Brompton Wine @bromptonwine - Tumblr Blog

Bordeaux 2015

Bordeaux visit #primeurs2015 - April 2016

After the difficult vintages of 2011, 2012, 2013 and a better vintage in 2014, there has been a great deal of Bordeaux excitement about this 2015 vintage. Much of this hype is justified. There are some truly wonderful wines.

2015 was a very dry year – a heatwave in June and July used up most of the over winter water reserves in the soil. In July alone Bordeaux had 24 days with temperatures higher than 25 degrees of which 10 days were over 30 degrees. As a result veraison was relatively late – end of the 1st week on August as the rains came. Chateau Palmer described this ‘as the perfect conditions for veraison’. August was a wet month which balanced the heat and dryness of the previous 2 months. It also meant that as the grapes ripened through August, they built up freshness and recovered acidity levels to balance the high levels of sugar.

Harvest started, for Merlot, after 18th September, with most vineyards picking between 18th – 30th September. While Cabernet was picked from 30th September – 9th October. Potential alcohol is high – towards 14 degrees but this is nothing new these days in Bordeaux. Acidity levels can be an issue in some wines and the tannins are generally deep, velvety and ripe. Some vineyards picked a little early as the sugar levels were high and have not reached full phenolic ripeness. In general it is a vintage of wonderful sweet, pure fruit - wines with balance and finesse. In good hands the highish level of alcohol is not evident in the slightest and the wines should age magnificently.

I sampled over 200 wines over 3 days of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux tastings from 5th-7th April. The UGC tasting were held at Ch. Gruaud Larose (St Julien), Ch. Lafon Rochet (St Estephe & Pauillac), Ch. La Lagune (Sauternes & Barsac), Ch. Malartic-Lagraviere (Graves), Ch. La Couspade (St. Emilion), Ch. Beauregard (Pomerol). I went to Ch. Laroze (St. Emilion) to taste wines shown by the Grand Cercle des Vins de Bordeaux –plenty of petits chateaux wines and some real delights. I also arranged private visits to Ch. Palmer, Ch. Kirwan, Domaines Fabre (Haut Medoc), Cheval Blanc, Angelus, Ch. Bel Air La Royere (Blaye), Ch. Veyry (Castillon), Haut Brion. At Haut Brion I tasted 1st and 2nd wines of Quintus, La Mission Haut Brion and Haut Brion – red and white.

So a fairly thorough immersion into the vintage. These are my highest scoring wines. More thorough tasting notes to follow.

Richard Household, April 2016

Summary

Left Bank

Margaux Score /10

Ch. Palmer 9

Ch. Kirwan 9

Ch. Lascombes 8.5

Ch. Malescot 8

Ch. Brane-Cantenac 8

Ch. Labegorce 7.5

Of all the communes Margaux was the most inconsistent – some wines were a little green, some wines had low acidity and some wines had heat from alcohol imbalance.

St Julien Score /10

Ch. Leoville Poyferre 9.5

Ch. Leoville Barton 9

Ch. Branaire-Ducru 8.5

Ch. Beychevelle 8

Ch. Gruaud Larose 8

Wines from St Julien were the most consistent.

Pauillac Score/10

Ch. Lynch Bages 9

Ch. Batailley 9

Ch. Pichon Comtesse 8.5

Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste 8.5

Ch. Pichon Baron 8

Ch. D’Armaillac 8

Overall Pauilac has produced wines of power and richness. Some are over extracted and some showed a hint of green.

St Estephe Score/10

Ch. Lafon Rochet 8.5

Ch. Meyney 8

Ch. Phelan Segur 7.5

Lafon Rochet was a delight but overall the purity and sweetness of fruit evident in Medoc further away from the coast was not so expressive in St Estephe. Often quite jammy.

Graves Score /10

Ch. La Mission Haut Brion 9.5

Ch. Haut Brion 9

Quintus 9

Ch. Pape Clement 9

Ch. De Fieuzal 8.5

Ch. Les Charmes Haut-Brion 8.5

Domaine de Chevalier 8.5

Ch. Malartic Lagraviere 8.5

Ch. Olivier 8.5

I think had some of the stand out wines – powerful, yet pure sweet fruit with layers of cassis and hedgerow earthiness. There were a few shockers where growers had tried to force more richness which resulted in harsh, stewed fruit bitterness but overall very good indeed.

