Easter Celebration Family Dinner Vintage Bordeaux & Beef Tenderloin

Easter Celebration Family Dinner Vintage Bordeaux & Beef Tenderloin

We hosted the family for a gala Easter Celebration dinner and (grand) kids Easter egg hunt. 

For diner we grilled a complete beef tenderloin served roasted potatoes, broccoli casserole and creative and imaginative corn nibblets preparation, slices of the kernel sections off the corn cob roasted, that we discovered at Stacy’s beachfront Restaurant in Crystal Beach during our recent trip to Destin, FL. 

For a wine accompaniment with dinner I pulled from the cellar a flight of Bordeaux varietals red blend wines anchored by a magnum of Erin’s birthyear Château Léoville-Barton St Julien Bordeaux 1981.

Château Léoville-Barton Grand Cru Classé Saint-Julien Bordeaux 1981

It is always a privilege and pleasure to meet the always friendly and delightful Lilian Barton-Sartorius from Château Léoville-Barton at the annual tasting of the UGCB (Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux (UGCB)). She is a regular visitor each year at the annual release tour visit to Chicago, unveiling/showcasing their most recent vintage release wines.

Lilian Barton-Sartorius - Château
Leoville and Langoa Barton

The Union is the association of 130 members of the top premier estates from the most prestigious Bordeaux appellations.

Ch. Léoville Barton is a Second Growth Saint-Julien estate, one of the three famous original Léoville estates (along with Léoville Poyferré and Léoville Las Cases). 

Until the nineteenth century, the Domaine de Léoville Barton was one of the largest and oldest crus in the Médoc extending from the vineyards of Château Beychevelle on the southern edge of the St Julien appellation, all the way to Château Latour at the northern border of St Julien and Pauillac. 

It was a result of the French Revolution that the estate was divided into three parts between the years 1826 and 1840, Château Léoville Las Cases, Château Léoville Barton and Château Léoville Poyferré.

The two Barton estates, still owned by the Barton family today (along with Ch. Langoa Barton), date back to founder, Irish trader Thomas Barton who arrived in Bordeaux in 1725. 

He was an important figure in the wine trade during his lifetime but didn't buy any vineyards. It was his grandson, Hugh, who first purchased Château Langoa in Saint-Julien in 1821, and later acquired a part of the Léoville estate, which would become Ch. Léoville Barton.

The estate remains in the family today under the stewardship of Lilian Barton and her children Melanie and Damien have both joined the family business. 

We toured the historic Château Léoville-Barton grounds and vineyards at the estate during our visit to Saint Julien back in 2019.

The 130 acre estate with its classicSaint-Julien terroir of rich gravelly soil along the Gironde River estuary is planted to the specified varietals, with Cabernet Sauvignon accounting for a little more than 70 percent, with the remainder Merlot and a small amount of Cabernet Franc.

The wine cellar still maintains large wooden vats, with some dating as far back as 1963, while much of the rest of the region moved to stainless steel, Léoville Barton remained loyal to its traditions. Following fermentation, the wine is aged in French barrels (60% new) for around 20 months. 

Tonight, this proved to be an extraordinary, perfect wine and food pairing that complemented and amplified both. 

I write often in these pages about such a pairing, when properly done will indeed attenuate the enjoyment of both the food and the accompanying wine. 

Château Léoville-Barton Saint Julien Bordeaux 1981

I recently purchased several bottles of the most recent 2022 release of this label. was replenishing my stock. I came across several bottles from the OWC (original wood case) from the acquisition upon release of this vintage label. This is also one of the few remaining labels we hold from that 1981 vintage, birthyear of our daughter Erin. 

While the 1981 Bordeaux vintage was a bit lackluster and less worthy of long term cellaring, this bottle in its 43rd year was amazingly in remarkable condition - the fill level being just below the foil, and the cork still holding together albeit a bit saturated. The label, as shown, was soiled, and the cork was slightly saturated, but still intact to be able to be extracted with an Ahso two pronged cork puller (shown). 

I know that holding this wine for more than four decades was less than ideal and was a bit concerned about the state of this wine, despite its known provenance, having been in our cellar since release. 

The wine, while showing its age with some minor signs of diminution from aging, ie. slight browning of the color, was still showing full round fruits, with depth and breadth of flavors and smooth supple structured tannins.   

What a relief to get aromas of fruit and appropriate positive accents, and good color as I decanted the wine. Even with the slightly deteriorated cork, this bottle was still very much approachable and within its acceptable drinking window! No doubt the age worthiness was accentuated due to the larger format 1.5l magnum bottle.

