Date night - Movie BYOB Margaux and Steak Dinner

Date night - Movie, BYOB Margaux and Steak Dinner 

Married fifty-three years, we still have an occasional “date night”, movie and dinner. After seeing “Drummer Boy”, the movie, (Drummer Boy Movie Trailer) at Destin Commons AMC Theatres, we dined across the street at The Wine Bar Restaurant, connected to and affiliated with Wine World. This arrangement allows purchasing wines in the retail outlet and consuming them next door at the restaurant - BYOB. Buy/Bring-Your-Own-Bottle. 

I selected a current release top rated Margaux from one of our favorite producers for a perfect accompaniment pairing with our Grilled Filet of Beef entrees with Potatoes Fondate and Asparagus. 

Prior to dinner we shared the beet salad. 

Château Giscours Grand Cru Classé Margaux 2023

Château Giscours is a Third Growth (Troisième Grand Cru Classé) from the official Bordeaux Classifications of 1855 from the Margaux appellation in Bordeaux, France.

The historic Château Giscours wine estate is located 2km off the main D2 Route that runs from the City of Bordeaux along the Gironde River up through the Medoc wine region, 5 km south of the Village of Margaux. We stayed in the village of Margaux at charming Chambres de Margaux during our Bordeaux Wine Experience back in 2019. 

The 250 acre Château Giscours, is one of the very few estates with vineyards planted in a single stretch, amidst 600 acres of meadows and forest, plus 600 acres of vineyards. 

Château Giscours is a destination of its own - aside the vineyards, hidden behind the Chateau is a vast park planted with rare species and scattered with water features  with an 800-metre walking path. The exceptional flora and fauna consists of more than twenty different varieties of trees from around the world: monkey puzzle trees, giant sequoias, sassafras, quercus nigras (‘black oaks’), Oregon pines, bald cypresses and more.

The park as also a living work of art and sculpture garden, designed in 1870 by renowned landscape architect Eugène Bühler, graduate of the Ecole Royale d’Horticulture in Versailles. Notable works of art include patinated bronze sculpture ‘Salto’ by Nic Jonk, ‘The Bather’ by Carla Rutgers-Hendriksen, and whimsical ‘Spectacles’ looking at the chateau,  a tribute to the estate’s owner Eric Albada Jelgersma, a visionary businessman and art collector.

The estate vineyards span over 600 acres of vines in production within the Margaux appellation, plus acreage in the neighboring Haut-Médoc. 

Château Giscours dates back to its founding by Pierre de Lhomme who from 1552 to 1571 began the planting the wild land with vines. From 1847 to 1875, proprietor Jean-Pierre Pescatore and his heirs improved the reputation of the estate by investing in the quality of its vines.

From 1875 to 1890, Edouard Cruse, a visionary winegrower modernized the entire estate and created the park around the chateau. 

Nicolas Tari and his heirs acquired Giscours after the Second World War and reorganized the estate from 1952 to 1995. 

Since 1995, Dutch businessman Eric Albada Jelgersma, wine lover and art collector,  restructured the vineyard and renovated the winery buildings. The Albada Jelgersma children Dennis, Derk and Valérie take over the estate following the death of their father Eric Albada Jelgersma in 2018. They run the estate today with the help of general manager Alexander van Beek.

The well-arranged three hundred acres of vineyards possess exceptional terroir with the legendary deep garonne gravel hilltops with influence of the oceanic climate, giving Giscours’ wines structure and elegance. 

The Château Giscours 2022 vintage received widespread critical acclaim when it was named Wine Spectator's #1 Wine of the Year for 2025.

