Right Bank Bordeaux Focus

In addition to our tasting notes from our recent 2015 Bordeaux tasting, it is time to clarify a few words that I frequently use in this blog that may not be familiar to many readers.

Way back in 1855 the Bordeaux wine merchants felt it would be useful for attendees of the Exposition of Bordeaux if the top wine producers in the Haut Medoc plus Haut Brion in Graves were ranked based on the prices paid for these wines over a long period of time as well as the quality of the property based on geological, meteorological and traditional practices employed at these properties. So they ranked the very top of the top producers, 61 in all out of many thousands. Today, there are about 6,000 wineries making about 9,000 wines every year in Bordeaux. So, to have been ranked at all is a huge honor and clearly in the top one tenth of one percent at the top. What they did was rank them from First (Premier) Grand Cru Classé (first growth, for short) to Fifth. Again, keep in mind that a Fifth Grand Cru Classé is still in the top one tenth of one percent at the top. They also added Cru Bourgeois and Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel ranked just below the first through fifth. Back then, the prices for these wines were much more bunched together than today. Typically, the first growths commanded a higher price than the seconds, the seconds more than the thirds and so on. First, second, third has nothing to do with chronology either as to when the vineyard was planted or harvested. It simply infers historical pricing along with any special attributes for which merchants were typically willing to pay a premium. Because those properties that were chosen as Grand Cru Classé gained a great deal of financial security and political clout, this very outdated classification has never been updated and only one revision has been made since 1855.

So, on the other side of the Gironde estuary and the Dordogne River from the Haut Medoc and Graves, the wine producers of Saint Emilion requested the Committee of Appellations of Origin to classify their wines with some nuanced differences from the 1855 classification along with the understanding that the classification would be revised and updated every twenty years. The first classification of Saint Emilion took place in 1955. Though they haven’t quite lived up to every professed detail, the Saint Emilion classification is far more fluid and representative of today’s wine quality than the 1855 Classification of the Haut Medoc and Graves. They realized that when translated to the many languages around the world that terms like Second, Bourgeois etc. were often misunderstood and often suggested something less than the best of the best as it was intended in the 1855 Classification. So, in Saint Emilion there are no Cru Bourgeois. Instead they use the term Grand Cru or in English simply a great place or great site. This ranking is based on the geological location of the vineyards as well as adherence to all legal and traditional requirements which define wine quality in the region. These wines do have the option to request that they be considered for the next grade up which is Grand Cru Classé, a great site which has been classified as such not only by location and practice but also its prestige and typical quality determined by a panel of wine critics. Among those 85 wineries, the top 17 wines are accorded Premieur Grand Cru Classe or first growth status. Of those top seventeen, five (Angélus, Ausone, Cheval Blanc, Figeac and Pavie have been classified as Premieur Grand Cru Classé “A” at the absolute exalted top of the heap. Ironically, three of these top of the top of the top wines (Angélus, Ausone and Cheval Bland) felt that in spite of attaining that ultimate status themselves, the classification process has become too closely aligned with media clout, amenities and accommodations at the property and less about the inherent quality of the wine so they removed themselves from the whole process!

Today, many of France’s top wine regions have some sort of classification process all with slightly different terminology and basis for being.

Another term I use frequently is “second wine” or “second label”. That has nothing to do with the classification systems mentioned above. A second wine or second label is simply an additional wine produced by a winery in addition to their flagship wine(s). For example, if Chateau Latour Martillac feels that not every drop of wine that they make in a given year represents the style and quality they hope to achieve, they leave that wine out of their flagship wine, give it a different name and sell it at a lower price. Often, these are real bargains for the collector who has patience. Often the only “flaw” is that the second wine is not quite as attractive when first released but, given time, will rival and occasionally surpass the flagship bottling. In the example above, Chateau LaGrave Martillac is the second wine of Chateau Latour Martillac. This practice is common in California too though many of the well known second wines (Estancia, Liberty School, etc.) have become so popular that they have taken on a life of their own and frequently out-sell the flagship wine.

Because of my fascination with the minutia of ways that very similar wines are labeled and rated by official classifications as well as media influence, I asked a few friends and family to blind taste a series of 2015 Bordeaux which I had purchased on the futures market several years ago. I was curious to know if, tasted blind, there would be much difference between the various regions of the Right Bank and whether those wines were much different from the Left Bank. Also, within the existing hierarchy, I wanted to know if there were actually any noticeable differences. As you will see, the answer is NO. The wines were extremely similar and there was very little difference in quality other than one wine, Saintayme, that stood out and was the best liked. Of course, with a tiny number of tasters and a tiny number of wines one cannot really draw any conclusions other than that the Bordeaux wines of 2015 are remarkably good across the board. We started the evening with two “warm-up” white wines to whet our palates then proceeded to two flights of four reds and finally a sweet dessert wine. With one exception, all of the reds were straight Merlot or Merlot blends*.

