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Jean-Marc QuarinCarnets de dégustationsAn independent buyer's guide to the wines of Bordeaux www.quarin.com Chronicle n° 6 (July 13, 2005) THE GARCIN FAMILY'S WAY OF WORKING IN BORDEAUX AND IN ARGENTINA:AN ANSWER TO MONDOVINO After the airing of the movie "Mondovino", many people started to confuse regularity of quality with standardized taste. I had indicated in one of my chronicles that the ultimate search for quality in wine aims at obtaining a specific and perfectly unique expression of taste and smell in each individual wine. I recently witnessed the result of this kind of search when I met Hélène Garcin and her husband Patrice Lévêque in their cellar at Clos L'Eglise in Pomerol. Four different growths were present on the table ; one determination for the perfect vinification, but four different locations, of which three in the Bordeaux area (Pessac- Léognan, Saint-Emilion, Pomerol) and one in Argentina. No failure anywhere; only high quality. No similarities – only highly successful, unique, specific expressions. Here, the consumer cannot possibly confuse his personal preferences with a badly made wine. He chooses according to his personal taste, but only among the best of wines. Can you imagine choosing between an upper range BMW, Mercedes or Audi? TASTING NOTESHAUT-BERGEY 2004 Pessac-Léognan 89 - 90 The originality of this wine is due to the very carbernet freshness of the nose and to the touch of smoke from the Pessac-Léognan soil. On the palate, the wine flows in the middle of the mouth, with a very bordeaux-like elegance, without any overemphasis. As many Graves wines, the body stays moderate, even though the concentration is there. The tannins are delicate and ripe. The wine seduces by the subtlety of the aromas in the finish. BARDE-HAUT 2004 Saint-Emilion Great Growth 89 - 90 Compared to the wine before, the nose is creamy and immediately brings to mind beautifully ripe Merlot grapes. It does not have the hint of ash of the Pessac-Léognan, nor does it have such a great aromatic dimension. The palate immediately feels very different: there is a dominating roundness up to mid-palate. Afterwards, the limestone lends texture to the beautifully long finish. The aromas are riper and sunnier than in the Pessac-Léognan; the body is different too, more rounded in some ways. The quality is there though the pleasures are different. CLOS L’EGLISE 2004 Pomerol 94 - 95 This wine dominates the others by its more comprehensive character. The stimulation on the palate is stronger and better distributed. The very intense nose is extremely ripe, yet not overripe, and it recalls the warm smell of Merlot grapes growing on the gravel and clay soil of Pomerol, with a hint of dried fruit on a delicately toasted floral background. After limestone grown Barde-Haut with its round palate ending on a tight finish, here we find the irresistible mellowness of Clos l'Eglise. The different sensations mingle and fuse with remarkable balance. Though the wine is very powerful, the grain of the tannins stays refined, which is not so common. This wine has great potential. POESIA 2004 Argentinian wine 91 I am not the only one to wonder if this growth, which only reached its fourth harvest, will be able to withstand a comparison with the high quality of the above wines. The answer is a clear yes. The color is intense, and the nose immediately appears delicate, ripe and creamy. Paradoxically, the fruit does not feel as 'southern' as in the Pomerol. The 60% Malbec bring along a lot of freshness through their touch of blackcurrant. The latter may even seem a little too strong, but fortunately, a delicate note of chocolate restores the balance. When I tell Patrice Lévêque that the taste of blackcurrant seems almost too strong, he tells me that this is exactly the taste of the grapes he harvested. The palate offers a delicate tactile sensation and a flawless construction. I am not surprised by the great refinement of this wine since it was already obvious to me in vintage 2001. The tannins have no sharp angles; only they are still a little marked by the wood, due to the ageing. To me, 2004 is the best wine made since the first vintage in 2001. In this growth, which bears its name so well, the winemaker chose to avoid the kind of massive note such as can be found in YACOCHUYA (an estate owned by Michel Roland). Keeping this in mind, Patrice Lévêque decides of the best harvest date, and of the eventual use of green harvests, which are still little used in Argentina, he said. Yield: 30 hl/ha. THE FACTS ABOUT POESIA Vineyard surface: 13 ha. Poesia is a blend wine. Grape varieties: 60% Malbec planted in 1935 and 40 % Cabernet Sauvignon planted 15 years ago. It is planted with a density of 5 500 vines