Chronicle 197

Chronicle 197 (Sunday, January 24 2016) The high points of 2015 The greatest compliment in 2015 This was made by a subscriber, who won first prize at the famous tasting diploma awarded by the Bordeaux Institute of Oenology. This is what he wrote: “I've been an avid reader of your publications for more than fifteen years and a loyal attendee at your excellent Salon des Outsiders for two. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you, because I know I owe a large part of my first prize in tasting to you! Thanks to your tasting course some years back in Bordeaux, the striking accuracy of your scores against my own tasting impressions and of course the first part of your book, I have been able to develop my own tasting based on a palate analysis that is much more precise and formal. This was a clear asset when I was studying for the DUAD (University Diploma in Tasting Skills), in which paradoxically, this aspect of tasting is under-addressed.” S. D. The least professional reaction from a chateau of the year from Château Pavie In January 2015, I published a comparative study of purchased bottles of the two historical Saint-Emilion Grands Crus Classés A, Ausone and Cheval Blanc and the two new chateaux promoted to this distinction in 2012, Angélus and Pavie. Ausone, Cheval Blanc and Angélus took the findings on board, sometimes commenting on them, when we met. However, the press relations officer at Pavie informed me that they would not receive me to taste the 2014 primeurs. When I asked why, the answer was more or less this: “If Jean-Marc Quarin doesn't like my wines, why would I bother welcoming him?”. What could be clearer? Wine writers should only be used for promotional purposes obviously… Let me reiterate: the main reason I taste wines from bottles purchased away from the chateaux is precisely to escape this kind of attempt to manipulate my findings. Furthermore, I don't believe that fostering this sort of “communitarianism of taste” will bring people to like wine more or enable producers to command higher prices. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I am more in favour of openness and debate on what constitutes quality in the taste of wine. Enemies, then friends again – that's life! The finest reconciliation of the year with Cos d'Estournel In my Guide published in 2011, I wrote that after a number of incidents and disparities of taste, I no longer trusted the wines presented directly by this property. Therefore, I no longer wished to go there to taste them. The 1997 that tasted perfectly all right en primeur, but which displayed green pepper a year later, was what triggered this controversy. In 2013, one of my friends and readers took part in a vertical tasting of Cos d'Estournel in Switzerland, led by the Development Director, who is also a member of the owner's family. The conversation concerned the 1997 and Mr. Augenblick admitted that the vintage displayed green pepper. My reader commended him for his honesty, whereupon the former understood he was one of my subscribers. “But it didn't come from us”, he added. I took this response as a new intention to be open about the subject. I tasted purchased bottles of the 2009 and the 2010. The positive result moved me to write to Mr. Augenblick. I returned to Cos d'Estournel to taste the wines on 14th April 2015. Cork stoppers – the best news of the year Aware of taste differences between bottles of the same wine and vintage, I report the logo printed on the corks of bottles in my tasting notes. My experience has led me to conclude that corks stamped with the logo of a crown are associated with the worst deviations between 1995 and 2005. I am genuinely anxious when I have to open bottles from this period! However in November 2013, the Franco-Portuguese cork producer, which uses the logo went to the wall. There is probably a connection… When you talk to the people in charge at the properties, which suffered these disparities, they admit that at the time they didn't realise that the cork is the ultimate quality factor for wine. So, I would ask them how they selected the corks. They would answer that the rep. was a nice guy and a good friend from school… They could have added that the price must also have been attractive. Today the most exclusive corks cost €1.50 each. Who would not accept to pay that price to ensure a good result? The real issue is the number of premium corks the supplier can actually supply. How tasting leads to new discoveries So here I am at Château Les Carmes Haut Brion tasting two batches of 2013. Both have been aged in two new 1,200-litre wooden casks. One is round, like those used in the Rhone Valley. The other is like an Alsatian cask with its familiar tall, oval shape. I am astounded to taste two totally different wines! The first has wood on the nose, but not the