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1. 2015 Bordeaux Vintage was probably the best in 50 years only to have it followed by 2016 and 2018. All the wines tasted in 2015 were spectacular. I tasted many out of the barrel at the vineyard and they all were complex and extremely well balanced with almost perfect acidity, oak balance, tannin balance, etc. I did not find one that did not absolutely blow me away. I was particularly impressed with the 2015 Leoville Las Case, which in my mind, despite what the experts are saying(they rate it around 97) is a 100 point wine. Of interest, Leoville Las Case for years has been dealing with negative comments in their mind from Robert Parker. They feel he has not liked their wines for years, because as we all know, Robert Parker likes concentrated high alcohol "jammy" wines which Leoville Las Case is not. To me 2015 was the most complex, feminine, soft, velvety, balanced Bordeaux I have tasted in years. No, it is not a "bold" wine. It is a spectacular wine of finesse and beauty. But because the wine writers have not been "fans" of Las Case, 2015 in my mind may be getting lower ratings than it should. Additionally, I can say unequivocally the 2015 Ponet Canet is the greatest and best Ponet Canet I have ever tasted going back at least 15 years and I rate it 100 points also. I have visited the vineyard twice and met with the owner at least 3 times and unequivocally they are making better and better Bordeaux every year at one of the lowest prices you can buy Bordeaux and they are literally 100 feet across the street from Mouton Rothschild so they share in my mind the same terroir and microclimate though I am sure they would not agree. Having said all of this critics are still raving about 2016 discussed below and in the past week or two raving about 2018 out of the barrel. The 2018's are being described as very dark, tannic, yet balanced and able to age for 30 years or longer. Another up and coming Medoc Bordeaux that to me is a bargain at a lower price I can recommend is Chateau Branaire-Ducru a winery in the Saint-Julien appellation of the Bordeaux region. In the past 4 years, they have spent millions upgrading their facilities.
1. 2015 Bordeaux Vintage was probably the best in 50 years only to have it followed by 2016 and 2018. All the wines tasted in 2015 were spectacular. I tasted many out of the barrel at the vineyard and they all were complex and extremely well balanced with almost perfect acidity, oak balance, tannin balance, etc. I did not find one that did not absolutely blow me away. I was particularly impressed with the 2015 Leoville Las Case, which in my mind, despite what the experts are saying(they rate it around 97) is a 100 point wine. Of interest, Leoville Las Case for years has been dealing with negative comments in their mind from Robert Parker. They feel he has not liked their wines for years, because as we all know, Robert Parker likes concentrated high alcohol "jammy" wines which Leoville Las Case is not. To me 2015 was the most complex, feminine, soft, velvety, balanced Bordeaux I have tasted in years. No, it is not a "bold" wine. It is a spectacular wine of finesse and beauty. But because the wine writers have not been "fans" of Las Case, 2015 in my mind may be getting lower ratings than it should. Additionally, I can say unequivocally the 2015 Ponet Canet is the greatest and best Ponet Canet I have ever tasted going back at least 15 years and I rate it 100 points also. I have visited the vineyard twice and met with the owner at least 3 times and unequivocally they are making better and better Bordeaux every year at one of the lowest prices you can buy Bordeaux and they are literally 100 feet across the street from Mouton Rothschild so they share in my mind the same terroir and microclimate though I am sure they would not agree. Having said all of this critics are still raving about 2016 discussed below and in the past week or two raving about 2018 out of the barrel. The 2018's are being described as very dark, tannic, yet balanced and able to age for 30 years or longer. Another up and coming Medoc Bordeaux that to me is a bargain at a lower price I can recommend is Chateau Branaire-Ducru a winery in the Saint-Julien appellation of the Bordeaux region. In the past 4 years, they have spent millions upgrading their facilities.
2. The 2013 Vintage was not originally highly rated yet over time the 2013's have proven themselves to be above average Bordeaux wines. Because of the initial negative perception, these wines are available at very reasonably low prices. Yes, it was a bad year especially the weather but as always those who always make good wine made good wine in 2013, so don't totally discount it. Some of the 2013's have been noted to be losing some of their complexity and aging faster than expected but today they drink well and can be recommended.