Alas, this is the joy of having a deep wine cellar with many vintages across which to compare, over time, even across the decades!  My Cellartracker records indicate we have more than a dozen vintages of this label dating back to this vintage and the iconic 1982, 1955 and 1990 vintages, which we're still holding as birth-year wines for our three sons. 

After three hours of settling prior to pouring, the wine showed remarkably well. Compare this to the 1981 vintage Chateau Palmer we opened at Christmas dinner which did not fare nearly as well. 

Dark garnet colored, medium to full bodied, complex yet nicely balanced and full round flavors of black currant and black cherry fruits accented by very nice notes of all earth, wood, spice and tobacco with some savory sprites of black olive and cedar, finishing with moderate smooth polished tannins the finish - a nice match to the savory sauce accenting our grilled beefsteak. 

RM 88 points. 

https://go.cellartracker.com/wine/159583

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2023/01/ugcb-2020-vintage-release-tour-chicago.html

https://www.leoville-barton.com/

https://twitter.com/bartonwine

@Bartonwine

We followed this wine with another Bordeaux that I featured in a separate follow on blogpost - 

Château Larmande St Emilion Grand Cru Classé for Easter Dinner.

Château du Tertre Margaux with grilled beefsteaks

Château du Tertre Margaux with grilled beefsteaks

Saturday dinner at home, Linda grilled some beef tenderloin beefsteaks, served with a medley of roasted potatoes, corn, onions and cheese. I pulled from the cellar a middle aged vintage Bordeaux blend for the occasion, served with toasted bread. 

According to the label, this is a trade sample bottle which would’ve been acquired from the producer for serving at the UGCB 2014 Release Tour in Chicago.

The UGC Bordeaux' (Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux (UGCB)) annual release tour traverses America showcasing their vintage release wines. The tour visits some combination of Miami, New York, Chicago, LA and San Francisco.

As we have for fourteen years, our 'Pour Boys' wine group helps host the event in Chicago at the Drake Hotel in the elegant grand ballroom (shown left).  

More than a hundred producers were participate at the event that is attended by over five hundred members of the trade, media and industry.

Earlier UGCB and related events are featured in earlier unwindwine blogposts. More than once, winter storms delayed or disrupted travel prohibiting some of them to get to Chicago for the event which started our standing in, hence we coined the name the 'pour' boys.

Château du Tertre Grand Cru Classe Margaux 2011

Château du Tertre is a Fifth Growth property in Margaux, one of the oldest properties not just in Margaux, but in the entire Left Bank dating back to 1143. The name, “Tertre,” refers to its geography, the word tertre means, “hill,” or, “rising ground," referring to the location, a couple km inland from the Gironde River estuary, the Margaux terroirs there are the highest, with one of the most elevated gravel outcrops of the Médoc. 

The estate sits in the hamlet of Arsac, where it has historically been called “beautiful Tertre d’Arsac”, just 4 km south of the Chambres de Margaux in the Margaux village centre where we stayed during our Margaux Bordeaux region tour in 2019,  just a 1/2 km south of the village perimeter. 

The footprint of the 52 hectares, 125 acres of vineyards, has not changed much since the 1855 Classification when it was designated Margaux Grand Cru Classe. The graveled, sloping soils are planted to customary Bordeaux varietals - Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, with the majority of the vines planted near an ambient forest, which yields cooler temperatures and preserves the freshness of the wines. 

The estate began to rise to prominence in the 1700's, when it was owned Pierre Mitchell of Bordeaux, known as a famous glassblower. Mitchell was known to have created the first jeroboam (a five liter bottle), and given his expertise in crafting glass bottles, it is likely that the first wines in Bordeaux were bottled at Château du Tertre.  

The Château du Tertre estate was very popular with the Dutch wine market and was acquired by Henri de Koenigswarter from the Netherlands before being taken over by the Cruse family, a famous négociant, in the 1900s.  

During the turbulent disruption of World War II, the estate fell into disrepair and its sterling reputation declined as a result. 

In 1961, the property was acquired by Philippe Gasqueton, the well-known owner of Château Calon Ségur in Saint Estèphe, who embarked on the long, intensive process of turning the estate around.  

1n 1997, Dutch businessman, Eric Albada Jelgersma bought the estate and invested in the large-scale overall restructuring, returning its former noble personality to the Chateau du Tertre. Since March 2021 the Helfrich family has taken over the property with the intent to continuing the tradition and pursuit of excellence. 