second. The first is fruity, has a lovely mouthfeel, but is quite flat bodied and is not so long. The second has the positive, reductive hint of wines that have been protected from the air while ageing, and a deep nose with a discrete touch of coffee. On the palate, the body bounces back in the middle, rather than flattening out. The finish lasts. The flavour is more vibrant, fresher and more complex. I would never have believed that there would have been so many differences. How to explain them? According to the winemaker Guillaume Pouthier, “The contact with the air is different and that with the lees also”. Will Bordeaux quit its traditional 225-litre ageing barrel one day? The most bewildering tasting theme of the year: “When limestone-grown Merlot from Saint-Emilion tastes just like Cabernet Sauvignon from the Medoc” Good grounds indeed to mix up left bank wines with those from the right bank! Would you have believed it? Not sure are you? Neither were a large proportion of people at the tasting that evening… I was leading this blind tasting before 80 of my colleagues of the “Duad's Club” at Bordeaux's Vine and Wine Institute. The majority got it wrong “correctly”, proving that palate perceptions can be confusing. This is a revelation that provokes inquiry into what was thought to be established regarding Saint-Emilion wines. I will return more thoroughly to the content of this presentation, which is a sequel to what I have written on “palate before nose”. The most pleasant request for tasting improvement to hear and act on this year This came from the French organisation “Bien choisir son vin” (Choose your wine right), whose tasting findings are published by the French consumer magazine “Que choisir” (What should you choose?). The most overwhelming wine of the year: the marvellous, splendid Yquem 2009, which has scored 100/100 four times since it was made. The most perplexing Saint-Emilion of the year: Canon 2012, which is so like a Côte de Nuit Burgundy. Which means that we have to think again about what we thought we knew about this wine. The most remarkable Pomerol of the year: Clos du Clocher Few wines can boast that they are one of the elite from the plateau of this appellation. My first tastings of separate batches of the 2015 probably make it the greatest wine ever made on the property. The most attractive Medoc of the year: Calon Ségur with its 2014 better than the 2010 You don't often see a wine enter the premium segment and become one of the most reliable primeur purchases so soon after a change in management (2006, 2007). The most attractive Pessac Léognan of the year: Les Carmes Haut Brion, because of its magical Cabernet Franc, which dominates the blends of the 2013, 2014 and 2015! It is also the most promising Outsider of the year. The most innovative Bordeaux dry white of the year: Les Champs Libres 2013 and 2014, made from cloned Sauvignon from Sancerre. An invention by the Guinaudeau family, who also makes the wine at Château Lafleur in Pomerol. The surprise of the year: the Sauternes and Barsac 2011s are as good as or better than the 2010s. My own most enjoyable private moment of the year: my daughter drinking a Haut Brion red 1993 at 12°C (54°F) and declaring, “It's the best red wine ever tasted!” This wine is amazing and almost sweet at this temperature. Still unbeaten, the finest dinner of the year: 50 vintages of Yquem over two evenings, which went down like a treat! An experience, which brought me back to the delight of tasting sweet whites over a meal. Up to then, I only drank them as an aperitif. Still unbeaten, the finest tasting of the year: ten vintages of Château Margaux against ten of Haut Brion. Better than the Petrus vertical, than Petrus versus Le Pin or Margaux against La Tâche or the most exclusive wines in the world. Oh, the joys of pure refinement! The finest support of the year: that of my readers for the Salon des Outsiders and the hundred attendees at the opening dinner chez Laurent, despite the recent Paris terrorist attacks of 13th November. To celebrate the New Year, I am delighted to wish you all the best for 2016 and the greatest enjoyment in sharing your favourite wines. Jean-Marc Quarin ________________________________________________________________ @Copyright This publication is the original work of Jean-Marc Quarin Sarl, 10 allée de Ginouilhac, 33320 Le Taillan-Médoc. France. E-mail : jmquarin@quarin.com The news media and subscribing wine distributors, importers and retailers may use portions of this material (such as tasting notes, ratings or quotes) provided that it is not distorted, the proper wine and vintage are stated, www.quarin.com is given credit for the material utilized, and Jean-Marc Quarin is shown as the Copyright holder.

2016 Chronicles

Chronicle 197

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