Warm Up White Wine

2016 Chateau LaGrave-Martillac, Pesac Léognan (Semillon/Sauv Bl) 92+ VC $32 showed up as extremely ripe with the classic (please excuse the language) cat piss and green herb that manifests itself in full fat Sauvignon Blanc blends. It did not taste older than the 2021 Fontinelle that followed it but the maturity influencing both power and richness was quite evident. It was preferred by everyone for a variety of reasons but especially the mouth-coating lush fatness. I gave it a high SILVER score. 2021 Chateau De Fontenille, Entre Deux Mers (50% Savu Bl / 20% Sauv Gris / 20% Muscadelle / 10% Semillon) 92 VC $32 has a brilliantly clean, fresh, with peach-like presence and a big mineral laden Sauvignon Blanc dry finish lasting several seconds. Everyone liked this wine but not quite as much as the LaGrave that preceded it. I gave it SILVER too.

First Flight (all but one Right Bank, Merlot dominant)

2015 Clos du Roy, Fronsac (95% Merlot / 5% Cab Fr) 92 WA $18 possessed the most distinctly Bordeaux sense of terroir with cedar and blood orange. Maybe because of the big tannin and spicy finish, it seemed a tad light in the mid-palate. On its own, a fine bottle but I think it got overwhelmed by some of the other wines. SILVER 2015 Chateau Siaurac, Lalande de Pomerol (Merlot+Cab Fr+Malbec) 90-92 WA $18 was one of the favorites. Everything from the nose to the finish was big, dense, fat, ripe yet classy and fine with cedar and tobacco nuances and a maturing concentrated fruit laden finish. If seemed to me to have elegance and power of a Grand Cru Classé. Imagine that, a bargain priced GOLD! 2015 Chateau Beaumont, Haut Medoc Cru Bourgeoise (50% Cab Sv / 47% Mer / 3% Pt Ver) 90 WA $15 is the only wine in the tasting with Cabernet Sauvignon being the largest component of the blend. I don’t know if it was the Cabernet or just my imagination, but the fruit did seem a bit different from the others. Lots of blackberry fruit and a fine silky texture and lovely aftertaste. Though we gave it a GOLD, to my taste, it might be just slightly less robust than the rest of the flight. 2015 Chateau Dallau, Bordeaux Superieur (75% Merlot+Cab Fr+Cab Sv) 88-90 WA $12 showed up with a gorgeous bouquet of ripe red fruit, freshest of this group; the finish is long and lush. Lots to like here but overall, it came up just short of gold status.SILVER

Second Flight (various levels of St Emilion)

2015 Chateau Fombrauge, St Emilion Grand Cru Classé** (95% Merlot / 5% Cab Fr) 92 WA $35-50 has a very engaging pomegranate-like fresh red fruit aroma and a degree of sweet ripeness that carries through to the long refreshing finish. As with all the wines, an excellent representative type but outshined by the other wines in this flight. SILVER. 2015 Chateau Grand Pontet, St Emilion Grand Cru Classé*** (80% Merlot / 13% Cab Fr / 7% Cab Sv) 90 D $35-50 came across as massive and dense yet classy and refined. It had a sense of maturity as well as a digestif-like bitter note in the long rich finish. GOLD 2015 Saintayme, St Emilion Grand Cru (100% Merlot) 92 WA $25 was the favorite of the evening by a good margin. It was the most powerful with huge presence and a unique barnyard nuance that added to the experience. The fruit essence was concentrated and stayed on the palate into the full long long finish. This is a GOLD PLUS if there is such a thing! 2015 Chateau Durand-Laplagne, Puisseguin St Emilion (75% Merlot / 20% Cab Fr / 5% Cab Sv) 93 WA $15 was Alice’s favorite for its perfect balance and long finish. Puisseguin is one of what is called a “satellite” St Emilion. That is, the vineyards are on the outskirts of what is St Emilion proper. The nose has strawberry-like notes. The mid-palate is so nicely integrated that it is easy to finish the glass without really studying it or noticing that while not heavy, it has presence and fine texture. GOLD

Wrap-Up

1996 Chateau Laville, Sauternes (85% Semillon / 13% Sauv Bl / 2% Muscadelle) no rating**** $25 375ml is actually a pretty minor Sauternes that has gotten a lot of praise recently. Though showing exactly what one expects in complex resinous sweetly decadent honey-like exotic aromatic fruit from a Sauternes, it is a tad lacking in grip and intensity. Delightful and nowhere near over the hill.

Enjoy in Good Health,

Brian Cain, the Michigan Vintner

VC= points Dick Scheer, Village Corner WA= Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate D= Decanter Magazine (UK) $= current SRP (not necessarily what I paid years ago) *Although there are actually eight grape varieties (Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Gros Verdot, Malbec, St. Macaire and Carmenere) permitted in red Bordeaux, Merlot is the main grape grown everywhere except for a small slice of the Bordeaux region known as the Left Bank where most of the properties have planted a significant portion of their vineyards to Cabernet Sauvignon. The reason for this is that the Left Bank frequently experiences spring frost and because Cabernet Sauvignon buds out later than Merlot, there is a lesser danger of losing an entire crop if planted to Cabernet Sauvignon. Likewise, on the Right Bank and elsewhere in Bordeaux it tends to rain more in late autumn than in the Left Bank and therefore, with Merlot ripening sooner than Cabernet Sauvignon, damage and dilution due to rain can be avoided. **=recently elevated in 2012 from Grand Cru to Grand Cru Classé ***=Robert Parker believes Grand Pontet should be elevated to a Premieur Grand Cru Classé ****=current vintage, 2019, received a “best in class” 97 points Decanter Magazine