Best value wines from Bordeaux

During the course of the year I taste many many wines. The most intense tasting time is at the beginning of April when I taste the barrel samples in Bordeaux. over the course of two weeks I might taste +- 1000 wines. Of course it is a great pleasure, but it can also be quite tough. Young Bordeaux wines, in particular, are packed with tannins and acidity, which does wonders for your teeth! Also barrel samples are in finished wines, or as Remi Edange (of Domaine de Chevalier) recently described them: 'When you taste barrel samples, it is like buying a part built house. You can see the potential. But the roof and windows have not been finished and the garden is a mess. But maybe in a couple of years it will all come together!'

But I also taste many mature wines during my work. On average at Bella Wine Tours I will taste 10-12 wines per day. Most of these are top Chateaux such as Lafite Rothschild, Margaux, Mouton Rothschild, Haut Brion, Clinet, Figeac and Yquem. Although it is an extremely pleasant way to spend your day, it is not actually what I drink on a regular basis. Here below are some of my recent value wines from Bordeaux.

In the tasting room at Chateau Lafite Rothschild.

One of the most beautiful Chateaux in Bordeaux.

I have had a link and loyalty to Chateau de la Riviere in Fronsac for over 25 years. The soils are similar to Saint Emilion, the grapes are similar, but the prices are far less. For under €20 you can buy a mature vintage of Chateau de la Riviere. Also they have some large bottles available, which are fantastic for special anniverasies and parties. I bought my son a 15 litre (Nabuchodonosor) bottle from his birth year a couple of years ago.

A standard wine tasting in Bordeaux.

Barton family wines are always consistent

Chateau Leoville Barton was always considered one of the best value Cru Classe wines in the Medoc. Perhaps since 2005 it has become more in line with the other top Saint Julien estates, However it is worth looking out for Langoa Barton (I tasted their 2005 earlier this year in a blind tasting at Farr Vintners and it was exceptional). Also the Barton family have bought a Chateau in Moulis (further south in the Medoc and further inland). Chateau Mauvesin Barton is worth looking out for. The 2014, 2015 and 2016 will be excellent wines for mid term enjoyment. Unfortunately they have been hit heavily by the frost in 2017, so their production will be miniscule, if any.

Sometimes overlooked Chateau Brane Cantenac

It is quite easy to think of the Margaux appellation as Chateau Margaux, Palmer, Rauzan Segla, Giscours and Lascombes. However I adore Chateau d'Issan and Chateau Brane Cantenac as slightly old school quality wines. Both Chateaux have been in family ownership, by prominent Bordeaux families, for many years.....Brane Cantenac is owned by Lucien Lurton and d'Issan is part owned by Emmanuel Cruse.

Chateau Brane Cantenac 2005 and 2010 are exceptional wines.

Not classified, but great quality and value.

There were strong rumours throughout this Summer that Chateau Phelan Segur was up for sale.

I have always rated these wines. Especially the 2009 and 2010. Virtually next door to Chateau Montrose, but a fraction of the price.

A Sunday lunch value selection.

When a good friend, such as Chris Jones, comes for a proper Sunday lunch in Bordeaux, it is always worth trying out different wines. Having purchased our joint of beef (Rosbifs!!!), we browsed the wine selection in Carrefour Cauderan, Bordeaux.

These three wines above were all under €25.

Chateau Meyney has always been a favourite. Next door to Phelan Segur and Montrose. Outstanding value for a quality wine.

Chateau Clarke is the lesser known Rothschild estate in the Medoc. The high percentage of merlot is evident, and this wine is sublime.

Chateau Lespault-Martillac comes from the Bernard stable.....Domaine de Chevalier, Clos des Lunes, Domaine de la Solitude, Guiraud.

This wine from 2012 Pessac Leognan was an exceptional tight concentration of dark cassis and spice. A perfect value and quality wine.