Right Bank

St Emilion Score/10

Cheval Blanc 9.5-10

Angelus 9.5

Ch. Pavie Macquin 9

Ch. Troplong Mondot 9

Ch. La Dominique 9

Ch. Grand Mayne 8.5

Clos Fourtet 8

Ch. La Gaffeliere 8

Ch. Soutard 8

The highest scores and some charming, wonderful wines.

Pomerol Score/10

Ch. La Croix de Gay 9

Ch. Beauregard 8.5

Ch. Petit Village 8

Plenty of other wines scored around the 8 mark but overall I found the wines lacking in finesse, clunky and overbearing. Purity of fruit was generally lacking.

Road to New York Marathon 2015 no.2

@nycmarathon Now in week 5 of my marathon training program using a @garminrunning plan. I’ve just been on the family holiday to France for the past 2 weeks and this has enabled me to indulge quite a few of my passions: spending time with my family (I know but if I didn’t put that first then I’d be in a whole heap of trouble), exploring vineyards and local markets, eating and drinking the results, cooking, playing backgammon and, of course, running.

We were in the magnificent @dordogne not far from Perigueux – a fabulous part of the world, perfectly situated to head to the vineyards of Bergerac, St Emilion and Bordeaux. The list of wines I enjoyed is long but highlights included : Chateau Langoa Barton 2004, Chateau d’Yquem 1996, the lovely wines from Chateau Les Miaudoux in Bergerac, Chateau Moulin de Duhart 1990, various vintages of Clos Basté in Madiran and plenty more.

We didn’t miss out on the culinary side either – roasted whole organic kid (goat not small child) in the garden, plenty of duck, rabbit roasted on the wood fired bbq, salads, patés, fish, wonderful cheeses – notably from Louise and Peter Dunn’s organic local farm. Where possible everything was from local producers and farmers. All great fun to explore and enjoy.

On the running front I managed 56 miles in total over the 2 weeks – not bad considering all the food and wine consumed! Add in the fact that it is very hilly and quite warm… I am up to around 17 miles, so very much on track.

Back in Wimbledon now (in the pouring rain) – another long run to get done this Sunday. Much as Richmond Park is great, it is not the same as the Limousin oak forests of the Perigord. Oh well, must find a ‘work’ reason to head back there soon.

Currently a happy runner and still loving my Mizuno Wave Riders @mizunoshoes - New York is getting closer and I’m still hoping to get my table at bluehillfarm. Can’t wait!

Richard – 14th August 2015

#bluehillfarm #winerun #dordogne #bergeracwine

Road to New York Marathon 2015

@nycmarathon bluehillfarm @mizunorunning Today is DAY 1 of my 16 week training program as I try and get fit for to run my 8th marathon. It’s a funny old feeling of excitement mixed with a significant amount of trepidation. Yes, I’ve gone through this plenty of times before but I have never managed to get through a training regime unscathed.

As I live in Wimbledon and New York is more than a car journey away the stakes are high. Let’s see how it goes. I know this has very little to do with my job of getting very excited about and talking about wine but I like to link everything together as best I can. I love life and my running habit is really just to enable me to continue to indulge my love of great food and stunning wines with a clear conscience! Hence the link to bluehillfarm - my target is not only to run the marathon but to dine at this amazing New York restaurant. I’ve never been, in fact I’ve never been to New York (apart from a wrong turn when I was 18 but that’s another story), but everything I have read and been told about bluehillfarm just makes me want to experience it. I don’t know if I’ll get into this wonderful restaurant but I will try... I’ll keep you posted. My favourite London chef recommended it and that is more than enough for me.

I’m not going to bore you to death with tales of my running mishaps (I have a wife for that) - unless they are good but all I will say, as I start my training, is how pathetically excited I was about my new pair of running shoes I bought last week. I’ve tried so many shoes over the years and they really do make a huge difference. I have returned to @mizunorunning because the feeling I enjoyed when I tried on the pair of Wave Riders was, I imagine, how Harry Potter felt when he chose his wand at Ollivander’s Shop. Really it was! My first run yesterday - a simple 5 miler was a joy as was my 5k this morning. So far so good...

