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Jean-Marc QuarinCarnets de dégustationsAn independent buyer's guide to the wines of Bordeaux www.quarin.com Chronicle n° 7 (September 1st, 2005) PAVIE MACQUIN Pierre Wyss recently launched a special offer on Pavie Macquin 1999. I recommend the Swiss readers to go for it without delay. Contact: website: www.pierre-wyss.ch - e-mail: office@pierre-wyss.ch tel.: ++41 26 425 84 10 – fax: ++41 26 470 42 49.1999 90 I tasted it three times this year, each time with great pleasure. In one tasting event, it surpassed Latour Pomerol 1998 and Le Bon Pasteur 1998 by its deep palate and great freshness. It has truffle in the nose. It still shows some tannins on the palate, but in the flavoursome finish with its touch of liquorice, the aroma takes over completely. A wine you can start tasting now. THE OTHER VINTAGES OF THE ESTATE IN SHORT2003 91 - 93 Ageing developed its aromatic character. It is ripe yet remains very fresh. The tactile touch on the palate recalls the silky contact of fruit jelly. Round in mid-palate, it melts in the finish, and is generally enticing, without any coarseness or woody aspect in the texture, as you so commonly find in wines from 2003. Tasty and quite deep. 2002 89 I find the wine better in the bottle now than it was during the ageing period. The nose is very fruity and very fresh. It smells of blackberry and vanilla. The palate has a lovely, delicate and melting tactile touch, and seems slightly reserved. However, mellowness takes over in the finish through a very aromatic touch of liquorice and violet. 2001 92 - 93 Since vintage 2001, the wines of Pavie Macquin seem to have acquired greater delicacy and subtleness. The introduction of the technique of "pigeage" probably gives a better grain to the tannic texture. Like vintage 1999, it smells of truffle. Today, this wine displays tremendous charm, mainly due to its great aromatic power. Well made, delicately spicy, it ends on a delicious and long finish with a refined tannic grain. 2000 93 It is not more charming than 2001 today. Taken as a whole, the colour is more evolved and the nose less outgoing. On the other hand, the palate has more pulp at the attack, and it is very tender and aromatic (a taste of truffle) in its first part. After mid-palate, vintage 2000 offers a riper taste than 2001. Wait until 2008 – 2010 before drinking. 1998 94 This wine has the most complex nose of all: it smells of truffle, fruit, liquorice and violet. Dense and broad at the entry, very flattering, without feeling too viscous on the palate, it stays extremely digestible. Lovely, very fleshy mid-palate. The finish is powerful and complex. Wait until 2008 – 2010 before drinking. However, if such a vintage had occurred after 2001, I am convinced that it would have presented more velvet. RED BORDEAUX WINES IN 2005 : WHAT ABOUT THE HARVEST? This year presents an historical drought. The lack of water is often feared for the stress it induces in the vines and for the way it can stop the ripening process of the grapes. But today, in 2005, we are looking at an unprecedented phenomenon. The drought already started last winter, and apparently it seems that the vines incorporated it in their development. This slow adaptation makes them able to resist suffering from the heat, so that the ripening process has not been hindered. - The weather has been mild ever since the beginning of the blossoming. The days are sunny, sometimes hot but not excessively so. They alternate with fresh nights. This freshness seems ideal for developing aromatic precursors. The long hours of sunshine and the absence of heat waves promote normal acidic levels. Under these mild conditions, the vegetative cycle develops slowly. Today, the sugar concentrations are already quite high in the Merlots and in the Cabernets Sauvignons (Chateau Latour and Chateau Margaux report levels of 13° to 14 ° for the Merlots, and 11° to 13 ° for the Cabernets Sauvignons). The acidic levels, which are higher than in 2003, remind us of typical Southern vintages. The tannins still need a few days to ripen so as to reach total maturity. - This cycle is developing in perfect sanitary conditions. Some winegrowers are therefore saying that the vintage will be a "biological" one, since the excellent weather made spraying almost unnecessary. - The yields are estimated around 50 hl/ha. So up to now, all parameters look very optimistic. The only uncertainty is the weather of the last days. Will it rain? And if so, how? Thunderstorms, or drizzle rains? Christian Moueix is thinking of harvesting his Pomerols towards the 12th of September. In the Medoc, people speak of September 20th. These observations are exciting! The vintage is quite an early one. Statistically, earliness is a common denominator for the greatest of Bordeaux vintages. But let's wait until September 15th… SAUTERNES MADE WITHOUT CHAPTALISATION ORCRYOEXTRACTION: THE NEWCOMERS Château SUDUIRAUT recently joined the group of Classified Sauterne Growths who committed themselves not to use chaptalisation or cryoextraction in the elaboration of their sweet white wines. This is the fourth Classified Growth, behind Yquem, Guiraud and Nairac (Nairac does not belong to the Sapros club) to take this decision. This growth presented its wines during Vinexpo in the frame of the Sapros Club (the club of non-chaptalised wines). Of course, I was very happy to hear this, after the position I publicly took during the 2004 futures campaign and during the debates