3. 2016 Vintage initially was felt to be a disaster. There was frost right at the time budding occurred killing off at least 1/2 of the wine. Then there was too much rain early on and there has been continued rain on and off since causing constant budding of mildew requiring frequent and radical treatments. We visited one vineyard one day where they had hired hundreds of workers to go into the vineyards and actually pick off any leaf with mildew and burn it. Not sure if that is the best way to do it. The biodynamic vineyards spray with tea. The three days we were in St. Emilion within the three days we were there, there was a massive outbreak of mildew that even I could see. Overall they were expecting a marked reduction in the crop. The winemakers were wishing for a very hot August and they got it which resulted in bold, balanced wines with the heat killing off the mildew and allowing the grapes to mature with good sugar levels prior to harvest. Of note, they all said they are seeing the effects of global warming and the change in weather patterns that they are having to adjust to in order to continue to make great wines. The very short of it is global warming is changing radically the harvest dates.
4. Production levels of Bourgogne continue to be reduced due to too many years of bad weather especially hail. What this has done is encouraged the vintners to buy land in other areas to be able to make more wine. One up and coming area is the area between the Cote D Beaune and the Cote D Nuits. It is about a 3 or 4-mile area that in the past was not used much but now lots of vintners have bought land there and are making wines. They are called "Hautes Cotes De Nuits" or Hautes Cotes De Beaune" and they are inexpensive, usually less than $30, very good to excellent Burgundy wines. Many vineyards have also purchased additional land South near Pouilly Fussie. Of interest, Bordeaux does not seem to have the same issues as Bourgogne with the weather though they have their bad years one being 2013. But 2015, 2016, and 2018 are great years so far for both Bordeaux and Bourgogne.
5. The current market for Bordeaux and the futures market has changed over the past 25 years. To me, the jury is out on Bordeaux futures and I have been checking the prices and considering buying some only for the reason that if the 2015's hit the market once everyone falls in love with them you might not be able to buy them at a reasonable price. But the Chinese ruined the market since 2008 and since 2008 if you bought futures you lost a lot of money, especially given the fact now that the Chinese for all intents and purposes have flooded the market with the 2009's and 2010s by refusing delivery from the vineyards. The one I seriously considered buying and eventually did was the 2015 Leoville Las Case. The En Primeur or Futures price since 2009 has varied from $120 a bottle to $239 a bottle so essentially a 100% spread. I eventually purchased some around $200 a bottle which to me was well worth it considering the greatness of that wine.
6. There has been vast improvement and movement forward for St. Emilion. My last trip to Bordeaux concentrated on the left bank and at the time I was impressed with the upgrades the vineyards were constructing which are still going on The last time we concentrated on the right bank and I was even more impressed with what is going on in the St. Emilion area. Like the left bank, they are all upgrading and improving their production facilities with new equipment, changing to organic and biodynamic, and getting back to basic winemaking techniques to make better wine. But overall to me the winemakers in St. Emilion were all much younger, there were many more new owners and new vineyards and just an overall feel for really concentrating on making world-class wines and at a better price point. Ones I can highly recommend are La Chatelet, Clos Puy Arnaud, and Canon La Gaffeliere, all of which I was highly impressed with, especially the 2015's.
7. Why soil and wines are so different between the Medoc and St. Emilion. Once you visit the area and inspect the lay of the land you immediately understand why the right and left bank are like night and day. The right bank sits on top of a huge limestone area covering hundreds of square miles. A couple of feet under the soil is solid limestone going down hundreds of feet. Close to 100% of the buildings in St. Emilion were built from limestone block quarried from underneath. The harvesting of stone was so extensive that for at least 50 or 60 square miles the entirety of St. Emilion sits on top of "Swiss cheese" and for up to 5 or 6 stories deep there are thousands of caves and tunnels where the limestone was carved out. In fact, the quarries were banned in the late 1880s because the land started collapsing with sinkholes because no one paid attention to structural issues and making sure the roofs would not collapse. Our agent took Clark and me to examine one of the old quarries and believe me it was impressive and extensive. One advantage most of the vineyards in St. Emilion have more caves and cellars than they know what to do with. One vineyard had cellars covering 3 square miles. That will hold a lot of wine. The left bank sits on a gentle slope overlooking a river and is rocky and too an extent soil left over from once being covered over by an ancient sea bed. So it is obvious why these two areas would produce totally different wines.