Our CellarTracker records indicate we hold nearly a dozen vintages of Giscours dating back to the 1998 vintage. http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2014/10/cabs-bistro-byob-wine-dine-experience.html

We’ve enjoyed meeting Laure Bastard, Sales Director, or other Château Giscours representatives as regular attendees at the annual UGC Bordeaux' (Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux (UGCB)) producers' annual North American tour to showcase their most recent vintage release. The UGC is an association of 133 grands crus producers from heralded Gironde estates. The UGCB tasting is one of the premiere events and highlights of my annual wine events. I’ve featured it in numerous blogposts from earlier tour events and two example events here …  UGC Bordeaux 2013 Release Tour Chicago 2016, and UGC Bordeaux 2015 Release Tour unveils stellar vintage

Château Giscours Grand Cru Classé Margaux 2023

This is a traditional Left Bank Grape Blend of  71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc, It was aged in 50% new French oak.

The 2023 was another spectacular vintage where ‘all boats rise with the tide’. These top wines should have a drinking window from roughly 2028–2050 and while they needs a few years of cellaring or a long decant to integrate tannins, they are approachable now upon release and still young. It should benefit from 4-6 years of bottle age and evolve gracefully over the following two decades. 

This highly acclaimed release was rated 97 points by James Suckling: 96–98 points by Vinous (Antonio Galloni / Neal Martin): 94-96 by Robert Parker (The Wine Advocate): 95–96 points by Jeb Dunnuck and 95 points by Decanter, 93-95 by The Wine Independent.

Antonio Galloni of Vinous wrote, “The 2023 Giscours is the very best wine I have ever tasted here. Giscours has been knocking on the door of Bordeaux's elite for a few years now. Two thousand twenty-three is the year in which Giscours joins the region's big boys and girls. A towering, majestic Margaux, the 2023 dazzles from start to finish.”

Wine Advocate wrote, “The 2023 Giscours is one of the real successes of the vintage,” 

Winemaker Notes “Château Giscours is a wine that reflects their teams’ expertise and in-depth knowledge of the terroir. It is a voluptuous, gourmet wine with the strong personality found in fine wines from the Margaux appellation. It is seductive on the palate thanks to its refined, silky tannins. It is a powerful, enchanting, hugely charming wine. It will age for years without gaining so much as a wrinkle.”

Blend: 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc. It was aged in 50% new oak. 70% grand vin production. 

Deep garnet purple colored, medium to full bodied, full, round, bright and vibrant, structured yet balanced and elegant, juicy blackberry and black currant with notes of red fruits, notes of cassis, herbs, hints of mocha chocolate, graphite and undergrowth, violets and licorice, with soft acidity and polished silky tannins.with a long, broad finish.

RM 95 points. 

Winemaker Notes “Château Giscours is a wine that reflects their teams’ expertise and in-depth knowledge of the terroir. It is a voluptuous, gourmet wine with the strong personality found in fine wines from the Margaux appellation. It is seductive on the palate thanks to its refined, silky tannins. It is a powerful, enchanting, hugely charming wine. It will age for years without gaining so much as a wrinkle.”

Blend: 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc

https://go.cellartracker.com/wine/4694182

https://giscours.com/en/

https://www.thewinebarfl.com/the-wine-bar-destin

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/search?q=ChaMBRES

https://youtu.be/rXaR4nXRvOY?is=CDfjevut6KDsDKxe

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 

Blason D’Issan Margaux

Blason D’Issan Margaux 2022

Following the gala UGCB 2022 Vintage Release Tour 2025 Chicago tasting last week of the 2022 Bordeaux vintage release wines, which were generally outstanding, I went to Binny’s, our local beverage/wine superstore and found several labels of the new release already arrived and in stock. I picked up this wine as part of a mixed case of labels to try as I consider my acquisition plans for the vintage. 

With take-out Waygu Meatloal from our visit the other day to Entourage Restaurant in Downers Grove, I pulled this bottle to pair and taste. 

Blason D’Issan Margaux 2022

This is the second wine of Château d’Issan,  a Third Growth of the 1855 Imperial Classification. Château d’Issan is in the heart of the Margaux appellation, less than three kilometers, walking distance from the Chambres de Margaux in the middle of the village, our Bed and Breakfast where we stayed during out visit to the area in the summer of 2019. 

The Château d’Issan enclosure in the middle of the Margaux appellation, sitting midway between the village of Margaux and the Gironde River. The soil there is mainly made up of surface gravel on top of a clay subsoil, which contributes to optimal ripeness and freshness in the grapes. 

