Dan Senior sails with P&O Cruises to Oporto

I’ve certainly done a few interesting gigs in my time with C&B, but this one probably takes the biscuit…

P&O Cruises is a very important customer of ours and we proudly supply their cruise ships with a number of our wines.  With small armies of passengers setting sail just about every day, of course, there are a lot of thirsty holiday makers to keep happy.

So, partly because of my involvement in wine tasting events and courses at C&B , I was offered the opportunity to spend a couple of days aboard the good ship ‘Aurora’, as a guest speaker, over the August bank holiday weekend.  Accompanied by my girlfriend Holly (a glamorous assistant is always helpful in these sorts of situations!) I took the train down to Southampton early on Sunday morning.    

Boarding Aurora was an interesting experience in itself, as our taxi drew up alongside the biggest piece of metal I’ve ever seen.  More like a floating city than simply a ship, I began to understand something about the almost intimidating scale on which P&O Cruises does these things.  I also admit to panicking slightly when asked for my rank by the member of staff who met us at the crew office.  Stuck for ideas, we did briefly consider just making it up and signing in as ‘Field Marshal’ and ‘Starship Trooper’ but, with some clarification from the P&O Cruises representative, ultimately settled on the slightly circular ‘Guest Entertainer & Guest’. 

Once safely on board and settled into our cabin on Deck 5 (of 13), my mission for the voyage was basically twofold in leading some staff training and entertaining the passengers.  I was feeling reasonably confident about doing both, but soon realised that I had some competition:  a forensic archaeologist was a few cabins down from us (no doubt armed with dramatic stories of gruesome murders they had helped to solve) as was Joe Royle, ex-England player and Premiership manager. 

So, over the course of Monday morning, I do hope I lived up to expectations with both staff and passengers.  My time with the first of those groups on some of the wines on the new and improved P&O Cruises list certainly seemed well spent.  We talked through nine of our wines on the Aurora list, including The Lane Unwooded Chardonnay, Santa Florentina Pinot Gris and the much loved (as I was to learn from staff) P&O Cruises Prosecco from Le Colture.

My session with the passengers was a 40 minute talk, looking at different wine making regions around world (appropriately enough on board a ship sailing the globe) followed by a tasting of four of our wines.  James Franklin and I had worked hard on the maps and images to make sure we avoided any sense of a classroom lecture and, perhaps more importantly, Cranswick Smith Cabernet Merlot seemed to go down particularly well… 

I’ve done tastings many times before, of course, so it all felt quite comfortable.  I could never quite escape the slightly surreal feeling, however, of doing it at around 20 knots, somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.  Combine that with the experience of being two cruise ship novices aboard this huge, seafaring metropolis, Holly and I felt not just privileged to have been invited, but also that we’d experienced something unique. 

And so, my professional missions complete, Holly and I had a little bit of time to explore the ship and to enjoy a particularly good dinner, including rump steak and a bottle of Argentinian Malbec in the evening.  We headed up to the top deck to enjoy the fresh air and sense of space you get from ocean sailing (always appreciated by two people who live in Central London) before heading down the gangway early on Tuesday, seamlessly trading places with the ‘whale and dolphin expert’ and his wife!    

A brief tour of Oporto (port cellars included, of course) and rounded off by another great meal at a fantastic local restaurant (Cafeina, recommended to us by Sandra Tavares, before flying home.  Great trip – and I really must check whether P&O Cruises will need a guest entertainer for its next cruise to Sydney…

Further Options

First stop was Domaine Font de Michelle where we were met by Guillaume and his lovely wife.  News had just reached them that hail had hit in Châteauneuf the previous day – they didn’t know exact locations at this point but it was clear that some growers will have lost large proportions of their 2011 harvest – this brought home just how susceptible to extremes ‘farming’ in the broad sense of the word can be. 

Once talk of hail had been put to one side, we set about tasting a great selection of 2009’s and 2010’s.  It became clear very quickly that these were both very successful vintages.  The 2009 reds were terrifically well made – solid, generous and built to last.  The 2010 reds has a touch more elegance for me – not better or worse, just different.  The stand out wine in terms of value has to be the 2009 Gonnet Côtes du Rhône which I would argue is perhaps the best value red on C&B’s list – seamless and well balanced – perhaps even worthy of a few years in the cellar.  The Châteauneufs were perfectly constructed – balance, grip, lovely pure fruit and real character.  We tasted a number of different variatals from barrel too which was fascinating – this Domaine has a very bright future and offers amazing value for very fine wine.  By the end of the tasting, the C&Bers were getting quite weary after such an early start – a delicious ‘provençale’ style lunch was served along with some incredible older vintages all blind – the CNDP Tradition 1990 was my highlight but the Cuvée Etienne Gonnet 1998 was not far behind – examples of just how good the wines can be when aged.

The next stop after lunch was Domaine Charvin.  I had heard great things about this estate before – the Côtes du Rhône is lauded by many as one of the greatest quality examples from the region and I can now understand why.  When we arrived, Monsieur Charvin was busily tending his vines following the hail – amazingly and to his great credit, he made time to pop by and greet us – admirable considering the carnage that had just hit some of his vineyards.  The 2009 Côtes du Rhône was stunning –  mainly Grenache giving a bit of crunchy fruit but ripeness and muscularity, hints of violets too – incredible stuff.  The Châteauneuf was big, bulky and very very good – one to keep for a number of years and superbly balanced.  The 2010’s tasted from barrel and in projected blends were similarly good – a bit more elegance and aromatics than the 2009’s but seamless none the less. These are well worth looking out for.