Hedonism Wines, Mayfair

I had heard a few things about an interesting wine shop opening in central London, so I popped in on Friday after a tasting of 191 Cru Bourgeois wines from the 2010 vintage. My teeth were coated in tannin so I tried not to smile at anyone!
(Un)fortunately the first person I met as I entered the shop was a friend of mine called Tobias Brauweiler, who is a top sommelier. Tobias had set up the wine list at Ellenborough Park Hotel at the end of Cheltenham racecourse. Tobias showed me around the incredible shop.
If any wine lover wants to see the best of the best I would thoroughly recommend Hedonism.
If you want to see Chateau d'Yquem going back to 1811 (priced at over £100,000 per bottle!) or an uninterrupted vertical of Chateau Mouton Rothschild from 1945-2004, or Jeroboams of Chateau Lafite Rothschild then this is the place to go.
In fact their collection of large format bottles is quite staggering. I mentioned that the racks of Jeroboams, Methusalahs, Imperials and Melchiors looked like torpedoes. They even have a 27 litre bottle.(called a Primat)
The shop is owned by a Russian chap called Yevgeny Chichvarkin, who had previously been a big operator in mobile phones. Mr Chichvarkin takes a very 'hands on' approach to the shop, being there every day supervising and overseeing the shop.
The wine buyer is Alistair Viner, who ran the Harrods wine depertment for many years.

Here is a slightly blurry picture (my fault), of Tobias in the Mouton vault. You can buy the whole collection for £130,000.

The selection and quality of wines is truly amazing, but the staff and ambience are extremely warm and welcoming. There is also an oenomatic tasting machine, so you can taste iconic wines such as Chateau d'Yquem 2001 or other wines. The unusual touch of having a children's play area with Ipads sets this place apart from your average traditional wine merchant. The whole place is an alladins cave for wine lovers, but it is also a wine shop that will undoubtedly attract some wealthy international clients. I have no idea how much money Mr Chichvarkin has invested in Hedonism, but this place is the best wine shop I have ever seen. 
One other thing that I was extremely happy to see amongst all these great wines was my very own Chateau de la Riviere perched on the shelf next to Chateau Angelus, Lafite Rothschild and Latour.
I do not know where they bought the 2004 Chateau de la Riviere from (the vagaries of Bordeaux wine distribution), but it was great to see drinking wine on the shelves as well as icons.

Hedonism has been open for 5 weeks and various inquisitive people have explored the shop. It will be very interesting to see how this extreme luxury, high end wine shop performs.
Victoria Moore of the Daily Telegraph visited the shop recently and she wrote about her experience here.

Chateau de la Riviere

We work with some fantastic quality wine producers from Bordeaux and the Languedoc. We will feature some of their details here from time to time:

					Name of Producer….. : James GREGOIRE
					How many hectares under vine…… : 60
					Which appelation or area? Fronsac
					Grape varieties planted……..80% Merlot ; 15% Cabernet Sauvignon ; 4% Cabernet Franc ; 1% Malbec
					Soil types……… clay-limestone
					Styles of wine produced…….Top (ARIA) and first (Ch de La Riviere) cuvees are produced in order to extract the best of our terroir : powerful, elegance. Second wine (Les Sources du Ch de La Riviere) is an easy-to-drink wine, on the fruit, round.
					Awards, Medals, Achievements? Gold or silver medal at Concours General de Paris every year.
					Web links to your website/blog etc ? WEBSITE : www.vignobles-gregoire.com FACEBOOK PAGE : http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Ch%C3%A2teau-de-La-Rivi%C3%A8re/162089740523321

TWITTER : @ChdeLaRiviere

YOUTUBE : ChdeLaRiviere

Sitt 2011 Tasting Notes and UK observations.

Sitt is the Specialist Importers Trade Tasting and it takes place every February in Manchester and London. I have just finished showing a selection of wines at the London tasting yesterday. It was a fun event and it is always great to see so many trade buyers and journalists. As I spend so much time travelling in Bordeaux and Languedoc it is a rare occasion to see some people! It is an opportunity to re acquaint as well as meet new people.