The estate is planted to  Cabernet Sauvignon 65% and Merlot 35%. 

Blason d’Issan is the ‘second wine’ of Château d’Issan, first introduced in 1995, and onwards, to enable selection amongst their vines growing in the Margaux appellation area. Fruit from their youngest vines is used to produce this wine, which represents the identity of its terroir, while offering a tasty round fruitiness, which can be enjoyed earlier. 

Second wines, while less discriminating than the grand vin, offer a broadening of the portfolio, taking advantage as an outlet for the younger, and less select grapes, and an entry level wine to introduce the brand, at a lower price point, thereby, especially in years such as this delivers high QPR - Quality Price Ratio.. 

The blend for this release is 55% Merlot, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Petit Verdot. Blason d’Issan ‘22 was aged in barrels for 14 to 16 months, one third of which were new. Annual production is around 120,000 bottles (10,000 cases).

As I wrote in my review of the UGCB 2022 Vintage Release tasting last week, this is a top rated vintage with many extraordinary wines. As is often the case in such highly rated vintages, ‘all boats rise with the tide’, and there are many great values as the second and lesser labels of the top producers are also of high quality, even shrinking the difference between them and the top flaghip grand vins. This is reiterated by Wayne Kelly of Wine Advocate in his review of this second wine of Chateau D’Issan, Margaux. Kelly of Wine Advocate wrote, “ An attractive effort that shares some of the style and personality of the grand vin this year.”

Similarly, Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media wrote, “The 2022 Blason d'Issan is a soft, easygoing wine that shows the more charming side of the vintage off to great effect.”

Blason D’Issan Margaux 2022

This release was rated 94-95 by James Suckling, 92 by Decanter and Inside Bordeaux, and a concensus 89-91 by Wine Advocate, Wine Independant, Vinous and Jeb Dunnuck. 

Deep garnet-purple color. medium to full-bodied, a bit tightly structured, concentrated full round dark blackberry and blackcurrant fruit, notes of dark mocha chocolate, spice, dusty rose, hints of tapenade with cigar box, powdery soft, approachable tannins on a structured finish. 

RM 91 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?4641185

https://www.chateau-issan.com/en/

Château du Tertre Grand Cru Classe Margaux 2011

Château du Tertre Grand Cru Classe Margaux 2011

With left over grilled ribeye beefsteak from the other night, I opened this classic Left Bank Bordeaux for dinner food and wine pairing. 

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. 

 

Château du Tertre Grand Cru Classe Margaux 2011

 

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.

 

Dense dark garnet purple colored, medium bodied, floral notes with black berry 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

Big Red Flight highlights grilled steak dinner

Big Red Bordeaux Blend Flight highlights grilled steak dinner

We visited fellow Pour Boy Dr Dan and Linda and they served a wonderful dinner of grilled steaks, baked potatoes, asparagus, cheese stuffed peppers and portabello mushrooms. Dan served a spectacular flight of red wines to accompany the dinner including two Bordeaux and a Sonoma Bordeaux Blend.

Continuing our tastings of Bordeaux wines on the anniversary of our trip there a year ago this week, we started the red flight with a St Emilion Château Troplong Mondot, followed by Château Lascombs Margaux, and closing out with Les Pavots from Peter Michael.

Before dinner with a selection of artisan cheeses, olives, nuts and tapenade, I took an Andretti Montonta Reserve Napa Valley Chardonnay. One of the standout cheeses was a English Shropshire Blue Cheddar.

Château Troplong Mondot Grand Cru Classe' St Emilion Bordeaux 2005

What a treat to experience this vintage release that was awarded 100 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate.

The 2005 Troplong Mondot is a blend of 90% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon.

There was irony in drinking this amidst the Coronavirus pandemic as years earlier Robert Parker had written in his review/notes: "It was emotional tasting this wine, thinking of the late Christine Valette, who made this compelling wine while battling with considerable courage against an insidious disease. It is a great effort and a superstar of the vintage. ... it is a tour de force, and a great tribute to an incredible woman. Kudos to the late Christine Valette!"