Our third stop was chez Rosalind at Domaine du Cayron.  This is an estate that has been producing classically styled Gigondas for decades and does it very well indeed.  We started off by tasting a tank sample of the 2010 vintage which on first impression was stunning.  Creamy yet fresh with lift and cherry fruit – the palate had a bit of an animal edge to it but should be absolutely stonking in a few years’ time.  We then moved into a cavernous Chai where we were presented with 3 very impressive old Foudres sitting side by side.  These enormous barrels housed the 2009 vintage that had been transferred at different times.  Samples from each of the three could not have been more different and each will ‘bring something to the party’ when it comes to the final blend.  Foudres No. 1 was rich and expressive with a hint of herbaciousness on the nose.  No. 2 had been in the barrel for 6 months longer than the others and was a bit harder & muscular whilst No. 1 had a lovely freshness and femininity along with a hint of spice and lovely aromatics.  I am far from an expert when it comes to blending but I can only imagine that the finished product will be absolutely stunning.

By the time we left Domaine du Cayron, time was ticking and we hot-footed it to meet Michel Tardieu to taste his 2010’s.  I won’t go into huge amounts of detail as there were so many wines here.  What I would say is that I don’t think I have ever given such consistently high scores to a series of wines ever before.  These were spectacularly good at all levels.  The Southern reds from Côtes du Rhône up to Châteauneuf level including many village wines were sensational – aromatic, complex, balance, perfume and freshness were all descriptives used in abundance – very 1978 in style I was assured!  Wines to watch out for here are the Rasteau and Gigondas which were amazing. 

Moving onto the North, we tasted from Crozes Hermitage via Cornas, St Joseph and up to Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage.  These were perfect examples of the Syrah grape at its best and a few words just did not do justice to how good the wines were.  Classic crunch, aromatics, peppery red fruit bursting out of the glass – just wonderful – the stars for me were the St Joseph and the Hermitage but none could have been faulted.  Finally we tasted through Michel’s 2010 whites.  It’ll be really interesting to see how these develop over the coming years.  They were incredibly ripe and concentrated, with lovely complexity but may not be as long lived as in some previous vintages.  All in all, this was a superb line up of wines – I’ve started to save already and will be buying as much as I possibly can – these are truly some of the best value ‘fine wines’ being produced in France right now.  This brilliant tasting was followed by a superb dinner with Michel, his wife & son – truffles, scrambled egg, Côte de boeuf and some delicious wine.  We were also ‘joined’ at the table by the famous French comedian Henri Tisot much to the hilarity of our hosts (does anyone else think Mr Hartley looks at all like him?!) – a great end to a great day.

Tuesday morning and the alarm clock sounded at a rather unsociable time for the second day running.  The C&B crew were up and out in order to get up to the Northern Rhône for more tasting.  First stop was to meet Stephane at Domaine Ogier.  This is a property that I had known relatively little about until visiting and I had no real expectations.  We were guided into rather a nice little tasting room adjoining the barrel room and guided through an amazing line up.  First off were two lovely red Vin de Pay 2010’s from barrel – purity, balance and incredibly drinkable even at such a young age.  We then moved on to tasting 5 different barrels, each taken from separate plots in Côte-Rôtie.  The exact locations were slightly lost on me but judging by how good the wine was, the Côte-Rôtie will be a must have in 2010.  Complexity, fragrance, pepper, spice, rose petals – I could go on and on but these barrel samples had it all.  As a blend, I have no doubt that the Côte-Rôtie from this estate will be great – if a single cuvee of for example Belle Hélène is made then even better!  We moved onto some 2009’s that were much more gutsy – the Belle Hélène was a particular highlight. 

Onwards to René Rostaing whose wines I have tasted rather a lot of – this was set to be an education in serious Northern Rhône!  After a warm greeting from the lovely Rene, we started on 2009’s which had just been blended.  They were wonderful – amazing lift, sweet fresh fruit, really beautifully integrated tannins, balance and very long indeed.  After these, we were guided through the majestic 2010’s.  To kick off we tried the Ampodium (replacement for Cuvée Classique?) which had lovely richness and generosity without being OTT.  Moving on to the La Landonne – WOW – ripe, breadth, meatiness and hints of herbs and spice – amazing wine.  The last of the reds, Côte Blonde was simply superb and almost the wine of the trip for me with perfumed fruit, structure and amazing depth.  We the tried both the 2009 and 2010 Condrieu side by side – the 2009 was prettier and the 2010 richer – both good examples.  To round off, some older vintages which just had the effect of underlying the message that this is a producer at the peak of form making some truly great Northern Rhône.

With a very quick detour to François Villard where we tried a multitude of great value Condrieu, we finished at an estate whose wines I didn’t know much about but was eager to taste.  André Perret is considered by so many to be one of the great producers of white Rhône and this tasting did little to dampen my enthusiasm.  We kicked off with 2010 barrel samples.  The VDP Marsanne lovely & precise with nice acidity and richness.  The St Joseph followed suit and although a bit closed, opened slightly to give stone fruit, minerality and real depth. We then tasted both barrel & tank samples of the 2010 Condrieu which I adored for their sheer contrast – if the ultimate blend is as good as the sum of its parts, it will be a great buy.  The final two whites were the Clos Chanson and Côteau de Chery – these were mind-blowingly good and have to be tasted to be believed – they should really be classed as grand cru because the quality certainly deserves this status. 