The UK wine trade has always been a dynamic market place and trading post for all sorts of wines. This specialist trade tasting mainly caters for artisan producers and importers rather than the big corporate companies. The UK economy is not in the best of shape at the moment with various tax rises and impending job cuts. There is a sense of uncertainty and it is a time to be stoic and work hard and clearly focus on the core values of your business. There will be companies merging and undoubtedly companies going to the wall in the next couple of years. But this also leads to a great opportunity to build loyalty and strengthen. If you can survive the hard times......then the good times will be great.
This year I was showing a range of wines from Bordeaux, the Rhone and Languedoc. It was the first time that I was not showing Australian wines at this event. The Australian wines are becoming extremely expensive in the UK due to the exchange rate. Fundamentally Australia is still producing some exceptional wines, however they have various issues to deal with domestically regarding drought and basic vineyard economics. At the moment Australian wines are rapidly becoming less popular in the UK market. I am sure that they will 'come back' but it might take a few years.
This is what I was showing....
From Bordeaux:
Chateau de la Riviere Rose 2010 £9.49 (recommended approximate retail price in the UK.)
A lighter style of Rose from 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. With a screwcap closure this is an elegant fresh crisp wine for Spring/Summer.
Chateau du Pin 2009 £7.99
It is sometimes difficult to find decent reliable consistent claret under £10. This is a lovely fresh juicy style of mainly merlot red. The 2009 was a great year at the top end for Bordeaux, but also at the lower scale there are some delicious wines produced. Elegant, ripe and tasty.
Chateau Bois Noir 2008 £11.99
This is a really beefy style of Bordeaux. The wine is made by Cyril Gregoire and is classified Bordeaux Superieur. It is deep dark and has a roasted mocha character nose. Excellent serious concentrated style.
Chateau de la Riviere 2006, Fronsac £19.99
This Chateau continues to produce excellent quality and value wines. This mature Bordeaux has an intensity of merlot dominant fruit with poise and balance from good oak ageing. This wine is approachable now, but will benefit from further cellaring.
Chateau de la Riviere 2007, Fronsac £19.99
Ironically the 2007 Riviere is developing quicker than the 2006. This wine has a savoury texture and has a brooding bramble and damson cream character. Delicious.

From the Languedoc:
Domaine La Prade Mari Viognier 2010 £7.99 (tank sample showed)
Excellent fresh crisp white with a hint of white peach blossom and apricots. A refreshing white from a small block (1.2 hectare) of vines.
Domaine La Prade Mari Roussanne 2010 £14.50 (barrel sample showed)
We aged this wine in 4 new oak barriques (225 litres). The grapes are from a very young plot (4 years old), which produces a rich nutty character on the wine. The integration of fruit and oak gives a beautiful balance and richness. The vanilla texture from the oak stands up to the quality of the fruit. Very small quantities available. (we only produced 2300 bottles!)
Domaine La Prade Mari 'Rubis des Garrigues' 2010 £9.99 (barrel sample showed)
The first Rose wine produced by Eric Mari. Equal parts Syrah/Grenache/Carignan and Mourvedre harvested by some extremely able pickers (Max and Jasper Wakes-Miller aged 6 and 8). We fermented this wine in stainless steel tanks and then put it in to older oak barrels for 4 months just to add a richness to the wine. The wine is showing very well now. It has a deeper pink/red hue and a nose of summer pudding and strawberries. This will be delicious this Summer as a Rose to be served outdoors with food when Summer arrives.
Domaine La Prade Mari Vieilles Vignes Carignan 2009 £6.50
This wine surely has to be one of the best quality /value wines available. The vines are 80 years old and they contribute to the beautiful elegant rounded ripe juicy style of red wine. Dark cherry characters on the nose and clean balanced palate. The wine has very light tannins from the fruit rather than oak ageing. It is also refreshing at 12.5 degrees alcohol. An absolute bargain.
Domaine La Prade Mari 'Secret de Fontanilles' 2008 £8.50
The word 'garrigue' is hard to directly translate from French. It is essentially the wild shrubby hedgerow that surrounds the vineyards in the south of France. The 'garrigue' has incredible mixture of flora and fauna with thyme, rosemary, fennel, wild garlic, wild onions, sage, gorse and rocket. All these herby aromatic characters are hinted in this delicious deep red.
Domaine La Prade Mari 'Chant de l'Olivier' 2007 £10.99
50:50 Syrah and Grenache aged in 2 and 3 yr old barrels. This has depth, richness and outstanding quality fruit. An international winemaker chose this as one of his favourite wines at the tasting.
Domaine La Prade Mari 'Conte des Garrigues' 2007 £12.99
Same % grapes as the Chant de l'Olivier above, however this wine has newer oak barrels. The influence of the newer oak gives the wine a slightly tighter structure. Very classy deep, dark garrigue characters and ideal with roast beef or roast sanglier.
Domaine La Prade Mari 'Gourmandises des Bois' 2007 £25.00
80% Syrah: 20% Grenache Very pure elegant Syrah. I have always thought that this wine would show comparatively well in a blind tasting of top quality northern Rhone wines.