My target is to eat and drink as normal while getting as close to 3hrs 30mins for the race. I’ll keep you posted. I hope my blogs will reveal the battle I will have with myself to get out there and run while telling you about the amazing wines, people and food I will continue to discover over the coming months. Off to France in a couple of weeks ...

Richard - 14th July 2015

Great visit to Clos Fourtet.

#closfourtet

What a feast!

Lovely tasting at Ch Les Miaudoux

Nathalie Cuisset at Miaudoux

The barrel room at Ch Les Miaudoux, Bergerac

Bordeaux wine tour June

This trip around my favourite wine region was all down to a good lunch. There is a particular chef/patron, whose company I greatly enjoy – I’ll call him The Chef (TC) from now on. We meet up 2 or 3 times a year for a good lunch somewhere in London to let off steam over good food and good wine. We take it turns to choose the venue with varying degrees of success but what is always a certainty is that we’ll have fun and generally put the world to rights. We’ve know each other for getting on for 20 years and I value his opinions and views on life. Anyway, after too many glasses of wine at our last lunch we started a rather heated debate on the old Burgundy vs Bordeaux question. TC is in the Burgundy camp and I am in the Bordeaux camp. In the end the only way to start his journey to enlightenment was to visit Bordeaux. Challenge accepted.

Our base was not far from Perigueux in the Dordogne, just to the north of Bergerac. Too far to visit the Medoc but, in theory, perfect for a good few visits to vineyards on the Right Bank – St Emilion, Pomerol, Castillon etc… Another friend joined the group. I made it quite clear that they were both guinea pigs to a certain degree and I planned a trip to visit a mixture of small growers and more illustrious picture postcard Chateaux. I used a combination of my old contacts, geographical knowledge and Google Maps to plan the visits. My contacts were good but I made the fatal (and quite frankly stupid) mistake of blindly trusting Google Maps for directions and for working out how long the various legs of the journey would take. If I plan to do more trips bringing clients to Bordeaux etc… I’ll have to plan it a bit better. Less in more! I was a bit amateurish on the navigation front and I wasn’t happy about that.

Firstly a little bit of background to Bordeaux and what it means to me. It may sound like an obvious thing to say for a wine merchant but Bordeaux really gave me my ‘Road to Damascus’ moment. My grandparents had a charming vineyard in Somerset and I loved the family gatherings over the annual harvest. The wine itself was fairly average (I’m being polite) and I’m afraid I grew up (as a good West Country boy) drinking cider. I was 18 when I went to Bordeaux to stay with a wonderful family called the Poujats who had a winery in the Bordeaux suburb of Bassens. I loved it – the wine, the food the people. We’re not talking Cru Classe but simple, honest claret. It is easy to forget that Bordeaux is a huge wine region, with the top wines accounting for a tiny percentage of the overall wine produced – I’ll come back to this later as well. The wines are not always easy to taste but with the right food they come alive – the perfect marriage of food and wine. An aspect of wine enjoyment that I find hugely pleasurable. It is a huge frustration to me that so many wine lists in London just don’t get this marriage right.

Over the years I have been fortunate enough to taste most of the so-called great wines in Bordeaux but it is also a huge frustration that so many buyers and merchants only focus on these ‘top’ wines and ignore so many of the great family owned petits chateaux. There is a laziness in our trade that means so many great wines are ignored. Why? They are harder to sell. Value to quality they are, however, very hard to beat. We seem quite happy to list mediocre (quite frankly rubbish) village Burgundy but not decent commune Bordeaux.

There is nowhere else in the world where there is such a perfect synergy of different ingredients to make the whole greater than the sum of the parts: terroirs, grapes, oak and the assemblage. We were focusing on the Right Bank on this trip so the main grape used is merlot. The cabernets are also grown, along with some malbec and petit verdot.

Day 1 – Monday 8th June

I picked up TC from Bergerac airport mid-afternoon and we headed straight to the delightful Ch Les Miaudoux. The Alfa, like all good Italians, was playing up – no air con. It was a stunning, roasting June afternoon. Ch Les Miaudoux has always been a favourite of mine. Lovely, fresh, bright wines which is all the more surprising because they are organic (that topic is for another blog). Nathalie Cuisset showed us around this charming estate and we tasted several delicious wines: unoaked white, rose and red all 2014, oak aged red and white (the white was particularly good) and a delicious sweet Saussignac. A thoroughly enjoyable start to the trip.