All in all, this was a great tasting trip and it is no exaggeration to say in 2010, we have another wonderful vintage especially for Rhône reds.  In future years, the 09’s and ‘10’s will be placed side by side in comparison – to my mind it would be like choosing whether your son or daughter was your favourite child – 2009’s being much more masculine and 2010’s being more feminine – they are both great in their own way! 

Further Options

I have put my scores (in brackets out of 20) and rough drinking windows. These are not purely tasting notes, there are comments and observations thrown in too….

Barbera Cerretta 2009 (17.75-18.25) 2012 – 2015+

Harvested at the same time (22nd/23rd September) as the Barbera in Cascina Francia. A “very good year for Barbera, end of august was very hot when normally there are storms”. Rich, deep with dark fruit. A hint of violet about the colour. A really fresh edge to the wine – Dark cherry, cassis and a touch of mint. Very pure and clean but with balance. Structured but still juicy.  Up on intensity over the 2008.

Barbera Cascina Francia 2009 (18.25) 2014 – 2017+

Similar in overall colour to Cerretta but darker at the core and this followed through to the wine.  A base, savoury nose with stones as well as real dark fruit. A chunky minerality but with definition. Fruit and real guts. No rawness. As Roberto commented, “more salty than Cerretta”. Serious wine.

Barolo Cascina Francia 2007 (18.25 -18.75) 2014 – 2027+

Elegant, light colour especially after the Barberas. There is no Monfortino in 2007 although 1 barrel was made as Monfortino and then blended in 2 years ago. The 2007 vintage was not so hot but followed a very dry winter when there was little or no snow, no ice and hardly any rain. The 2007 will not need as much aging as many Cascina Francia’s (certainly less than the ultra-classical, very structured 2006 that preceded it) as there is a more immediate balance to the wine. We discussed racking with Roberto at this stage as he commented that this had been racked just 10 days ago. In the 1st year there is typically 3-4 rackings and then after that, 1 racking every 1-2 years. I found the wine very impressive and also seductive – a great wine to show those unfamiliar with Conterno’s style of Barolo.

Nebbiolo da Barolo Cerretta 2009 (18.25) 2014 – 2023+

I have called it this as it is not yet decided whether this will be Barolo Cerretta or Langhe Nebbiolo as it was in 2008. If it is the latter, then it will be bottled after 3 years rather than the 2 years that the 2008 had…if the former, then it’ll be bottled after 4 years as per Cascina Francia. Roberto says he is 70% decided it’ll be Langhe Nebbiolo again in 2009 for a couple of reasons- firstly when tasted up against the Cascina Francia 2009, you can see why (though in isolation anybody else would release this as a Barolo). Secondly he is so pleased with the 2010 that he thinks it would be good to start “Barolo Cerretta” with a great vintage. We’ll see what is decided. The wine was expectedly lighter than the CF 07, very defined strawberry (fraise de bois). Very, very elegant, with more depth than the Langhe Nebbiolo Cerretta 2008 that I had last night (trying to keep the trip going you see). I think this is a seriously interesting wine whatever it is released as. The very best thing is that Roberto has two such different “Crus” to work with. They complement each other perfectly.

Barolo Cascina Francia 2009 (18.75 – 19) 2018 – 2032+

Very, very fine, elegance but also “grit and grip”. Seriously good combination of richness and savoury minerality.  You can now see why Roberto thinks Langhe Nebbiolo for the 2009 Cerretta wine when compared to this it is very impressive.

Barolo Cascina Francia 2008 (17.75 -18.25) 2015 – 2030+

More degraded fruit character and a touch of mocha; there is a maturity about the way this wine is. Roberto commented he could see a common thread with the 1971 that we had the previous night. He felt it will need 5-6 years in bottle to come together. I liked this and also loved the sense that had built up of the Cascina Francia showing the different years so well; there was a similarity but a very definite vintage variation.  Just as there should be…

We then moved on to taste the Monfortino…three vintages in the order 2005 – 2004 – 2006. I ask a few questions on Monfortino generally. The wine is not a set parcel but often comes from the same area.  Cascina Francia was bought in 1974.   Since 1978, the Monfortino has always come from only the Cascina Francia vineyard (as had all the Giacomo Conterno wines until the Cerretta vineyard was bought in 2008). The only “decided upcoming non-Monfortino” year is 2007 as it did not stand out enough – this is quite controversial as the vintage is being lauded as a good one. A Monfortino is always “made’ and then blended in if not selected to be released on its own. The typical aging for Monfortino is 7 years although this can vary as it was 8 years in 2002 and may be the same in 2006 (see below). The freak year of 2002 where there was a Monfortino but no Cascina Francia was due to the vineyard missing hail – and having seen how steep Cascina Francia is, the rain runs off it anyway – and being in Roberto’s words “all exceptional” when he made this comment to his father he said, “Simple only Monfortino”…a brave move as with the choice of not making 2007 Monfortino. Roberto is here to do what is right, not necessarily what is expected. The Monfortino is always labelled on the front as Cascina Francia but on the back of the giant Botti, it has a Monfortino label…a nice little “hidden” touch.

