Page 6 - Bordeaux

Château d’Yquem was almost English. During the Middle Ages, in fact, the estate belonged to the King of England, who was also Duke of Aquitaine at the time. In 1453, southwest France was once again brought under the dominion of the French crown by Charles VII and has stayed French ever since. A century and a half later, in 1593, a descendent of a local noble family, Jacques Sauvage, was given feudal tenure over Yquem. The Gironde department archives, as well as those of the château, show that special winegrowing practices and late harvesting already existed at this time. A few years later, the Sauvage family built the château and patiently set about constituting the present-day vineyard, plot by plot. The family became full owners of Yquem in 1711, during the reign of Louis XIV (by which time they had received noble status). In 1785, Françoise Joséphine de Sauvage d’Yquem married Count Louis Amédée de Lur-Saluces. Three years later, in 1788, the count died after a riding accident. His young

"Do wine drinkers genuinely seek pleasure above all?"

Award-winning author and contributing editor to the Decanter magazine, Andrew Jefford, asked in the recent issue of August 2020.  What a timely question! Do you?

If you are a hedonist wine drinker, here is a new release for you:  a custom-made original wood case of 3 top vintages of Château Mouton Rothschild - 2005, 2009 & 2010.

These are the ratings by wine critics of the 3 vintages of Mouton:

Château Mouton Rothschild 2005 (99/100, Robert Parker Jr, Antonio Galloni)
Château Mouton Rothschild 2009 (99/99, Robert Parker Jr, Lisa Perrotti-Brown)
Château Mouton Rothschild 2010 (98/99, Neal Martin, Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Robert Parker Jr)

Château Mouton Rothschild 2005 - "The 2005 Mouton-Rothschild has developed magnificently, and is even better than I remember. The final blend was 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc. Stunning notes of crème de cassis, melted asphalt, roasted espresso and cedarwood

This morning, Château Latour released a small quantity of its top-rated vintage of 2009.  For collectors and connoisseurs, such ex-chateau release of the top vintage is the most reliable way to acquire 100 pointers.  The wine is being prepared by the chateau to leave its cellar for the first time after aging in its vaulted cellar under perfect conditions for 10 years.  You wouldn't find a better kept bottle anywhere else in the world.  For an inside view of Château Latour's cellar, here is a picture I took on my last trip.

When the 2009 vintage was first released, Robert Parker Jr called it "a monumental wine from a monumental vintage in the Médoc, this is our children's children's children's elixir".  We all love our children.  But I plan to open one of the bottles in another 5-10 years, just so I can be sure of the quality of what I will be leaving behind for the children and their children one day.  :-)

"A blend of 91.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8.7%

A year ago, I worked with my local Newport Beach chapter of La Chaïne de Rotisseurs to present a dinner prepared by our local Michelin-starred chef, Craig Strong, featuring the wine from Clos du Clocher. 

Most of the gourmet in attendance had never heard of the wine before.  That was no surprise.  Clos du Clocher, in my view, is one of the best hidden value hailing from Pomerol, the smallest village in the Bordeaux area.

Here's what I told the audience at dinner:

"Imagine you decide to take a walk in the center of Pomerol plateau, to really get a feel for the land. Starting at Château Trotanoy, in less than 5 minutes, you would pass Le Pin.  Another 5 minutes, you walk past Clos du Clocher.  Make a left turn, in 9 minutes, you reach Vieux Château Certan. Another 10 minutes, you reach Château Pétrus.  Along the way, you will see Château Beauregard, Petit Village, La Conseillante, L'Évangile on your right.  Further in the

It isn't every day you hear a lady calling herself "a heartless cow" for not giving 100 points to Château Margaux 2015 (Paul Pontelllier's last vintage), like wine critic Lisa Perrotti-Brown just did yesterday.  To make up for her past hesitancy, maybe, she went on to say this about Château L'Eglise Client 2019 (Denis Durantou's last vintage):

Her name was Virginie de Pichon Longueville, Comtesse de Lalande.  She was one of the Médoc’s most illustrious characters of the 19th century.  Her namesake wine is Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande (AOC: Pauillac), commonly referred to as "Pichon Lalande".  Its peers in Pauillac appellation include such luminous names as Lafite Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild, Latour, and Pichon Baron.