The viticultural team is headed by Alexander Van Beek, who made some critical changes such as eliminating machine harvesting.  Frédéric Ardouin from Château Latour was hired as Technical Director and winemaker in 2008, and the property has been on the rise ever since with biodynamic transformation of the viticulture and rebuilding of the production facilities with new technology. Château du Tertre wines are known to be versatile, able to be enjoyed younger with one to two hours decanting and show improvement with 10 years of bottle age. 

The 54-hectare Chateau du Tertre vineyard is planted to the Appellation designated Bordeaux varietals, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. This marks a major change from the historic mix in the vineyard with less Cabernet Sauvignon and more Merlot.

The du Tertre vineyard is planted in one large single block of vines and is one of the largest single blocks of vines in Margaux, as well as in all of the Medoc.

Notably, the vineyard is also one of the few estates that is the same size today, as it was at the time of the historic 1855 Classification of the Medoc.

The terroir is mostly gravel, with some sand soils on two, gentle, sloping hills. The elevation close to the chateau graduates up to 27 meters, making it one of the highest peaks in the Margaux appellation. The location for much of the vineyard is situated close to a forest, which produces a slightly cooler, micro-climate.

The cooler ambient temperature adds more freshness to the wines. Geographically, they are next to their sister property, Chateau Giscours. In fact, only a small stream separates the two vineyards. Their best parcels are located just behind the chateau, and as well as on the peaks of their gravel hills.

At fourteen years the foil, label and most importantly the fill level and cork were still in pristine condition. This is probably at the apex of its drinking window and profile, not likely to improve with further aging, but certainly will age well for another decade or more.  

Château du Tertre Grand Cru Classe Margaux 2011

The du Tertre is a blend of 10% Merlot, 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot and 20% Cabernet Franc.  

The relative high percentage of Petit Verdot, brings firmness, structure and deep color to a blend. 

This release was awarded 92 points by Wine Enthusiast and Jane Anson of Decanter.com, 91 points by James Suckling, 90 points by Wine Spectator, and 88 points by Robert Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate.

 

A nice pairing with the grilled beefsteaks. 

Dense dark garnet purple colored, medium bodied, floral notes with black berry and black currant fruits with notes of anise, black tea, earth and leather with supple tannins and well behaved acidity on the finish. 

RM 90 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1362619 

http://chateaudutertre.fr/en/home/

 

https://twitter.com/tertre_gcc 

 

@ Tertre_gcc

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2022/06/chateau-du-tertre-grand-cru-classe.html 

Château La Dominique Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé with Beef Bourgogne

Château La Dominique Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé with Beef Bourgogne

For a hearty midweek dinner, Linda prepared her delicious beef bourgogne, so I pulled from our wine  cellar this Grand Cru Classé Right Bank Bordeaux for a fabulous food and wine pairing. Having a fine wine cellar is made for situations such as this.   

While some suggest Burgundy wines based on Pinot Noir for pairing with beef bourgogne, I prefer a moderate, complex, but expressive and soft Bordeaux such as Merlot based blends from the Right Bank, such as this.

Château La Dominique produces this Grand Cru Classé wine from their 71 acres of vineyards located in the northwest of Saint-Émilion, on the edge of the Pomerol appellation, adjoining some of the most famous vineyards of the region - Cheval Blanc, Figeac, La Conseillante, and L'Evangile.  It has been owned by the Fayat family since 1969.

From the Wine Cellar Insider, we learn that Chateau La Dominique dates back to the 1700s and is named for the island in the Caribbean where the original owner of the property earned his fortune.

The Fayat family purchased the estate in 1969 from the de Bailliencourt family, who had owned the vineyard since 1933 and also still own Chateau Gazin in Pomerol. The property had several ownership changes over the previous two decades before it was obtained by Clement Fayat.

Clement Fayat started out as a bricklayer and went on to found one of the largest construction companies in the world. In addition to La Dominique, he also owns Chateau Fayat in Pomerol and Clement Pichon in the Haut Medoc appellation. The Fayat family also recently purchased Vieux Fortin in St. Emilion which was incorporated into La Dominique.

The 71 acre Château La Dominique vineyard is planted to 81% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon. All the vineyards are classified as Grand Cru Classe. The best parcels in the La Dominique vineyard are located next to the legendary first growth estate Cheval Blanc, and not far from Chateau Figeac, one of our favorite Saint Emilion producers, and cellar holdings. Head north towards Pomerol the estate also bordered the premiere estates of Chateau Conseillante and LEvangile in Pomerol.

Chateau La Dominique underwent a major renovation of the entire estate in 2013 including the chateau, cellars, winemaking facilities, grape reception area, and a larger vat house, bringing in the most up-to-date, modern technology available. 