Monfortino 2005 (18.75-19.25) 2015 – 2035+

Wonderful degraded fruit but also a savoury “bovril-ness”, and a good acidity. Very very fine. It is a “straight down the middle” Monfortino. Very balanced I think this will shut down less than most. There is another level of complexity. Tasted blind I am not sure what vintage I would have guessed. Really impressive. I can’t help feeling 2005 is an underrated vintage as it has come amongst 2004, 2006 & 2007.

Monfortino 2004 (19.75-20) 2014 – 2040+

The most anticipated wine of the trip as the ingredients are there for a potential legend, this makes it exciting but also nerve-wracking. I have never scored a wine 20 but I think this is the closest to perfection I have tasted hence the score. There is nothing I would change about the wine. I initially wrote light depth. This is because there is so much there but at the same time it is so fresh. The precision is immense, roses, violets, strawberries but also that classic tar and savoury edge. It just got better and better and there was no way I was going to spit it out. Amazing balance of freshness and depth…in a word BRILLIANT.

Monfortino 2006 (19.25) 2018-2038++

I am a big fan of 2006′s as I think they are what Barolo is all about, you can argue 2004 is the perfect vintage and you’re probably right but I would rather a 2006 style Barolo than an easy fleshy (2000?) style any day. Roberto was spot on to show this last as it is a big chap on the finish. It has that degraded maturity of fruit on the nose and is a harder but totally in-check version of the 2005. Roberto says he may well give this 8 yrs in Botti rather than Monfortino’s standard 7. This is one of the treasures of traditional Barolo – longer in very large Botti/barrel means more elegance and a chance for the wine to meld together and soften a fraction.  In the world of new oak wines where the oak adds structure, here the very old (50-55yrs in places) wood allows the wine to mellow and breathe.  A deeply impressive wine that in 30 yrs time will be fascinating “up against” the 2004.

 Some notes on the 2010 vintage – it has been an amazing run from 2004 to 2010:

 2010 – Very late harvest, lots of tannin which meant you had to harvest very, very late to make sure you had the fruit (and tannin) ripeness to go with the tannic structure – Classical like 2006 but may be even better.

 After this we headed to the Vineyards…more of which tomorrow…

Further Options

After this we all jumped into Roberto’s car and headed to a nearby restaurant that Roberto had chosen – Locanda nel Borgo Antico. It was terrific – attentive service, great food and a nice atmosphere with plenty of space, oh and a stunning view. We had seen Roberto sneak a bottle out of the boot of the car but it was not to be revealed until later. We had two Barolos to start things off.  Roberto chose to show us two different styles – I must say at this stage that it is very rare for a producer anywhere in the wine world to show another producer’s wines and much as we knew we would finish the evening with a wine of Roberto’s, it was very interesting.

The first wine was Barolo Monprivato 2006 from Guiseppe Mascarello; like Roberto’s wine, this is a very traditional style and from one single vineyard.  There was a little, and not unpleasant, “stink” that went quickly, which was followed by a really lovely, almost Volnay-like red fruit elegance.  A very smart wine, which will develop well. I loved the very traditional style.  Roberto suggested that their 2005 was very good indeed. Wine two could not have been more different – Barolo Cicala 2005 from Robert’s uncle, Aldo Conterno. Much darker and more saturated of colour; rich, dense and dark, not so much my style if I am honest but good, with lots of fruit, a touch of coffee and linseed notes. This wine changed throughout the meal more than wine number 1.  The combination was fascinating to look at, smell and taste. The Vitello Tonnato I had with these two was superb!

By now Roberto had revealed what the last wine was but at the same time suggested that we had a wine that was between the first pair and the last wine in terms of age. A recommendation from the sommelier, the wine in question was Barolo La Ginestra 1982 from Paolo Conterno (no relation) – very traditional in style, a typical aged Barolo.  Just the sort of think I love – a Bovril and sherry scenario on the nose, a lovely brick colour and really really nice and balanced.  Next up was the highlight Barolo Riserva 1971 from  Giacomo Conterno and therefore Roberto – the term Riserva was dropped from 1985 onwards as it was only a legal requirement back then. The sommelier was so excited by this bottle and served it at the perfect temperature, cool as for red Burgundy. It was holding an amazing colour.  Youthful and fresh, very complete, with a slight maturity “funk”.  Seamless and nearly too balanced, this is a wine you could never grow bored of and an early candidate for my mature wine of the year award (don’t worry this is only a hypothetical award!) The four wines a set were brilliant and fascinating and show that one should just try these wines – they are not the tannic monsters that they are sometimes portrayed as.

Through the evening many questions were asked and topics discussed, I’ve summarised some of Roberto’s answers below:

Decanting? Yes with wines that have been in bottle for 2 or more years and don’t be afraid of 2-3 hours or more; Barolo is not afraid of air.  A phrase I remember is “in Barolo oxidation brings sweetness”.

Tasting others producers wines?  Yes, but in private and always blind and never for the sake of criticising them, purely as a way of looking at what people are doing and what they are producing.

Buying land in Barolo?  Would love to but so rarely does a good vineyard or site come up.

All the Conterno’s in Barolo… there are many, as the name Conterno is not rare in Italy.  The only relation is between Roberto’s estate (Giacomo Conterno) and that of his Uncle Aldo.

The Challenges of making Barbera and Nebbiolo… the Barbera does not like rain but is fine with almost any amount of heat and is earlier to harvest.  The Nebbiolo is not a fan of excessive heat but is ok with rain and ripens late, sometimes very late.

