowed that perhaps she shouldn't have declassified them after all. But then she brightened and noted, "yes but no one will ever be disappointed with wines such as these and even though it cost me plenty to do it, in the end, it's good for everyone.’”
* The Wines of Burgundy © 2008 Regents of the University of California
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