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate wrote of the 2012 vintage - "This 2012 is sensational and further evidence of the rebound of La Dominique after a few years of mediocrity." 

The estate produces 60,000 cases per year of the grand vin and slightly more than 7,000 cases per year of a second wine, Saint-Paul-de-Dominique. 

We have enjoyed tasting these wines and meeting the producer at the annual UGC Bordeaux' (Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux (UGCB)) North American release tour (s) and appreciate their participation and visits to Chicago to show their wines.  See example postings of this event here - UGC Bordeaux 2013 Release Tour Chicago 2016, and Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux Chicago.

Château La Dominique Saint-Émilion Grand Cru (Grand Cru Classé) 2012

This wine was produced with the advisement of the legendary Merlot master, Michel Rolland and Jean-Philippe Fort as consulting winemakers. 

The 2012 is a blend of  95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc. 

This release was rated 94 points by Vinous, 93 points by Wine Advocate, 92 by Wine Cellar Insider, and 89–91 by Roger Voss of Wine Enthusiast. 

At eleven years of age, the label, foil and most importantly the fill level and cork were ideal, likely at it's apex and may be there for perhaps close to a decade yet. 

This was double decanted and left to open for an hour before serving.

Dark garnet inky purple color, medium full bodied, elegant, bright vibrant expressive but soft ripe plum, cherry and blackberry fruits with floral, spice and earth notes, hints of lavender, black tea and licorice with a long smooth silky finish. 

60,000 bottles of this cuvée were produced

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1603259

https://www.chateau-ladominique.com/en/accueil/

https://twitter.com/chladominique

@chladominique

Château Larmande St Emilion Grand Cru Classé 2005

Château Larmande St Emilion Grand Cru Classé 2005

Mid-week casual sipping, I pulled this from the cellar to enjoy with artisan cheeses and biscuits. 

It's hard to believe its been five years since I last tasted this label when I wrote,' at eleven years of age, I sense this is approaching the end of its prime drinking window as the fruits seem to have given way slightly to the emergence of the non-fruit flavors based on earlier tasting notes from three and five years ago'.  

That note was probably insightful as the trend of diminution seems to have continued and as I (blindly) demoted my score for this label by a point. It was still enjoyable none-the-less.

That earlier tasting was from a 375 ml half bottle while tonight was standard size 750, and I wrote at that time. "Knowing the small format half bottle will age less gracefully than full size or larger bottles makes me wonder if that affected this tasting - will find out when I open a standard format bottle of this label." 

Alas, we found out and my prognosis may have been correct as this seems to have diminished further albeit ever so slightly. We still hold three bottles of the case we acquired upon release. We'll need to consume these in the intermediate term, but it still has several years to go, yet.  

My published tasting notes for this label show nine postings with one a year ago when my notes were consistent with earlier tastings and project life still left in this release.

Château Larmande lies north of the town of St. Emilion, close to Soutard and Cadet-Piola. It consists of 25 hectares of vineyards planted with Merlot (65%), Cabernet Franc (25%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (10%). Larmande was sold to the French insurance conglomerate, La Mondiale in 1991.

This vintage release was a blend of Merlot (65%), Cabernet Franc (30%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (5%).

Dark garnet colored, medium bodied, aromatic blackberry and black cherry fruits accented by tones of tar, smoke, earthy leather, hints of cedar and spice, (earlier reports of mocha were not apparent), on a firm lingering tongue puckering tannin finish - fruits slightly diminished from earlier tastings with seemingly increased acidity.

RM 88 points.*

*PS. A postscript on this tasting, after a couple days open in the bottle, chilled, this wine returned to its earlier elegance, structured balance and fruit, regaining earlier rating of 89 points. Once again, I shouldn't P-n-P, pop and pour these complex aged wines, rather, give them respect, open them and allow them to breathe at least a couple hours before diving in!

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=351693 

http://www.chateau-soutard.com/chateau-larmande-.aspx

 

UGCB 2017 Release Tour Chicago

UGCB North American 2017 Vintage Release Tour Chicago

The UGC Bordeaux (Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux (UGCB)), annual release tour visited Chicago this week unveiling/showcasing their 2017 vintage release wines. The Union is the association of 134 of the top premier estates from the most prestigious Bordeaux appellations. This year's North American tour visited Toronto, New York, Washington DC, Chicago, LA and San Francisco.

Pour Boys, Ernie, Lyle, Dan, Rick
Sans Bill

As in previous years, our 'Pour Boys' wine group (left) helped conduct the event in Chicago. 

Once again it was held at the Drake Hotel in the magnificent grand ballroom (shown below). 