Why the Monfortino bottle is different to the other wines?  Purely as a way of Roberto’s grandfather knowing which was which in the cellar. In past times the wines would all have been kept “naked”.

If he had to make wine elsewhere, then where?  Burgundy, “I am a massive Pinot Noir fan” and if not Tuscany but working with Brunello (Sangiovese) rather than a modern style…Soldera got a mention.

The Great older vintages? 1958 is one of the greatest, then going further back 1955 and 1947. I mentioned 1964, which he likes but prefers 1967.

It was a brilliant evening.  As this is already quite long (I couldn’t help myself), I will cover the following days tasting and vineyard visit separately…

Further Options

 With some of us just back from Bordeaux, it was interesting to note that the 2009/2010 comparison seems quite similar for Ribera. 2009′s big, ripe and more forward the 2010′s which are racier with higher acidity. Peter felt the two were a contrast not unlike his first two vintages at Pingus – 1995 & 1996 (wouldn’t mind tasting those!!). Before I mention the 3 wines, it is very interesting to note a simple but “shocking” statistic that Peter gave us;

 In 1990 in Ribera del Duero, there were 9,000 hectares of vines and 6,000 of those were old vines (50yrs+). Now there are 22,000 hectares of vines and only 4,000 of those are old vines. When you combine this with the fact that it is, as Peter puts it, “cheaper and easier to put ‘ok’ grapes into lots of oak rather than concentrate on great viticulture,” you can seeing some potentially worry signs for the region. This is very relevant for PSI as one of the main reasons for Peter setting up the PSI wine project was to help keep older vines and make it worthwhile for the owners of these vines to keep them. To encourage this, Peter pays up to 5 times more for the grapes from these old vine plots than the growers would get for production from younger vines. Peter is therefore a key figure in keeping up regional standards and we heard a lot from him about the use of “less oak and more tanks.”

So the wines:

Psi 2010 – The 4th Vintage of this wine. By Peter’s own admission the 2007 & 2008 were both vintages of ”trials” (good ones if you ask me) and that from 2009 the wine is how Peter envisages it to be. The wine is 100% Tinto Fino, Tempranillo, as all Peter’s Ribera wines are. It is aged in a combination of large cement tanks and large wood tanks both 4,000-11,000 litres. The nose on this really escapes the glass, the aim is for “Fruit with character and a sense of place” I think it is fair to say he has succeeded. The project has gathered pace (for the reason above this can only be seen as a good thing) and the production of 2010 is up on 2009.

Flor de Pingus 2010 – We are delighted that this is now a fixture (there was no Flor in 1995, 1997, 1998 and ONLY Flor in 2002). The average age of vines for this is now 45 years and Flor has been made from the same plots since 2004 (a stunning year!) and been Biodynamic since 2006. The wine was made in a gentle way “Slow and cool fermentation, no need to push it” and you can tell Peter – whilst laughing nervously – is very proud to say that this is his best Flor yet… he was nervous as he is wary of these statements. I found the nose a little toastier than the PSI, a great fresh, almost greenness after a coffeed finish to the nose then a really mineral finish on the palate. This was the first chance for a lot of the newer members of the team to taste these wines and there was a real awakening I think. Great to watch.

 Pingus 2010 - Peter’s flagship (though I dislike the phrase, it is appropriate). Mocha coffee notes with richness but freshness on the nose. Savoury edge and a saturated texture, more broad and masculine than powerful…really great wine. No more need be said.

 During earlier conversations, Peter had been asked which was his last vintage making wine in Bordeaux? The answer was 1990 but now you could say 2010 because what we next tasted was Peter’s first vintage of his new (new to him) property in St.Emilion – Chateau Rocheyron. How and when the wine is to be released (and under what name) is still to be decided but this was to be an exciting tasting for us and I think a nerve-wracking one for Peter. We had been due to taste it in Bordeaux two weeks previously but the wine was still undergoing malolactic fermentation and not at a good stage in proceedings.

Peter went for a cool fermentation and very little pumping over, where he was fermenting at 22 degrees and pumping over once a day some where 27-28 degrees and three “pumps’ per day. The wine had rich fresh red and black fruits on the nose not over the top but at the same time with the true rich character of St.Emilion (old skool!) from what is a very fine vintage. Impressive! The neighbour of this estate is Chateau Laroque. Peter’s blend is 70% merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc (this was almost all bought from a neighbour) with 60yr old vines. A second wine will almost certainly be made but that, along with the date of release, is yet to be confirmed…all very exciting, more news to follow.

Have you tried this wine? What did you think?

Further Options

So the last day of the trip started, later than usual, with another dose of glorious sun. We had just one tasting and then lunch but a real highlight it turned out to be. Helen drove us out of Bordeaux to the base of Ets JP Moueix in Libourne, where we were greeted by our great friends Christian and his son, Edouard Moueix. We tasted the full range of wines – these will be fully written up in the offer but my brief notes below – many of which are exclusive to us in the UK. We started with the Saint-Emilions, after having tasted the new C & B Company Reserve 2008 blend. The full line up was:

Barrail du Blanc - great value and the best I can ever remember it. Serious too.
Puy Blanquet – Harder to get my head around Les Songes de Magdelaine – I was very impressed here, this is the wine that used to be St Brice many years ago, a savvy buy.
Magdelaine – I was stunned by this and thought it superb and very, very serious. Long-lived potential, as always, but I think I was alone in scoring it higher than Belair Monange. I would like more Saint-Emilions to follow the savory style of Magdelaine.
Belair Monange – Dark and extravagant fruit, nicely different from the Magdelaine, new label too.