Vinous rated this 98 points, Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar and Wine Spectator both gave it 96 points.

Dense dark garnet inky purple colored, full-bodied, powerful aromatics explode from the bottle upon releasing the cork, complex yet elegant and smooth, rich intense flavors of blackberry and black raspberry with layers of cassis, mocha, spice and notes of tobacco, a hint of truffle and some subtle background oak with silky smooth tannins on the long polished finish.

RM 96 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=216871

https://www.troplong-mondot.com/en/

@Troplong_Mondot

Château Lascombes Grand Cru Classe' Margaux Bordeaux 2010

This release was awarded 94 points by James Suckling, 92 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and Wine Enthusiast, and 91 points by Wine Spectator, Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar and Connoisser's Guide. 

This was a special treat to taste this label as a year ago this week in our trip to the Medoc, we stayed in Chambres de Marguax, literally across the lane from Château Lascombes. We walked around the property almost daily in a strolls around the commune or enroute to or from dinner in the village.

At ten years of age, this was a bit tight and closed, perhaps going through a period in this stage, deep dark garnet in color, medium to full-bodied, blackcurrant and blackberry fruits with notes of black tea, fresh herbs, and black olives with hints of clove spice, cedar and licorice, turning to chewy tannins on the finish.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1124602

 

https://www.chateau-lascombes.com/ 

https://twitter.com/lascombes_

Peter Michael Les Pavots Knights Valley Bordeaux Blend 2012

Peter Michael produces one of the premiere ultra-premium Bordeaux Blends from Napa Sonoma. This is the flagship wine of the Peter Michael portfolio that is highly allocated directly from the winery with occasional limited quantities in distribution. 

Peter Michael is a huge and regretable lost opportunity for me as I spent fifteen years as a senior executive with an international company headquartered in Peter Michael's home town in Newbury, Berkshire, England. Peter Michael today owns hotels, resorts, golf club and restaurants in the town. I was ten years ahead of all of this development and missed potential engagement during my almost two hundred trips to the area. I regret not getting to meet and know Peter in those early years.  His wine operations started about the time I left that position and relationship just before the turn of the century.

Les Pavots is sourced primarily from the vineyard of the same name on the slopes of Mount St. Helena in Knights Valley in Sonoma County. The vineyard spans 49 acres ascending to an elevation of nearly 1,400 feet with Merlot and Cabernet Franc Bordeaux varietals growing on the cool upper slopes and Cabernet Sauvignon just below.

The blend of Bordeaux varietals is 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, 11% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot.

This release was awarded 96-98 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate,  97 points by James Suckling and 95 points by Wine Spectator.

Winemaker notes for this vintage: "Deep dark color with saturated ruby color and vermillion nuance, 2012 Les Pavots reveals a deep bouquet of Cacao powder, fudge cookies, black cherry, blueberry and blackberry, licorice, with nuances of cedar, cigar box, black tea, graphite, vanilla, a stylish ‘garrigue’ touch and black truffle. Extremely full-bodied, the wine offers the same rich, ripe fruit impressions on the palate. The mouth feel is dense and round, with elegant tannins, which lead to a long finish. Complex, the 2012 Les Pavots will age gracefully for two decades and provides a classic presentation of our estate’s terroir."

Dark inky/purple-colored, big bold, full-bodied, complex, rich, ripe dense round dark black cherry, black berry brambley fruits with nuances of spice, cedar, cigar box, black tea with hints of licorice, graphite and black truffle turning to bold tangy tannins on a long finish.

RM 94 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1684672

https://petermichaelwinery.com/wines/les-pavots/

Andretti Montonta Reserve Napa Valley Carneros Chardonnay 2014

 

We tasted and acquired this wine at the Estate winery during our Napa Valley Wine Experience 2018. 

 

The Montona series is the premium Reserve brand available at the winery and to Club members. It is named for the Croatian village, birthplace of Andretti. 