We work with the UGCB Events Manager, Olivier Crombez, host Mike Wangbickler and his Balzac Communications team preparing the room and the wines, checking in trade registrants, and standing in for producers who faced travel or other disruptions, presenting and pouring their wines. 

Several times over the years, several producers or their representatives were delayed in travel or had other disruptions and we were called in to service to pour their wines, hence we earned our moniker, the 'Pour Boys'.

Close to a hundred producers were represented at the event that was attended by over five hundred members of the trade, media and industry.

Francois-Xavier-Maroteaux
Owner Château Branaire-Ducru

As is their custom in the third week of January, this annual roadshow is a marathon trek across North America by the producers and their representatives offering wine professionals and eonphiles the chance to meet the Bordeaux principles, winemakers and commercial directors.

As I've written in previous years, we appreciate the investment in time and effort expended by the producers and and their brand ambassadors to visit Chicago. It provides a wonderful opportunity to meet them firsthand and discuss their perspectives on their brand, approach to crafting their style, their history, businesses, and their vintages including, of course, the current release.


As a collector and holder of a significant collection of Bordeaux wines dating back four decades, I hold as many as a dozen or more vintages of some of these labels. Meeting the owners, family members, producer / winemaker / representative is a great privilege and offers a collector the chance to learn more about their  investment and wines. As such, I tend to focus on and taste those wines that I know well and hold verticals (multiple vintages of the same label), of which my wine buddies and I have holdings.

Lilian Barton-Sartorius - Châteaux
Leoville and Langoa Barton

This was the tenth Bordeaux release event that I and my 'Pour Boy' wine buddies assisted the team at Balzac Communications to work the event, helping with set up, logistics, checking in the attendees, and standing in to pour wine for any featured producers that were not able to attend in person. 

Earlier UGCB and related events are featured in earlier unwindwine blogposts.

This year was especially exciting since we visited Bordeaux this past year and we got to visit with several of the producers' and brand ambassadors whose Chateau's or vineyards we visited on our trip. 

As usual, we focused on the Left Bank producers that we own and collect, but this year particularly, we focused on  those that we visited this year, as well as those we are targeting for our next visit to the Medoc.

Karine Barbier - Château Lascombes

The 2017 vintage was a bit challenging interrupting the streak of great harvests 2015 through 2019, primarily due to a frost that hit the region early in the season. 

The wine team of K&L Wines in the San Francisco Bay Area, Clyde Beffa and Ralph Sands, issued their 2017 Bordeaux vintage report following their tour to the region. 

2017 Bordeaux will be remembered as the year of the great frost that struck just after the tastings, April 27 and 28, with temperatures as low as -4 Celsius on both nights. But due to climate changes and increased knowledge on how to combat impending frost, the vintage is not the disaster that estates withstood in 1991.
Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/2018/04/2017-bordeaux-vintage-and-harvest-report/

2017 Bordeaux will be remembered as the year of the great frost that struck just after the tastings, April 27 and 28, with temperatures as low as -4 Celsius on both nights. But due to climate changes and increased knowledge on how to combat impending frost, the vintage is not the disaster that estates withstood in 1991.
Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/2018/04/2017-bordeaux-vintage-and-harvest-report/

The 2017 vintage year will be remembered as the year of the frost, but it’s also a vintage in which many of the top châteaux produced some very good wines. It was a year when location really mattered, the terroir really made a difference as those vineyards with proximity to the moderating effects of the Gironde estuary were less affected by the frost. And those with the rocky well drained soils recovered from the rains.

2017 was atypical with its early growing season, with early and successful flowering in late May, sunshine, then heavy rain in June, followed by a dry and cool summer, then late August heat, and many damp days just before the red harvest in September.

The quality of 2017 is much better than most people might expect. While it’s not in the same league as the outstanding 2016 and 2015 vintages, it not near the largely disappointing 2013.

The challenging year all round still produced some well proportioned red Bordeaux – and some excellent whites too, both dry and sweet. While not big, full and structured, many of the 2017 reds are approachable upon release and should provide early gratification in their youth.

Anne-Francoise Quie
Château Rauzan-Gassies

The whites showed especially well and the top Sauternes and a number of dry whites could definitely be on par with the efforts in 2015 and 2016.

2017 Bordeaux is a stylistic choice, you are going to like the character, which can be bright, focusing on red fruits or not. Generally, the wines are; medium bodied, fresh, aromatic and lighter in alcohol than sunnier vintages. The tannins are soft. The fruits are sweet and the majority of the wines will be enjoyable early in life.
Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/2018/04/2017-bordeaux-vintage-and-harvest-repor

Marie Helene-Dussech
Château Brane-Cantenac

 
The challenging vintages such as 2017, following some outstanding years, often offer opportunities for collectors to find some values to stock their cellars with wines that should provide enjoyable drinking soon, not requiring several years of cellaring to mature and reach their optimal drinking window.