Then it was across the commune to taste the Pomerols
Chantaloutte – (second wine of de Sales) – dense and masculine in style.
de Sales – good minerality to this, fruit really coming through on the palate.
Lagrange – the best I have ever tasted it, a very impressive buy for this reason – especially as it is the last Lagrange for a while (They are sorting out the drainage here so the vineyard will be “dug up”.) 2010 was such a drought year that the poor drainage may well have helped to make this so good; weird but logical.
Hospitalet de Gazin - even better than when previously tasted, good value.
La Grave à Pomerol – As expected, seductive and charming fruit, very dependable.
Bourgneuf - structured, red fruits, becoming more serious each vintage now.
Certan Marzelle – 100% merlot if my memory serves me well, creamy red/black fruit, slightly more “modern” in style than most.
Latour à Pomerol – I love this chateau so may be biased, but I found it a little closed initially. Thereafter, the true minerality and savory character of Latour came out; very impressive.
Certan de May – Inkily textured, rich and dedacdent, just stopped short of OTT for me but wowed some others.
Gazin – Consistent with other tastings, good, very good.
La Fleur Pétrus – my note says “gorgeous combo of extravagant and classical.” I liked it!!
Hosanna – More subdued and more serious than I expected which is a good thing in my book
Trotanoy – My top scoring wine of the whole week, “A potential legend in the making” as the normally measured Mr Marus put it. Just the right amount of everything, savoy power but so many layers of fruit too. I was sad to only taste it once.

With the week’s tasting done, we had a chat with Edouard; there is no sales pitch here, we tasted in silence then talk after. We all climbed into the ‘van’ and followed Edouard back to Christian and Cherise’s stunning house. The Moueix family are well known for their love of art and the house is mesmerizing. We had a magnificent magnum of Moët 1983 which was just the ticket after tasting on a hot day; the wine was in great form. The Lunch wines had been carefully decanted by Christian while we were tasting and we were in for a superb treat to accompany a delicious lunch. The two red wines were Magdelaine 1959 and Trotanoy 1955 – both were stunning with very different characters, the Magdelaine with a delicious sweetness and a real harmony, the Trotanoy with more savory notes and a deeper structure – staggering. Discussion flowed onto the fact that these wines had aged so well yet had been made with yields so much higher than wines today – food for thought. Christian then gave us his run through of the 2010 vintage in a very logical and measured way, which will appear in our Moueix release.

There was one last wine to serve and it was a port, served blind. We all had to guess what it was and it turned out to be the only port declared from the vintage of our Chairman’s birth – 1957 – and the shipper was Sandeman. It was in good shape and served, as the French do, nicely cool. A lovely ending. Christian had set the whole meal around Percy’s birth year with a shot each side (’55 & ’59) before the bulls eye. We then had coffee outside while I organised the sweepstake on the Grand national that was to be run later that afternoon. Christian, in particular, (like myself,) loves horse racing. The eventual result saw Bryce win (Ballabriggs), Christian second (Oscar Time) & Cherise third (Don’t Push It). It had been a superb, relaxed and enjoyable lunch and brilliant way to end the week. Many thanks to Christian, Cherise and Edouard.

And so it was done…

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Pétrus 2010 is 100% Merlot, which makes little difference as it has only ever had a tiny amount of Cabernet Franc in it. Only 50% new oak as Olivier (Berrouet) said it was a vintage in which to be careful not to over-make anything. The wine was stunning with an amazingly complex fruited freshness, a cracking start to the day. You might be interested to know that a new cellar is being built at Pétrus at the moment. From Pétrus, we headed across to Cheval Blanc where, as usual, the 2010 blend was different to most other right bank wines with 56% Cabernet Franc and 44% merlot; it was impressive as ever. The Petit Cheval (75% merlot 25% Cabernet Franc) was a little harder to understand but also good.

We were back across to Pomerol (Pétrus’ neighbour in fact) for an in depth visit to Gazin; a wine we have supported for a long time. We had tasted it on several occasions and it showed well again here along with the Hospitalet de Gazin (the second wine and 1/3 the production of Gazin.) A promising pairing and the wines reflect a massive amount of effort is being made here. Interesting to note that, unusually for the vintage, the 2010 had lower levels of tannin than the 2009.

Our last pre-lunch visit was to Louis Mitjavile (son of François) at Domaine de l’Aurage (this has also been covered as a Domaine by Joe Muller – LINK TO JOES BLOG) so rather than repeat ourselves I will leave it to Louis (picture left). The quality of the wines here is staggering and given that (the currently delicious) 2007 was his first vintage, it is impossible not to see this Domaine gaining a cult following, just as Louis father’s Roc de Cambes has done.

It was then lunchtime and off to Café de L’Espérance which is a meat-lovers paradise that Paul had been raving about all week. Having all ordered our slabs of meat (veal mostly,) we were a little mortified to discover that Helen, our driver who we had asked to join us for lunch, was a vegetarian… ooopps. A great lunch was had by all, accompanied by a good bottle of Pavillon de Poyferré 2006. Percy had been warned that the afternoon’s tasting at one of the top Négociants was a gruelling task so took the precaution of an ‘adequate’ pudding.