Domaine Moulin Gimie Merlot 2008 £7.50
Merlot can be overcropped and jammy in the Languedoc but this example is pure class. It has won Gold medals in Paris (for what it is worth) and has a light menthol structure balanced with dark damson and blackcurrant fruits. An excellent everyday drinking red.
Domaine Moulin Gimie 'Les Fossiles' 2008 £10.99
The first showing in the UK for this unusual blend of Merlot, Syrah and Mourvedre. A delicious savoury slight milk chocolate character (probably from the mourvedre) balanced with intense red summer fruits.

From the Rhone:
Kreydenweiss 'Perrieres' 2008 Costieres de Nimes £12.50
Marc Kreydenweiss(16th generation winemaker from Alsace) bought this 19 hectare property in the southern Rhone in 1999. This wine is a beautiful example of Syrah/Grenache/Carignan and Mourvedre which thrive on the iron rich soils. An incredible depth of dark fruits wrapped in a sling of top quality oak. This wine also has a freshness which presumably comes from the biodynamic treatments in the vineyards and cellar.
Kreydenweiss 'Ansata' 2007 Vin de pays de Coteaux de Flaviens £15.00
100% Syrah therefore this wine has to have the rather unusual Vin de Pays classification. However this does not diminish the pure quality.
Kreydenweiss Chateauneuf du Pape 2007
Marc Kreydenweiss works 2 hectares of vines in the famous appellation Chateauneuf du Pape. These 2 hectares are mainly on sandy soils, which have never been sprayed with pesticides (the land was previously worked organically). Now Marc has converted the land to biodynamic principles and produces a sublime quality red wine. This wine packs a punch with 15 degrees alcohol, but it is in perfect balance with layers of elegant ripe cherry and herbal fruit characters. Truly a wine to savour.

These are background notes and observations on the wines rather than specific tasting notes. I am happy to quote ex cellar prices for UK trade buyers.

2009 Bordeaux Vintage

There has been very positive comments regarding the 2009 harvest in Bordeaux. Now that the initial hype may have calmed slightly, there seems to be some concerns about the alcohol levels (relatively high). But these richer fuller wines are similar to 2005,2003 and 2000 which all had higher than normal alcohol levels and produced some of the best wines of the last 10 years.
I was fortunate to be able to pick some Merlot at Chateau de la Riviere in Fronsac.

Xavier Buffo, (the winemaker) and James Gregoire (the owner) were both very confident for this harvest. The pure ripe quality of the grapes bodes well for the wines, which will be produced.



I will be in Bordeaux in January for business meetings as well as tastings, so I should be able to get a clearer picture from various respected Chateaux owners and tasters.

The crazy week of 'Primeur Tastings' in April should be an interesting time. The exchange rate is still not favorable for UK or US wine buyers, but if the wines are top quality people will always want to buy them .The efforts and energies of many negociants have shifted to the exciting markets in the East. Will these relatively new markets of Russia, India, Singapore, China and Hong Kong be the new future for Bordeaux wines?

I am looking forward to 2010 to spend more time at the top quality wine estates in Bordeaux.

Here are some interesting observations from Stephane Derenoncourt, who is one of the top consultant winemakers in the Bordeaux area. (Click on Stephane's name to read the interview.)