on various Internet Sites. I am also happy to hear that Michel Bettane recently offered his help to the Classified Growths of Sauternes to elaborate wines without chaptilising. This procedure is not without humour, when I remember reading on his Website some of his words against me: “The denunciation by Mr Quarin (on Parker’s Website!) of the possible chaptalisation of certain vintages of Climens and of Sauternes wines in general, is not only morally unsympathetic, but, whether deliberately or not, it constitutes a manipulation of public opinion, as do the utterings of some producers.” For all wine lovers and wine tasting fanatics, the essential is yet to come: will it be possible to construe a reference frame of tasting sensations relating to the presence or the absence of Botrytis? I for my part think it is. If you compare with the past, most of you are probably aware of what was missing in so many wines. Let me just call to mind my own impression of these fundamental perceptions, which I wrote down in my n° 46 publication about the Loire wines. SUDUIRAUT SauternesThe new wine making policy of Château Suduiraut started with vintage 2001. The growth has the equipment to do cryoextraction, but Christian Seely, who is responsible for the Axa estates, declared that these will only be used for second labels.2003 91 - 92 I consider this vintage to be the most refined wine from Suduiraut since a very long time and the best one since vintage 1990. Never before in this growth did I smell such a fresh nose, so delicate, with such fruit and menthol. The palate displays a thousand subtleties and tactile refinements, and it ends with a truly noble finish. 2001 Last score: 88 Mean score: 87 I tasted this wine five times, each time with quite different tasting comments. Sometimes I find it a little heavy; then again, it is quite elegant, as it was during last Vinexpo in June. Other, non Classified Growths were presented during this tasting event. GUIRAUD Sauternes2001 90 A great nose, delicate, floral, fruity and sublte, with a very slight hint of orange in the smell. Truly lovely freshness. The palate shows a delicate construction and it develops over a tight body, still slightly marked by the wood, but with a great aromatic profile. Magnificent long finish, during which the wine comes back to subtle tastes with toasted aspects. Quite complex. FARGUES Sauternes2001 87 Lovely and delicate nose, which becomes floral after swirling, with a smell of toasted almond, though it still has some wood. In fact, this wood comes forth too much on the palate too, and stifles its charm. Fortunately, the finish shows up beautifully long. We will have to wait to form an opinion. 1990 93 This is a great and delicate wine, which, on top of its tightly fitted structure, firm and slightly spicy to the taste, displays a very seducing mellow and melting character. Taken as a whole, the wine is refined and subtle. The persistency is quite magical in the way it combines power with elegance. CRU BARRÉJATS BarsacMireille Daret is a pioneer of natural wines in Sauternes. She is the wife of Patrick Baudouin, a winemaker in the Coteaux du Layon area, and a member of the Sapros Club.2001 88 - 89 This wine is quite tight on the palate, very Barsac-like. Slightly stiff, and a great finish. A wine to keep. LA CLOTTE CAZALIS Sauternes2003 87 - 88 A wine with great balance, which combines fat, aromas and a very delicate sappiness. The wine gains spices very tenderly during the long persistency. A delight! 2002 86 For a non Classified Growth of this vintage, the result is excellent. The nose displays remarkable freshness while the pure palate comes with a touch of raspberry. Average body. There is vision in this excellent construction. Delicious to drink now. MASSEREAU Barsac – Sauternes2003 87 This wine was sorted eleven times, which may explain its astronomic price of 90 Euro per bottle! A great and delicate fresh nose, very subtle and aromatic. On the palate, you feel the wings of angels! A slight note of wood comes up in the persistency. 2002 86 Here too, the nose is very refined, fresh and spicy. The body stays average but it has a lot of fruit in the taste and elegant texture. 2001 85 This vintage is less sophisticated than the others, and shows some wood in the finish. JEAN-MARC QUARIN ON BFM RADIO Alain Marty, manager of the Wine & Business Club has invited me at Vino BFM, the first national radio broadcast on the theme of wine. You can listen to me on Saturday, September 3rd (from 10 to 11:00 am, French local time) and on Sunday, September 4th (from 4 to 5:00 pm) on the waves of BFM (96.4 in Paris) or over the Internet ( www.radiobfm.com ). You will find the interview on Monday morning on the site of BFM radio: in the "Archives" section. LAST MINUTE INFORMATION There was a very loud thunderstorm in the Bordeaux vineyard in the night from August 31st to September 1st. The rainfall level was weak. There was an average rainfall of 6 mm in Pomerol, 12 mm in Saint-Emilion, 3 mm in Léognan, 20 mm in the South of the Graves region and between 1 and 5 mm in the great appellations of the Médoc. Best regards to all of you. Do not hesitate to let me know your opinions or suggestions. My next chronicle will be published on September 15, 2005. Jean-Marc QuarinJMQ's Tasting Reports September: A new tasting of vintage 2003 before bottling will be published between the 15th and the 20th of 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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