Lunch done, we were on to the Négociant tasting. Essentially you get a massive menu of nearly 200 wines to choose from all split down by commune. We used this as a chance to re-taste key wines, wines we had disagreed on, wines we hadn’t managed to taste or to taste wines that we had only tasted once and were likely to offer. Combine this with a chance to taste the ‘sweets’ and you get the idea that this was a big tasting. We totaled just under 80 wines and found the experience invaluable. The set up is spectacularly organised and, given that we arrived at 3pm on the Friday of an amazingly busy week, we were tremendously well looked after, including a bottle of Champagne to cleanse the palate at the end. We didn’t argue over many wines and generally reached a consensus. One new thing I took away was how hard the sweets are to taste at this stage; it is unquestionably a strong vintage for them but some showed elegance without guts, some showed texture without acidity and some were even more confusing. Given these are great wines it goes to show that may be they should be tasted later? Or once bottled?

With only the Moueix visit remaining (the next day) – in many ways the most important and the most exciting – there was a slight ‘end of term’ feel about the dinner we had at the Brasserie l’Europe that night, accompanied by Caillou Blanc de Talbot 2008 and Saint-Pierre 2002. We then strolled back to a glass of Calvados, over which we caught up on a bit of the masters golf. A great day.

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Next, the Pessac-Léognan UGC Tasting, where it was great to taste so many of the Pessac whites in amongst the reds (I did whites then reds some did the other way around), it was an easier ordeal on the mouth and senses and a very different experience from the UGC at Listrac/Moulis the previous day. The white varies in style but the quality and fruit is very good. I think this could be a good vintage to stockpile a few whites as they will be terrific in youth (when most should be drunk in my opinion) but the best will age too. The general standards of the Pessac reds was good too, if a little more variable than the whites. As we left, we waved goodbye to Claire (who was returning to Scotland) and set off for the right bank. First stop – François and Miloute Mitjavile at Tertre Roteboeuf. As usual for the trips between tastings, we all gave Alison our scores for the wines tasted en route; the inevitable squabbles and banter ensued.

On arrival at Tertre Roteboeuf, the hushed and mellow surroundings and the real charm of François and Miloute makes you instantly relax. Before lunch, we tasted the 2009 and 2010 Roc de Cambes and Tertre Roteboeuf and were, as usual, staggered by the wines. The 2010′s are different from the 2009′s, but there seems no difference in quality what-so-ever. The wines are of a sublime ripeness but at the same time, they are balanced – a brilliant effort again. May be it is because of the ripeness but these where amongst the easiest 2010′s to appreciate. And so to lunch, where we had the strange but good combo of oysters with Caviar  and the 2010 Tertre Roteboeuf… these complemented a strong debate on the Euro very nicely! Then Francois got out Roc de Cambes 1990, only his third vintage of the wine; it was matured but still fresh and given it was only the third vintage, I am very excited about what will happen in the future to the current wines. Very generously, Francois then got the 1990 Tertre Roteboeuf  out (the first vintage of TRB had been 1978, François having worked at Figeac in ’75 and ’76) You could see a real common thread in winemaking from the very start – the 1990  offering fantastic intensity and complexity. In the wonderful surrounding of the Mitjavile’s home, these wines and Miloute’s wonderful cooking made it a memorable lunch indeed. (See a blogpost on previous visit toTertre Roteboeuf in March 2011)

The rest of the day was taken up with two contrasting UGC tastings:

1) Saint-Emilion – This is always the least consistent tasting with a few examples of wine from The ‘Made-not-Grown’ School, but also some very fine examples. It is strange that St.Emilion traditionally has the least common thread to it’s wine styles and making; it is not a big commune and the blend (both in the vineyard and the final wines) is loosely so similar that you would think it would be more consistent than it really is.

 2) Pomerol – where the tasting was cooler and smaller (10 wines against St.Emilions 20+) The styles were closer together with a strong showing from Gazin and particularly Conseillante, to my mind.          

 With the temperature really rising, we were all in snooze-mode on the drive back to Bordeaux centre to meet up with Percy, our Chairman, over a cool evening beer before dinner….

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Next up, Léoville Las Cases. (picture left.) Quite a few wines to taste here – Potensac, Chapelle de Potensac, Léoville Las Cases, Clos du Marquis (separate vineyard within Léoville Las Cases), Le Petit Lion (second wine of Léoville Las Cases, not offered until it is in bottle), Château Nenin (Pomerol) and the second wine Fugees de Nenin. I loved the Las Cases but though that Léoville Poyferre still just had the edge in the battle of the Léovilles.

Grand-Puy-Lacoste is always a nice place to taste; a mellow, airy room and a very, very impressive wine this year. I am not quite sure what Xavier Borie and Mr. Marus (picture right) are discussing here(!) but things seem to be going well. We were then due at one Ségur followed by the other. At Château Phélan Ségur – very much a personal favourite – we were able to taste the last 10 vintages – 2010 back to 2001. The rest of the team had tasted this recently and I will defer back to Guy Seddon’s write up http://www.candbscene.co.uk/bordeaux/phelan-segur for notes but I feel the last three 2008/9/10 are a very strong but individual trio and as long as the pricing remains good (one big reason why it is a favorite) then 2010 is another must buy. And so to Calon from Phélan – a real highlight. I have to admit to scoring the two wines here highly. The Calon Ségur is (sadly) down in production this year but was very good indeed ‘giving’ a little more at this early stage than it has in the past. The other wine - Capbern Gasqueton – has a chance to be one of our top value wines, despite not being of Calon’s ‘breeding.’ It is a little gem. Both these last two wines had the vin de presse included which is rare but more informative.