 

We have fun with this brand with Dr Dan, a fellow Hoosier and Indy 500 Race enthusiast, supporting legendary driver and car/team owner Mario Andretti.

 

This was suprisingly good, better than expected. 

 

The golden honey color has a slight rust hue that was initially disarming but the wine was fine, medium bodied, nicely balanced and polished with integrated bright expressive notes of peach, apricot and citrus fruits with notes of vanilla and soft oak on the sinewy finish. 

RM 91 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2916387

 

https://andrettiwinery.com/

 

@AndrettiWine 

Restaurant Le Savoie Marqaux

Restaurant Le Savoie Marqaux

Our first night in Margaux, Bordeaux, we walked a few blocks from the Chambres de Margaux, our B-n-B residence, to the Restaurant Le Savoie in the Margaux village centre on the main D2 Route du Medoc. It is the fine dining establishment in the village.

Savoie offers outdoor seating, indoor seating, or a solarium setting behind the restaurant in a courtyard setting. We opted to sit in between in the solarium tent like setting in the courtyard outside the dining room.

The restaurant offers a range of menu options for either the " Bistrot " lunch or the evening " Le Savoie " gourmand dinner.

The bistro lunch options:
Formulas (lunch and dinner) / Set menus lunchtime and evening

1 Entrance / 1 Starter	€ 16
1 Dish / 1 Dish	€ 19
1 Dessert / 1 Dessert	€ 10
1 Starter + 1 Dish / 1 Starter + 1 Dish	$ 29
1 Course + 1 dessert / 1 Dish + 1 Dessert	€ 26

The dinner options:

Starter + 1 fish + 1 meat + 1 dessert	€ 76
1 starter + 1 fish or 1 meat + dessert	€ 56
1 entry + 1 dish	€ 46
1 course + 1 dessert	€ 38

I had the Beef filet tournedos Rossini, foie gras ice cream, truffle macaroon and cep.

Linda had the sea scallops.

 

After dinner we had the plate of refined cheese "Jean Yves Bordier.

There is a wine bar and respectable wine list that offers 170 wine references including 35 grands crus classés. While the restaurant is sited in Margaux, the winelist favors local Margaux producers.

Having just visited Château Leoville Las Cases earlier in the day up in St Julien, we opted for the Las Cases selection, Clos du Marquis, Saint Julien, 2006.

For the dessert course we had the berry sorbet.

From the wine list we ordered a Sauternes dessert wine, Château Roumieu 2015.

 

www.lesavoie.net
 

Chambres de Margaux

Chambres de Margaux

During our recent trip to the Medoc we stayed in the village of Margaux at the Chambres de Margaux, owned and operated by Dominic and Nathalie Sauze.

It’s a delightful and charming Airbnb bed and breakfast, cottage. Our bedroom was comfortable and had a modern private bath with shower.

There is another suite that provides for two adjoining bedrooms for a family. 

The facility offers wifi that was suitable for general correspondence email and messages but not for streaming or any high speed data requirements. 

Dominque and Natalie are delightful, friendly, hospitable, fastidious and attentive to the slightest detail to make the Chambres de Margaux welcoming and comfortable. 

 Each morning we were served a wonderful extensive breakfast that included from a selection of eggs, French Toast, patisserie, fresh fruit, fresh yogurts, an assortment of cheeses and homemade breads and jams, with coffee and juice. We were served in the garden terrace and in the kitchen.

One evening we brought back a picnic of cheeses, breads, fruit and wine that we enjoyed in the garden into the evening. They were very accommodating and supportive.

The inn is adjacent to Chateau Lascombes and a short walk to other wine producers including Marque de Termes and Chateau Palmer, and is also a short walk to fine dining restaurant and wine bar Restaurant Le Savoie.

Dominique and Natalie were eager to assist with dining recommendations and reservations. As guest of Chambres de Margaux we were served Champagne at Saint Julien fine dining restaurant in Beychevelle-St-Julien village.

We highly recommend  Chambres de Margaux and will look forward to returning on our next trip to the region.