Lise Latrille - Château Prieure Lichine

The event is sponsored by the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, (UGCB) and is hosted and orchestrated by Balzac Communications, boutique wine marketing and communications consultancy firm in Napa, under the leadership of Mike Wangbickler, President. 

Attending again this year too was Paul Wagner, founder and Chairman Emeritus of Balzac. Paul is a founding member of the Academy of Wine Communications and a leading member of the American Wine Society. As with last year, again, it was great to see Paul enjoying his passion and remaining engaged whilst in retirement.

The afternoon session is for the benefit of the press and trade and wine professionals. Again this year, the evening session in Chicago was hosted trade merchant partner Binny's Beverage Depot, the Chicagoland wine superstore, offering tickets to the evening session to their valued customers and the public. This year, over four hundred collectors and vinophiles registered for the even. 

Setting up in the venue with care.

Château Larmande 2005

Château Larmande St Emilion Grand Cru Classé 2005 

Following our recent trip to Bordeaux, I am still in the groove enjoying fine Bordeaux wines. Tonight, I pulled from the cellar this Right Bank Grand Cru Classé to enjoy with grilled beef steak and mashed potatoes.

Like several of the Left Bank producers that we visited last month, the wines of Saint-Émilion in the wine-growing region of Bordeaux were classified in 1855. However, unlike the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 covering wines from the Left Bank Médoc and Graves regions, the Saint-Émilion list is updated every 10 years or so. Following the initial classification, the list was updated in 1969, 1986, 1996 and most recently in 2006.

According to my Cellartracker cellar records for this label, we hold six bottle remaining from two cases purchased on release a dozen years ago. Having purchased two cases at the time, it is clear that I enjoyed this wine and thought it was a great value.

My tasting note records indicated I last tasted this label three years ago in June, 2016.

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2016/06/chateau-larmande-st-emilion-grand-cru.html


Château Larmande St Emilion Grand Cru Classé 2005

A Right Bank Bordeaux means the estate from where the grapes are sourced, sits on the east and north side of the diagonal flowing Gironde River that bisects the Bordeaux wine region, surrounding and named for the city of Bordeaux in southeast France. 

Wines from the Right Bank are predominantly Merlot in the Blend of Bordeaux sanctioned varietal gapes. 

Alternatively, wines produced in the Médoc, on the the Left Bank, that lies on the western and southern side of the river, are predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend.

Both Left and Right Bank Bordeaux wines are based on Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon respectively, with the percentages flipped, accented by small amounts of Cabernet Franc and perhaps Petit Verdot.

Château Larmande lies north of the town of St. Emilion, close to Soutard and Cadet-Piola. It consists of 60 acres of vineyards planted with Merlot (65%), Cabernet Franc (25%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (10%).

Château Larmande was sold to the French insurance conglomerate, La Mondiale in 1991.

Tonight, this 2005 release was a nice, pleasant, easy drinking, yet sophisticated, polished and nicely integrated and balanced wine, dark garnet colored, medium bodied, aromatic blackberry and black cherry fruits accented by tones of tar, smoke, earthy leather, hints of cedar, spice and a whisper of mocha on a firm lingering tongue puckering tannin finish.

At fourteen years of age, this is showing no signs of diminution from aging and probably can be held for another decade or more for prime drinking.

My recent blogpost, from the week before last, speaks to, "the adventure, joy, and perils of holding vintage wine for a couple decades or more ...". This continues to be a pleasant, easy drinking yet sophisticated wine and I fear as I consume the last bottles of my collection, I'll regret having drunk many of them too early! 

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=351693 

http://www.chateau-soutard.com/chateau-larmande-.aspx

Murrays Cheese Wine Dinner

Cheese Murray's Cheese ! Wine Dinner

During our NYC getaway weekend, we dined on Saturday night at one of son Alec's favorite eateries Murray's Cheese Bar on Bleaker Street down in Greenwich Village.

Legendary Murrays Cheese Shop has been at the same site on Bleecker Street since 1940. The Cheese Bar opened in 2012 to feature their selection of fine cheeses selected and arranged by expert Cheesemongers, or cooked into heir imaginative dishes by a team of seasoned chefs.

As usual, Murray's was packed, lively, bordering on boisterous, serving up imaginative cheese centered combination plates and dishes.

