Chronicle 90. The consumer, this "cash cow" • 2005 Bordeaux: Long life to Outsiders

• The consumer, this "cash cow" • 2005 Bordeaux: Long life to Outsiders • How to use my online wine reviews database Chronicle n°90 – December 15th, 2009 Feedback to my last chronicle: “Lafite versus L’Evangile” Over a dozen of reaction, the English-speaking people, especially the Americans showed the openness that I found lacking in the reactions of the French. Clearly the approach of the Eprovenance solution is appealing. A Swiss professional, probably an ex-champion of tasting, finds unacceptable to be confusing merlot with cabernet sauvignon. It all depends on what he did have to taste during his contest at the time! A basic Merlot is clearly differentiated from an equally simple cabernet sauvignon. On the contrary, once we get into the high end, the expressions of the varietals may overlap. I will go further and say that the characteristic of high-end is to smooth out the expressions of varietals. Basically, a great wine manages to generate noble sensations, whatever the variety and the soil used. And what is interesting is that such nobility is quite often the same. In Bordeaux, since winemaking has become more qualitative, we discover at the most advanced estates (I am thinking here of the first growths of the Medoc) that the cabernet sauvignon can offer as much flesh as merlot. This is new. For years, Merlot has provided the softness and roundness without much winemaking effort. With as little effort Cabernet Sauvignon appeared sharp, sour and stiff. The recognition was easy. With the rise of careful and detailed-oriented work since 1995-2000, these simple distinctions have become void. This morning I tasted the 2009 merlot from Le Crock in St-Estephe. With winemaker Isabelle Davin, we agreed to find the Merlot a rather cabernet character. I take this opportunity to tell you that what I have tasted from the 2009 Le Crock leads me to believe that this is The great vintage of the estate. I find it as dense as the 2003 yet also more refined. The body is so rich and beautiful that owner Didier Cuvelier has added an extra 10% new barrels than usual in order to better benefit from it during barrel ageing. But back to merlot. Jean-Michel Dubos, winemaker for Beauséjour-Duffau Lagarrosse told me that in 1991 he handed a glass of wine from the 1990 vintage to Michel Rolland (great winemaker of the right bank). Rolland admired the qualities of such Merlot while Dubos had just told him that it was a glass of cabernet sauvignon. This underlines the taste values of cabernet sauvignon when ripe. At this game, all Bordeaux professionals are caught. But some people still resist... It's just a matter of time ... and knowledge update... I turn now to the strongest reaction. It emanates from M. Capdouze, CEO of Ficofi. It begins like this: " I wondered if you were either a very bad taster or of very bad faith " (Saving me from both hypotheses at the same time, phew!). His testimony is interesting. Indeed, Ficofi is a company that sells wine and uses the organization of dinners and visits to prestigious vineyards to hang the scow. He wrote " In all modesty, my training and my job brings me to taste for the past 20 years every week, often several times a week, the wines of Lafite. I less often taste L’Evangile, only 2 to 3 times per month ." Wow! What troubles me in his message is that he does not seem to know or believe that there are differences from one bottle to another. Myself, how did I become aware of such thing? It is precisely when speaking to large groups where you had to use several bottles of the same wine. In such cases, what can the host of such event do while in charge of commenting the wines, some differences from one bottle to another starts appearing? I know only of two solutions. - The first is to taste all the wines and to eliminate bottles which taste is not satisfactory. It's long and tedious. It is time consuming and has a cost associated to it which impacts by losing money for the person in charge of the event, especially when the wines are expensive and when this issue has not been budgeted. - The second solution is to believe that someone in the audience will not notice these differences and stick to eliminating corked bottles only. This choice offers the benefit of going faster in preparation, of not losing wine and therefore money, of not denting the public's imagination about the wine they are been served, of not tiring yourself in possible explanation, of continuing to sell well wines when you're here for. But this choice also means lying to part of the audience about the taste of wine. This past November 25th, in London, I hosted a tasting of top Bordeaux from the 2005 vintage. We were only fifteen and had to use one single bottle per wine. The Latour shown a bit corky. I did eliminate it. Cost: 700 euros. While opening the Cheval Blanc, I found it flat and not in line with the model. I made the sommelier taste the bottle. He did not find any fault but no quality either. Yet, the