It was lunch time and something I had really been looking forward to. Lunch with Anthony Barton and his wife Eva. Sadly, Anthony’s chef had been injured skiing so we de-camped to the brilliant Cordeillan Bages restaurant where we had a wonderful lunch chosen by Anthony and Eva. The wines were stunning too, with Salon 1995 (really starting to blossom) to start and then the white wine of Lynch Bages from 2008, Blanc de Lynch Bages which had a stunning nose but possibly needs a little more time on the palate. The reds were, of course, Léoville Barton with a bottle each from 1995, 1996 and 1999. All showed very well the 99 the most ‘ready’ now but the 1996 being very classical (a good thing in my book) and the slightly softer subtler 1995 right there too; a wonderful trio but even those where not up to the superb stories and banter…a very memorable afternoon. At this stage, I will comment on the Léoville and Langoa in 2010; both are very good indeed. I sometimes struggle with the fruit character of Langoa but this classical vintage seems to have played to its strengths; wines to watch out for.

Next stop was Pontet-Canet to see Alfred “the Great” (Anthony Barton’s phrase!) Tesseron and his daughter Mélanie. 2010 is the first vintage in which Pontet-Canet is fully biodynamic; a quest they have been on for some time. The wine was muscular and masculine but impressively balanced too. Little needs to be said about this Château’s rise.. it is impressive indeed.

The heat was really up by now and as we made the longish drive back to base there was on stop of to make at the Moulis, Listrac and Haut-Médoc UGC tasting. May be it was the heat or possibly the lunch but this was a tasting at which there seemed to be a few OTT wines; over-extraction appeared to be a bit of a danger. We were delighted, however, to taste with Pierre-Gilles Grommand d’Evry (for more info see blog on the teams visit http://www.candbscene.co.uk/bordeaux/a-medieval-tasting-at-chateau-lamarque) of Lamarque whose wine plays to the vintages strengths and will offer classical, medoc style Claret with a good price tag, that you can age.

This being day three the banter levels were rising in the ‘van’ with particularly strong views, noisily put, coming from the back seat.

The evening was a mellow one for Alison, Bryce and I as we had a very good dinner at Gravelier; a decent wine list, short menu and simple, well done food. Adam and Paul both had a big dinner and Claire was of to an Yquem tasting (lucky thing).  

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Next stop was Château Lafite Rothschild, which we managed to get into a little early. We tasted three wines (picture left), Carruades, Duhart Milon and Lafite itself. I thought Duhart had a little more about it than the Carruades at this stage but, without a doubt, the Grand Vin was on fine form with a notably savoury edge and a long future ahead of it.

We made the small trip from Lafite to Cos d’Estournal (picture right) where the line-up is also three wines with the Goulée first; it was impressive, a wine hitting its stride after first being made in 2003. The Pagodes (second wine) and Cos d’Estournel were both impressive and started to make me think that in 2010 there are several second growths who have made very fine wine indeed (this impression got stronger throughout the week)… I will be intrigued to see how Cos’ Topiary elephants come alone, the cages are there they just need them to grow.

From one top Saint-Estèphe to another, as we got to Montrose. This met will universal approval but especially from Mr. Marus who declared it a return to the “real” Montrose. One more stop before Lunch was at Lafon Rochet, a wine we have had a soft spot for (picture left). A new tasting room at the back of the Chais is a great addition and having tasted the rosé (called Rosette,) we were impressed by the masculine but potentially very good value 2010. A taste of the 2008 was also encouraging for those that have that wine in the cellar. En Route to lunch at La Salamandre in Pauillac, we collected Adam to take the C & B team to five.

Post lunch, Adam was straight in at the deep end as we arrived at Branaire Ducru for the UGC tasting of Saint-Julien, Pauillac & Saint-Estèphe. Once we managed to resist the urge to slump in to one the deck chairs (picture right) we got into the, rather warm, tasting room and got cracking. In several cases this was re-taste time. The standard was high with lots of structure as reported elsewhere but the amount of fruit and acidity was largely in balance. This was not, for me, quite the case at the Margaux UGC down the road at Lascombes; the standard was high but I found the balance a little less obvious. There were strong performances from the Rauzan’s and some others but fewer wines really shone that at the Saint-Julien, Pauillac & Saint-Estèphe UGC.

Claire Bailey joined us at Lascombes before disappearing with Mr. Marus to a Négociant dinner in the evening. Alison, Adam, Bryce and I got back in the trusty wagon and headed to Ducru Beaucaillou where the reception is always a welcoming one with the knee-high riding boots getting their usual approving glance from the visitors. From the tasting, it was interesting to note that from 2005 onwards, the Croix de Beaucaillou has been made from a single vineyard within the Estate. The wines, along with Lalande Borie (totally separate estate,) were good and you could see a common theme. I rated the Ducru as being up there with Montrose and Cos, amongst others.

 Our last tasting of the day was at Angludet (the d’ has gone now) and the wine showed well; better in fact than earlier that day at the UGC. It is structured and big but with good fruit to balance it out. Dinner at Malaki Café was good with Pouilly-Fumé Ladoucette 08 and Rauzan-Gassies 2004…

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