per hectare. Silt and clay soil. Gravel subsoil. Vinification occurs in wooden vats and 300 litre barrels. Main characteristic: the vines do not have rootstock. This type of old vines produces very low yields. And if they go up from 2001, it its because the vineyard is better tended for. Style: a clear will to produce a both dense and elegant wine. Average production: 20 000 bottles per year. Price for professionals: around 28 dollars per bottle. Price for private individuals in France: around 35 Euro. 2003 / 90 Tasted four times since its birth, I always said that this wine was more southern than vintage 2002. Though the nose is neither cooked nor oxidative nor over-ripe, it has a balsamic touch of resin. It also presents notes of chocolate and cherry. The palate is sapid and melting. In mid-palate, the wine even becomes elegant and it ends with a touch of fruit and cocoa, with still a hint of resin. However, the tannins are delicate, and there is no heaviness due to the alcohol. And I found it even better just before bottling. Yield: 25 hl/ha. 2002 / 89 Tasted five times since its birth, with an average score of 89, I always appreciated its general style, elegant without heaviness, with a fresh and fruity nose, a refined texture and an elongated shape. You can feel a Bordeaux interpretation of the wine, even though the grapes taste very different. Yield: 22 hl/ha. 2001 / 88 Tasted three times since its birth, with an average score of 88, vintage 2001 is not as great as 2002, 2003 or 2004. It rained just before the harvest. Nevertheless, owing to a different way of pruning, the yield remained moderate. Tasted last in 2003, I found the nose to have fruit and spices. It is quite aristocratic for a wine made in the other hemisphere, and this amazed me immediately, the first time I met this wine. It has a caressing body with normal density and a finish of average length. Yield: 18 hl/ha. OTHER WINES VINIFIED BY THE GARCIN FAMILY IN ARGENTINACLOS DES ANDES 2004 Argentinian wine 86 100% Malbec coming from Poesia and another neighbouring estate in tenant farming. Average production: 50 000 bottles. The color of the wine is good and it has a pleasant nose without complexity. The palate begins softly, without tannic aggression while the taste is fruity and pure. I can feel the dedication which went into this wine. It tastes good and it really is quite drinkable already. PASODOBLE 2005 Argentinian wine 85 Unlike Clos des Andes, the grapes are bought from other producers and this wine is obtained by blending 1/3 Malbec with 1/3 Cabernet Sauvignon and 1/3 Syrah. It is a simple but very well made wine with moderate body and an absence of tannins which keeps the fruit very bright in the finish. The taste recalls Southern climates. The price is very reasonable at 4.5 dollar per bottle. VINTAGE 2005 IN BORDEAUX The flowering went very well this spring, with here and there occurrences of failure (which happens when the pollen washes off prematurely). The grapes seem to be quite abundant, perhaps even as abundant as in 2004, according to some rumors. Green harvesting and the cutting away of leaves already started. PESSAC-LÉOGNAN NON-CLASSIFIED GROWTHS Last spring, I tasted a large number of classified and non-classified growths from this appellation in vintages 2002 and 2003. I was very surprised to find such a great qualitative difference between the classified and the non-classified growths. Almost systematically, the non-classified wines lack density or body. On the whole though, I think that they do not take advantage from their original taste : a touch of smoke with a delicate hint of resin here and there. This terroir really does have a very specific taste and I regret that the wines do not offer a little more density. This lack can often be explained by the young age of the vines or because the vines are planted too far apart. Among these non-classified growths, there are two that I want to mention more especially, since they seem promised to a great future: - Château LUCHEY-HALDE in Pessac ( Contact information: Tel: +33 (0)5 56 45 97 19 ; Fax: +33 (0)5 56 45 33 79 ) - and Château SEGUIN in Canéjan ( Contact information: Tel: +33 (0)5 56 75 02 43 ; Fax: +33 (0)5 56 89 35 41 ). Both have very young vineyards, five to eight years old, but planted with a good density of 8 000 vines per hectare at Luchey, and more than 7 000 at Seguin. LUCHEY-HALDE lies on what used to be military ground, now managed by the ENITA, the national school of technological innovation in agriculture of Bordeaux. In this growth, the body is often light, but the magnificent smoked aroma reminds me of La Mission Haut-Brion and of Pape-Clément. Today, vintage 2002 (score: 85) is already very good to drink. Its light body and its almost malt-like taste, as