purpose was to communicate to these customers about the qualities of these wines. I asked for another bottle. The wine was superb (18,25/20 - 96/100). The sommelier could not believe it. He never thought that there would be such a gap between these bottles. Cost: 460 euros. That evening the Lafite (18) tasted worse than the second bottle tasted in Switzerland (see my last chronicle). And in another event during the next day, it also performed slightly different. On December 2nd in Paris with my club, during a vertical of Troplong Mondot I opened 3 bottles of both the 2005 and 2006 vintages in order to have exactly two bottles alike of each wines. In short, it never stops. But there is no deafer than he who does not wish to hear. The final feedback is that of Chateau Ausone . Alain Vauthier tips that corks are often the cause of these differences. He also mentions the role of atmospheric pressure on gases that are dissolved in the wine. " Some days all the wines are good and rather soon after everything is mediocre " he writes. Certainly, but when there are several bottles that are opened at the same time originating from the same original wooden case and that differences arise, the cause cannot be atmospheric pressure. He thinks that this could also come from the taster. I think so too. No one is infallible. But if I had not believed in my palate, I would never have given rise to debate about the differences. I would have accused myself of sometimes poor tasting ability, as has been derided in the past those who found wine to vary. Wine was too sacred to be put into question. Those who produce and especially those who sell have conveyed so much nonsense about it they were very successful in blaming the taster or the buyer. (The word is that young people are only interested now in pink wines. At least they are kept in peace about it). And it continues with the two examples mentioned above. Oh! You'll hear during the holidays some priori on the wine! (speaking about legs, tears, etc.) It is high time to put the consumer at the center of the debate, to respect it rather than only taking him for a “cash cow”. ___________________________________________________ 2005 : LONG LIFE TO OUTSIDERS ! A tasting of the 2005 vintage that took place on November 26th 2009 in London. Overall, the 2005 vintage is shutting down and soon enough, their youthful charm will no longer be apparent (for some time). Once again the less expensive wines came out ahead as having more quality than many expensive wines. The market has not yet recognized the efforts of these outsiders. Considering the vintage, my advice is not to serve them before 2013-2015. Out of these wines, four of them are in my cellar for their wonderful quality-price ratio. The first is Château Laroze, (16,5/20 - 90/100) a Saint-Emilion great classified growth. Since 2001, this estate is on the rise. It got revealed to me with its splendid 2003 vintage. And 2005 is the best ever made. At 25€ excluding VAT, it is a bargain. The second was Du Tertre(16,5/20 - 90/100), a Margaux cru classe. Served after Malescot Saint-Exupery, its nose was more aromatic like a wine from Margaux should be. On the palate, it gave an impression of refinement and gentle touch. I remember its long finish and its grain-free tannins. This is the best wine made by the property that is in full rise. It is really a bargain at the price of 26 euros. Again, it will age very well as shown in my tasting of older vintages of this wine. (check the wine reviews database for pricing information). The third is the Chateau Léoville-Poyferre(17,75/20 -94-95/100), a classified growth of Saint-Julien. This wine dominated the evening along with Lafite. For a year or two I wasn’t sure if this 2005 would become better than the famous 2003. Today I am positive. Besides, I was not interested in this wine before the 2002 vintage. And since then, all the vintages are very successful and very good. I urge you to put some in your cellar. It is a beautiful gift at 60€ VAT excl in France, yet cheaper in England. (you can chck the wine reviews database for a list of merchants) Regarding the Nairac(rated 18/20 - 95/100) Vs Yquem 2005 flight (rated 18.5/100 - 96/100). As you noted, the two wines are very close in quality. Yet d’ Yqyem has a most magic and nuanced touch on the palate which reminds me of great wines from Montrachet. On the other hand, the price gap plays in the favor of Nairac . (48 euros in France compared to a mere 36 euros in England.) I did taste these wines twice during my short time in London. They both will require to be decanted in order to enhance their nose expression. 2005 Clos de Sarpe Saint Emilion 16//88-89 A powerful yet simple wine in terms of taste. 2005 La Bienfaisance St Emilion 16//88-89 A wine of charm, fine tannins and of soft tannic texture. Very enjoyable. 2005 Clos St Martin St Emilion 16,25//89 I had higher expectations in depth and refinement of the grain of tannins. Still very woody at this point. 