We chose wines from Murray's simple but succinct winelist, with its carefully selected cross section of wines to accompany the range of menu options. This time, they did not offer any New York or Long Island wines which we customarily would order for the occasion. 

We started with a Proseco Sparkling wine to sip with Murray's Kale Ceasar salad with Parmigiana-Reggiano, Radish, Anchovy and Crutons. 

Transitioning to the main courses we had Brussel Sprouts with Lardons, Pomegranate Molasses, and Smoky Bleu (cheese), and Mussels and Fries with Coconut Red Curry in a Lemonbroth sauce. 

With these courses we had a Merlot based St Emilion Grand Cru Bordeaux from Clos de la Cure.

We then dined on Murray's Lamb Meatballs with Spiced Tomato Sauce, Fennel, and Sheep Feta (cheese) (shown left).

With these hearty courses, we drank a 2013 Perbacco Vietti Nebbiolo from Langhe Piedmonte, Italy.

As is customary, we let the Murray's Cheesemonger prepare for us a selection of cheese and meats, each accompanied by a complementing fruit, puree, sauce or jam. This went well with the Nebbiolo, and from there we moved on to a Jam Jar Australian Shiraz 2016.

Larcis Ducasse highlights Sunday Brunch

Larcis Ducasse St Emilion Bordeaux highlights Sunday Brunch

For Sunday brunch after church Linda prepared French crepes with strawberries with grilled tenderloin steak and spinach. With about a foot of fresh snow on the ground, we considered going out to lunch after church and chose to come home instead. I am so glad we did as it provided the chance for a wonderful brunch with a spectacular wine pairing!

To accompany grilled steak and strawberry crepes for Sunday Brunch, I pulled from the cellar this twelve year old St Emilion Grand Cru Classe Larcis Ducasse. The pairing and delight of the overall experience was spectacular! Simple pleasures of a wine (jerk) geek (oenophile)!

I went down to the cellar looking for this precise profile of a wine, without knowing in advance what label or producer I was looking for. In the end, this was perfect, not too young, not too old, Right Bank Merlot based flavor profile .. an ideal complement to our food. I don't know what was better, the pairing with the char-grilled tenderloin steak, the raspberry crepe, the dark chocolates afterwards, or by itself! All were delightful!

Larcis Ducasse have a total of 27 acres, 24 in production, located on one of Bordeaux's finest areas of terroir, the Cote Pavie in St Emilion, adjacent to the 1er Grand Cru Classé Ch. Pavie estate.

The property was purchased by Henri Raba in 1893 and has been family-owned ever since with the current generation of Jacques Gratiot in in ownership since 1990.

The wine has been made by Nicolas Thienpont along with his chief winemaker David Suire since 2002. Over the following ten years, they improved the quality significantly as recognized by the château being upgraded in 2012 to Premier Grand Cru Classé St.-Emilion classification as testament to its burgeoning quality and reputation.

In addition to replanting the vineyards to a greater density to produce more concentrated fruits, another key change under Thienpont's direction was the removal of Cabernet Sauvignon from the blend which had typically totaled about 5 percent, with the wine now a more classic 80/20 Merlot and Cabernet Franc blend.

The more recent vintages clearly benefit from more precise viticulture and winemaking techniques, featuring brighter, denser fruit, but are showing to age extremely well, as the structure is even more intense while remaining well-embedded.

While 3,300 cases were produced of the 2004 Larcis Ducasse, which is 78% Merlot with the rest Cabernet Franc and a touch of Cabernet Sauvignon, under the new plantings, production has averaged only about 2,500 cases annually.

While prices have started to creep up as the quality and reputation increased, Larcis Ducasse represents a relative high QPR (quality price ratio) bargain for extremely ageworthy Bordeaux. The 2009 can be found for about $75 per bottle, the '10 for $85. The 2004 proved to be a great value as a sleeper of a vintage in Bordeaux that is drinking wonderfully now with online search showing availability for an average of around $65 for the 2004.

The 2014 got a Wine Spectator rating of 93 points, 92 from Parker, 96 from James Suckling and 95 from Vinous and is readily available for about $55.  The 2015 got ratings from 94 to 99 points and is commanding from $75 to $109 on release.

Château Larcis Ducasse St Emilion Grand Cru Classe 2004

This was dark garnet colored, with a slight brown/orange rim starting to set in, medium-full bodied, smooth polished with delightful complex aromas and flavors of plum, black currant and blackberry fruits with tones of earthy leather, black tea, cigar box and spice with hints of truffle, cedar and cassis on the smooth polished tannin finish.