We then headed back to the house. TC prepared the most delicious supper of artichoke, rabbit, gigot de chevreau (from the local organic goat farm run by Peter and Louise Dunn), carrots, potatoes – simply delicious. Did I help? Well if having a swim and drinking a cold beer means I helped then I helped.

We drank grower reserve champagne from Michel Arnould and Chateau Dassault 1995 Grand Cru St Emilion.

Day 2 – Tuesday 9th June

The timings were always going to be tight today but the day got off to a poor start as my decision to rely on Google Maps spectacularly backfired. We were supposed to head to Christian Veyry’s winery in St Laurent des Combes but Google convinced me that this was an hour north of St Emilion. For those of you who know Castillon – this is a school boy error. Even though I thought it odd at the time that the winery would be so far away from the vineyards, I blindly did what the map said. It’s a good 10 years since my previous visit to Christian’s vinery. We didn’t get to him until much later than planned and were playing catch-up from then on. The visit itself though was fantastic. You will not meet a more modest yet supremely talented wine maker in Bordeaux. His wines have always excited me and this was a great tasting. He has vineyards in Castillon and St Emilion. We tasted his superb Chateau Veyry, Castillon – 2012, 2009, 2004 and 3 different of samples in barrel of the 2014.

We then raced into St Emilion to visit Clos Fourtet. As many of you will know, Clos Fourtet sits at the top of the hill with commanding views to the plain below. It is one of the largest properties in St Emilion and has a staggering 20kms of underground cellars. They are magnificent. We tasted the wonderful 2008. I am a big fan of the 2008 vintage – classic and elegant. Thank you to Maison Sichel for arranging the visit.

Then a flying visit to Chateau Cardinal Villemaurine. This is a charming chateau – a slightly bohemian exterior and a very welcoming family. I loved the Tardis-like feel of the place. A real Aladdin’s Cave: down a large spiral staircase to huge underground cellars and tunnels full of vintages going back decades. It was great fun. We resurfaced into the bright sunshine and sat outside tasting the Grand Cru 2012 and the baby brother Lussac-St Emilion 2012. Both charming and well-made wines from a difficult vintage.

The rest of the day was a bit of a Horlicks. We were let down by the vineyard I wanted to visit in Blaye and then headed to the chateau in Chalais for a bite to eat. It had been recommended to me and I will be having words with my usually reliable source for good places to eat. The setting was magnificent and it was lovely to sit outside after a long day and drink a good Cheverny while eating some decent oysters. The main meal was, however, pretty awful – the menu was all over the place and delivery was amateur. In fact it was just bad.

Day 3 – Wednesday 10th June

Only one visit today before I dropped TC back at the airport. Those of you who have read my blog before will know how much I like Chateau Suduiraut. We drove to Sauternes via an unscheduled detour to Bordeaux – I simply can’t multi task. A combination of enjoying a good conversation with TC and not paying attention meant, before I knew it, we had come off the motorway and were driving into the centre of Bordeaux. Anyway, we arrived (late) at Suduiraut and were wonderfully looked after by the hugely talented Pierre Montegut. It is a beautiful place and ended up staying too long tasting some magnificent Sauternes – he was very generous. We tasted 1989, 2002, 2004, 2006 – superb. Since 2004 Suduiraut does not chaptalize and the resulting wines are have the perfect balance between natural sweetness and acidity.

Then a race back to airport – you guessed it, getting stuck in traffic, wildly underestimating how long it would take. If it hadn’t been for the flight arriving late then TC would have missed it.

Note to self – for the next trip, plan better, don’t trust Google Maps and build the days around a good lunch! I certainly loved visiting some old friends and tasting some fantastic wines. I don’t know if I have convinced TC yet about the merits Bordeaux but I will keep trying. Left Bank next time! Ultimately the layers of complexity found in good claret make it a wonderful food wine. These are not wines that drink well on their own but rather cry out for great food – the sort of food that TC creates so magnificently from his kitchen.