2005 Laroze St Emilion 16,5//90 This wine dominates the previous ones by the vibrancy of its nose expression. On the palate, both precision and balance are really pleasant for the taster. It offers some aromatic and distinguished tannins. 2005 Magdelaine St Emilion 16//88-89 A wine that lacks body and offers some rustic nuances for the vintage. 2005 La Providence Pomerol 16,5//90 A sweet wine that clearly differentiates from the previous one. Very pleasurable. It provides a lovely, distinguished and aromatic finish. 2005 La Clémence Pomerol 16,75//91 Wide, creamy and full on the palate, this wine also delivers a powerful finish. Very Pomerol. Wait until 2013. 2005 Malescot St Exupery Margaux 15,75//88 Served after that Pomerol, this Margaux tastes too close to the right bank style and not enough close to the style of the Margaux appellation. This wine lacks typicality and class. 2005 Du Tertre Margaux 16,5//90 A delightful wine of delicate taste. 2005 Sociando Mallet Haut Médoc 16//88-89 A Lovely nose, yet that is lacking in depth. Tasty on the palate. Medium body and refined tannins. 2005 Calon Segur Saint Estèphe 15,75//88 I have tasted two bottles, both offering discreet nose and marked by stiff tannins and too woody on finish. Lacks charm. 2005 Gruaud Larose Saint Julien 16,25-16,5//89-90 A lovely vibrant fruit distinguishes this wine made of a velvety body and elegant tannins. It finishes full of taste. 2005 Lagrange Saint Julien 16,25//89 In this tasting, this 2005 Lagrange appeared slightly grainy and below expectations. I found it surprising given the high portion of merlot. It is most likely due to bottle variation. 2005 Léoville Barton Saint Julien 16,25//89 While showing a lovely nose, yet it lacks generosity on the palate. It was harvested too early. 2005 Léoville Poyferré Saint Julien 17,75//94-95 This is a full, structured, tasty and long wine made of elegant tannins. A must have. 2005 Lafite Pauillac 18//95 This wine dominates the tasting by its aromatic vibrancy, and a full character along with an uncommon tactile refinement. A great wine. ___________________________________________________ ABOUT THE USE OF MY ONLINE WINE REVIEWS DATABASE Statistics show that you are few subscribers to use the database. But do you know what you miss? For example, imagine that during this holiday season, you think about offering the best possible wine, rated at least 17/20 (or 92/100), but worth less than 30 euros (exc. VAT) 1 – To find such wine, First, you need to login. Note : Your Username is typically your email address. As for your password, in case you have forgotten it, you can use the automated “email-my-password” feature (a.k.a “password forgotten” on the top of the webpage) from the website to receive it instantly on your email. Therefore, calling our offices is not a prerequisite. 2 – On the homepage of the website, scroll down to the lower center section named: “ Search in the database ”. Then click on « search into the wine reviews database ». A new page appears, titled « Search through my tasting notes - Where to find the wine - How much it costs ”. 3 –Only fill in the appropriate search fields« Rating min. (92 in this case on a 100 pt scale) » and « max price in euros (30)». Then click on the « search » button. The result is a list of wines pertinent to your search criteria that is sorted by QPR (from the best to the lowest) 4 – You are now left to click on the name of the wine of which you are willing to read the reviews and tasting notes. Finally, once on the wine reviews page, you can also access the wine prices section which is provided as a complimentary service of winedecider.com By clicking on the “ Find merchants who sell this wine ” link, you will now have access to the virtually unlimited pricing information on that product set. Therefore, this interface enables you to search any wines from your favorite appellations, regardless of their vintage, based on available price, reviews and tasting notes. ___________________________________________________ A CHRISTMAS AND HOLIDAY SEASON’S GIFT: OFFER A 3 DAYS TASTING SESSIONS IN THE BEST REVIEWED WINE ESTATES OF BORDEAUX 749 euros (inc. VAT) for subscribers. 849 euros (inc. VAT) for non-subscribers. Upon request, we will send you all the details of that program. Read the feedback of previous and recent participants to such sessions on that link. The next chronicle will be published on Monday January 18th, 2010. I wish you a happy holiday season. Cheers, Jean-Marc Quarin ______________________________________________________________________________ © Copyright: The news media and subscribing wine distributors, importers and retailers may use brief portions of this material (such as tasting notes, ratings or quotes) provided that it is not distorted, the proper wine and vintage are stated, Quarin.com is given credit for the material utilized, and Jean-Marc Quarin (JMQ) is shown as the Copyright holder.

2009 Chronicles

Chronicle 90. The consumer, this "cash cow" • 2005 Bordeaux: Long life to Outsiders

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