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=95970

http://www.larcis-ducasse.com/en/saint-emilion/actualites/

http://www.larcis-ducasse.com/larcis-ducasse/

After Dinner Trio - El Nido Jumilla Clio 2010 Warres Filhot

Bodegas El Nido Jumilla Clio 2010 stands up to after dinner wine flight medley that includes a Warre's Vintage Port and a Chateau Filhot Vintage Sauterne Dessert Wine  

Following our Chicago Restaurant Week dinner at Vie Restaurant in Western Springs we came home and had some chocolates, fruits and cheeses with a trio of after dinner wines - a Warre's vintage port, a Chateau Filhot Sauterne dessert wine and Bodegas El Nido Jumilla Clio 2010.  

As shown, the two dessert wines were from 375 ml half bottles. 

Bodegas El Nido Jumilla Clio 2010 

After tasting the Bodegas El Nido Jumilla Clio 2014 at the Corkscrew wine shop in Springfield last week, I was inquisitive to try another vintage so I pulled the oldest one from our cellar, the 2010. 

Amazingly this big bold red blend stood up to the trio of wines that included the Warres single vineyard vintage port and the Sauterne.

I thought the older Clio was even better and liked it even more than the '14, perhaps since it was four years older and more settled, but also, because I thought the 2010 was more complex with notes of ripe sweet blue fruit to complement the layer of concentrated full bodied black raspberry, and with a bit more sweetness which I also like. Still, like the 2014, it also had that dark chocolate, hint of vanilla, almost caramel like, finishing with smooth polished sweet tannins on the long smooth finish. A powerful, decadent but smooth approachable wine.

Like the '14, the 2010 Clio is also a blend of 70% old-vine Monastrell with 30% Cabernet Sauvignon.

RM 94 points. 

Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar gave this 92 point, Wine Spectator 91 points, and Robert Parker Wine Advocate 90 points.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1467288

Next to the Clio we also had these two big forward dessert wines, both from half bottles.


Warres Porto Vintage Quinta da Cavadinha 1995


Consistent with earlier tasting notes. Dark coffee color - full bodied, a bit of an edge of sweet black fruits, layer of smokey creosote with hint of expresso, cedar and cassis and dark black cherry on the finish.

From a half bottle.

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3721

Château Filhot Sauternes - 2ème Grand Cru Classé 1988

Trolling the cellar with Dr Dan looking for some after dinner wines, I found this perfectly suited vintage Sauterne that I must admit was not registered in my Cellartracker wine database inventory. I don't remember purchasing this wine or having had it previously. This should not be surprising with more than a thousand bottles in the cellar. Perhaps what is more surprising is how seldom this happens.

Château Filhot is a classic Sauterne Bordeaux, having been classified a 'second growth', a Grand Cru Classe', back in the original 1855 Bordeaux producer classification. The vineyards date back to the 1630's and the château was founded by Romain de Filhot in 1709. According to Wikipedia, after the French revolution, the estate was taken over by Romain-Bertrand de Lur-Saluces who added the estate of Pinaud du Rey and had the château redesigned to its English appearance in 1840.

Legend has it that Thomas Jefferson drank this wine and ranked it directly behind the legendary Chateau d'Yquem. During that time, Filhot enjoyed a greater reputation than today, and the two wines were comparably priced. This was during the time that Jefferson was American ambassador to France. He spent much time there and traveled the wine regions. He became a great admirer and oenphile of French wines. He actually brought back grape vines and labored unsuccessfully to grow them in Virginia at his Monticello estate.


In 1935, Comtesse Durieu de Lacarelle (the sister of the Marquis de Lur-Saluces, proprietor of Château d'Yquem) bought the estate, which was subsequently modernised by her son, Louis Durieu de Lacarelle, during the 1970s. The estate is currently run by the Vaucelles family.

Today Filhot vineyards cover 150 acres on the 700 acre estate with the grape varieties of 60% Sémillon, 36% Sauvignon blanc and 4% Muscadelle. Their annual production is an average of 6500 cases. They also produce a second label wine called Chateau Pineau du Rey.

For an almost thirty year old wine, the 1988 was still light golden honey colored. These wines start out straw colored and darken with age. I would have expected it to be weak tea colored at least, or even darker. It was medium-full bodied, crisp and clear with complex notes of honey and pineapple aromas with what Robert Parker called a "fine underlying acidity, an earthiness that added to the wine's complexity, and a clean, rich, crisp finish". This was more subdued and not as sweet or unctuous as a d'Yquem or other popular premium Sauterne. It was very pleasant and enjoyable none-the-less. It would be nice with soft moderate cheeses or even a salad course.

RM 88 points. Robert Parker also gave this 88 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=97425