RH

��8'lZW

#bordeaux #maisonsichel #closfourtet #suduiraut #chateaulesmiaudoux #christianveyry #stemilion #bergerac

Sugar and spice and all things nice - Sauternes

Chateau Suduiraut is one of the most illustrious of all the Sauternes, situated in the commune of Preygnac not far from its famous neighbour, Chateau d’Yquem. It seems madness to say that this is a rising star, when the Chateau has been in existence since the 17th Century, when the house and vineyards were re-established by Comte Blaise de Suduiraut and classified as 1er Cru Classe in 1855. But that is exactly what I am saying. For the last 9 years the hugely talented Pierre Montegut has been making quite exceptional Sauternes and quite different from the wines being produced in the 80’s and 90’s. His wines are expressive, elegant, layered and sublime.

He is obsessed and very passionate about his work, innovative while all the time respecting the terroir, heritage and expectation there is to produce the best wines at this Chateau.

He has introduced a second label and a dry style. Nothing takes away from the top cuvee – the Chateau Suduiraut itself. The wines are quite simply stunning. How does he do it? Well there is no chaptilisation for a start – the sweetness is all natural and there is a lot of it. That’s all down to exceptional work in the vineyards. The yields are ridiculously low and the attention to detail is paramount. The wines are perfectly balanced with lashings of acidity depth and structure. He is a technical wizard and has an extraordinary feel for his wines.

Pierre learned his trade producing sweet wines in the Loire – home of some of the best Chenin Blancs in the world. Not the glamour of Sauternes but sill truly wonderful wines and an amazing place to learn your trade.

At my recent tasting there I tried the Chateau Suduiraut 1965, 1988, 1989, 2006, 2011 & 2012 - how lucky was I! I tasted several other vintages of the Castelnau de Suduiraut and the dry Spirit of Suduiraut. It was , of course, a great treat but also a real revelation – it doesn’t always follow that with huge resources, great terroir that you will get great wine. Here you do and the wines that Pierre is masterminding are just getting better and better. We tasted all sorts of dishes with the wines to show that Sauternes is not just a dessert wine or suitable with foie gras. The 1965 had taken that wonderful character of thick cut marmalade and saffron and was still fresh and bright – absolutely stunning.

We tried delicious pork, prawns in ginger, hard cheese, soft cheese, cured hams, chicken with spices including Indian spices. There is no doubt that the rich, sweet flavours combine well with hot and spicy foods but that’s not to say that Sauternes is not a wonderful marriage with more delicate , crisp and clean foods. Like good Champagne, Sauternes is a great deal more versatile than we think and there is no better example than Chateau Suduiraut.

Bella (my dog) and I had a wonderful time.

Testing. Testing. 1, 2, 3.

With a bit of luck you'll now be able to follow us through your preferred social media channel.

Lailey Vineyard Tasting Feb 15

A cracking visit to Lailey Vineyard, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario – yes Canada! Tasted some great wines with winemaker Derek Barnett.

Thank you to the delightful Derek Barnett, winemaker at Lailey Vineyard for showing me around the vineyard, cellar and for an extensive tasting of their wines. Of course it is always the right thing to do to say ‘thanks’ for any visit. Here, however, it hardly seems enough. Ontario is currently in the grips of one of the coldest winters on record and that’s saying something for these parts. This blog is about Canadian still wines. I will talk about the Ice Wines another time.

As a soft Wimbledon resident nothing prepared me for temperatures well into the -20s (-30s with the wind chill). To call the weather bitter is like saying Lake Ontario is just a lake. Everything here is on a very grand and extreme scale. We could and should have stayed in the warmth of the tasting room but not this (slightly) intrepid wine explorer, pioneer, frontiersman, ok, I’ll stop now. I had heard of the trick of ‘hilling up’ and wanted to get a first-hand view (there’s a photo at the end ). This is the method used to protect the vines and specifically the trunk where the European vinifera varieties have been grafted onto the ruparia and rupestris rootstocks. Earth and grass are pushed up the vine rows using a plough and this protects the vines from the bitter Canadian winter. Even with this added protection a few vines are lost every year. In really bad years a significant numbers of vines will be lost – in the winter of 2004/5 most growers lost 90% of their production. Many vines have to be replanted after each winter – I’ll come back to this point later.