Whisky drinkers would say, make it an ideal wine to drink during the summer. Vintage 2003 (score: 85) is a soft wine in which this magnificent smoked aroma mainly prevails in the finish. Vintage 2004 (score: 86) has also a light body but displays a true softness and a long finish all in aroma rather than in body. This growth has a soul and a very strong potential in style. The light body of these wines is an advantage to drink them during the summer. Serge Charitte, who used to be the director of Haut-Bailly, supervises the vinification at LUCHEY-HALDE since 2004, but he also does this at Chateau SEGUIN. At SEGUIN, the best vintage is 2004 (score: 87) . It is less aromatic than Luchey-Halde but is more pulpy, still being far from the level the estate will reach in 5 to 10 years. The recent investments of the property seem a good omen to me of continued high quality for the next few vintages. As things stand now, restaurants should value the fact that these wines are so drinkable so young. MOUTON ROTHSCHILD 1982 IN A MAGNUM When a perfect score (20 or 100) is attributed to a wine, how long can you expect it to last? Taste changes; the taste of the wine, but also our own taste. The score should follow, and not stay rigidly the same. Personally, I think that the only way to avoid over- or under-estimations due to single tastings of a bottle is to use a mean score, obtained by taking the average of a large number of tasting scores. However, let’s admit that after a certain number of years, the opening of each single bottle becomes an adventure. This was the case when we opened our magnum, and it did not provide us with the expected raptures. The nose had a green touch; the entry of the palate was beautifully mellow, but there was a certain lack of depth in the second part. I scored it at 89-90. Obviously, this is good wine, but it is not great. Other scores obtained by Mouton 1982: 94 in July 2005. 97 in June 2003. 88 (austere on the palate) in February 2003. 98 (marvellous!) in April 2002. 94 - 95 in February 2000. The average score is 93 - 94. MY FAVORITE AND BEST BUYAMONG THE CLASSIFIED GREAT GROWTHS OF SAINT-EMILIONCHATEAU LAROZE 2003 Saint-Emilion Classified Great Growth 90 The estate is improving since 2002. Tasted in March, just before bottling, then again in July 2005, the score of this wine increases steadily since futures. The quality is excellent, and I consider this vintage as one of the great successes of the estate. Good color; delicate, fruity and creamy to the nose; on the palate it combines great taste with a full and ample presence. The quality of the texture in the finish is of the best level. It ends powerful and aromatic, with fruit and flowers and a touch of liquorice. A delight. Vintage 2002 had already taken my fancy and was one of my favorites. The score is still 88 - 89 today. It has a more tender style than 2003, not as powerful, though it keeps the real quality of the construction. Wait until 2008 before drinking this wine. I remind you that since the introduction of selective sorting tables in 2002, which automatically select three qualities of grapes, the growth clearly acquired a greater purity of expression. This is only one of the many significant and well-thought over investments made by Mr. Guy Meslin. Our attention is drawn to a great number of details such as the vine density (a new vineyard planted with 8 000 vines per hectare, an almost unheard-off density in Saint-Emilion), the draining of the soil, the elaboration of home-made fertilizer, the ageing on lees and without sulphur, the rakking frequency, the use of oxygen, the cleanness and the humidity in the cellars. All this indicates an impassioned and dedicated person who thinks of his work on the long term, far from the media and fashionable trends. Today, this 2003 wine is one of the best buys among the Classified Great Growths of Saint-Emilion. Price for professionals: 12,50 Euro. Price for private individuals: around 25 Euro. Do not hesitate to let me know your opinions or suggestions. My next chronicle will be published on September 1st, 2005. Have a nice holiday! Jean-Marc QuarinRecommendation : Save all the chronicles available on your disc. The access to the chronicles published between May and June will be removed from July 21st.JMQ's Tasting Reports September: A new tasting of vintage 2003 before bottling will be published in mid-September.Only subscribers to Option 3 will have access to this publication.© Copyright : All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author: Jean-Marc Quarin Sarl, 10 allée de Ginouilhac, BP 40, 33320 Le Taillan-Médoc. France. Tél. 00 33 (0)5 56 35 83 93. Fax 00 33 (0)5 56 35 86 50. E-mail : jmquarin@wanadoo.fr

2005 Chronicles

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