So this is a harsh place to make wine, with extreme temperature fluctuations. The vineyards along the river that lead to the Niagara Falls (beautifully frozen when we visited last week) are on the same latitude as Tuscany but that is where the similarity ends. The dedication and passion shown by these winemakers, especially Derek Barnett is staggering.

So come on, how good is the wine, I hear you ask. Well mixed, if I am being entirely honest. There are some problems, it seems to me, on several fronts. The vineyards tend to be on the small side – many are well under 10 hectares. This is not in itself an issue but here each vineyard seems to plant a large number of different varietals and not all of them suited to the climate. Some of the people I spoke to, although not Lailey, seem to be more concerned about supplying an existing market with proven trendy grapes, like sauvignon blanc, merlot, cabernet etc… rather than what actually works on their land. Of course, sales are vital to the commercial success of any venture but I don’t see how these wines will be taken seriously on the vinous worldwide stage. The sauvignons, merlots and cabernets that I tasted simply do not have the depth and purity of fruit against wines from, well just about anywhere else. I haven’t tasted all the wines and I look forward to being proved wrong. Cabernet as we all know is diffuclt to ripen and often has that green, medicinal edge to it. I found that quite a bit here (like the young vines in New Zealand before they matured). The smaller vineyards also mean that the prices are high compared to equivalent quality wines from elsewhere in the world. You get no economy of scale, therefore costs are high.

The other issue is the age of the vines. This never ending battle to keep the vines alive and the fact that winemaking is still in its relative infancy means that there are not enough old vines in many of the vineyards. Therefore the wines taste young – short, lacking depth and texture.

What about some positives? Yes, there are many. This is where I would like to spend a bit more time focusing on the wines from Lailey. Why? Because I really enjoyed the wines we tasted. Here is somewhere is trying to make the best wines possible on the terroir. Genuine in their approach and proud of the wines they are producing. Yes, there is odd gimmick – I wasn’t totally sold on the idea of barrel fermented chardonnay in Canadian oak but if it helps to put Lailey on the map, then why not. Especially as the barrel fermented chardonnay in French oak was really good.

So the stand out wines for me from all the wines we tasted were:

· Riesling 2013, Lailey Vineyard

· Chardonnay Brickyard 2012, Lailey Vineyard

· Pinot Noir Old Vines 2009, Lailey Vineyard

· Syrah 2012, Lailey Vineyard

The riesling showed more texture than any other riesling I tasted on the trip – apples, limes, hint of sweetness and lovely acidity. It seems to me that riesling is ideally suited to the clay/sand soil here. Really fresh and a delight.

The chardonnay also showed more depth and layers of fruit than many other wines I tasted. The oak, giving just the right amount of creaminess and spice, was perfectly integrated and the fruit was classic chardonnay – pineapple and lemon. The finish was bright and lingering.

Syrah seems to be a great choice here. Derek was telling me that it is harder to sell Syrah into the Canadian market but the quality was great – that lovely sweet and savoury combination that I love in good syrah. Lots of brambly black fruit balanced with plenty of spice and leathery notes. Soft, warm tannins underpinned the wine with a long deep finish.

I’m not sure whether the star of the red tasting was the syrah or the 2009 pinot noir. The pinot was a surprise – still tasting youthful and fresh, this has a serious level of finesse, minerality and pure fruit expression. Delicious cherry fruit. Not a hint of over extraction. All the flavours seemed harmonious and well crafted.

The prices ranged from $20 to $45, for the Old Vines Pinot Noir.

Anyway, I take my hat off (now that I am nice and warm back in London) to Derek and the Lailey family for producing some lovely wines in the harshest of conditions. I haven’t even mentioned the wine laws in Canada and having to supply through the LCBO – the state monopoly. Both of these add to the difficulties of being an Ontarian wine estate. Many aspects of life conspire against the production of quality wine here and it isn’t just the weather but Lailey Vineyard seem to me to be sticking to true principles and making delicious, genuine wine as a result.

Richard Household

February 2015

Thank you to Derek Barnett, wine maker at Lailey Vineyard.

A first for me - chardonnay aged in Canadian oak. Pretty good but I preferred the French oak.

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Brompton Wine