8. Wine agents in Bordeaux and Burgundy. Our agent in Bordeaux is M. Frederic Borilachon of https://www.rendezvousauchateau.com/index.php/en/ and in Burgundy M. Stevie Bodes of http://wineambassadeur.com/, who is a USA expat. Both gentlemen speak perfect English and have lived and worked in the vineyards for over 20 years. What they do is make appointments with you with the owners and winemakers based on what you are interested in seeing and doing and then drive you around in their car and introduce you to them. France is not like the USA, you do not just drive up to a tasting room and taste wines. Yes, there are a few but trust me those vineyards are not the best and have open tasting rooms because that is the only way they can attract customers. And in some cases, it can take months to get an appointment with who I wanted to see. But once you get in the front door in France I promise they treat you like family and invite you into their homes. Nicole Lamarche invited us not once but twice. We met some of her personal friends who sold us wines out of their own personal cellars at a discount. Both gentlemen cost about $800 a day for their services and they recommend visiting two vineyards in the morning, having lunch, and then two in the afternoon. Frankly, afternoons are harder as you want to go take a nap after lunch and may not have the best palate after lunch. Their price is fixed no matter how many people go with them but they recommend and I agree that 4 couples or 8 persons are really the maximum that should be done with these personal tastings with 2 couples probably ideal. When divided amongst the group it is around $200 a person and believe me it well worth it to really get into the better-known vineyards.
9. Changes in philosophy towards organic and biodynamic are ongoing at a rapid rate. Everyone said they were moving towards organic and biodynamic both of which are different. The eventual goal is to be biodynamic but under French laws, it can take up to 10 years to have that designation. I suppose this is the way of the world and everyone now wants to go in that direction but I am not 100% sure it is all that important and I know many totally disagree with me, my wife included. One of the most interesting stories I heard was regarding a vintner who is making wines with no interventions at all. He lets the vines grow wild, harvests them whenever he feels it is right. Puts them a tank and lets them squash down naturally, drains off the juice and puts in tanks or barrels, does nothing else and then after a few months puts the wine in bottles. Time will tell what it tastes like.
10. Price movements of French wine are basically going in two directions. The top well-known vineyards continue to keep raising their prices and from what I can tell they just are not selling that much wine at those prices and the French, for the most part, think the prices are ridiculous and they don't buy them. Of interest, the Chinese somehow got away with ordering 2009's and 2010s at high prices in the futures market without paying for them in advance and now have canceled many of their orders as well as not ordering any new wines. Most of the First Growths are stuck with cellar's full of these wines but they are putting them in the back of their cellars and are not going to sell them or dump them on the market and will wait until the market decides to pay the high prices. Personally, I don't see that happening but you never know. The French are also not too keen on selling wine anymore to the Chinese. In some cases, the Chinese bought the higher priced First Growths, Lafite Rothschild for example strictly to show off to their friends and as a status symbol. Then they had parties and served wine spritzers with Lafite mixed with Coca Cola. Totally insulted the French. I learned early on that the French love their wines to a fault and if you share in that love with them and demonstrate it to them while you are there you become family and there is nothing they will not do for you. I cannot tell you the number of times I have been given a thousand dollar bottle of wine at no charge just because I have so much respect and love for their wines. The Chinese failed to learn that. The other vineyards recognize that the world market is screaming for high-quality wines both in Bordeaux and Bourgogne at reasonable prices and they are committed to providing that. Most of the lesser known vineyards are moving to new facilities, organic and biodynamic to some degree as a marketing ploy, but they are making very good to outstanding wines at much better prices. It is going to take the market some time to wake up to this and at some point, some of the prices of the wines will be driven up based on supply and demand. One vintner told me that yes many many years ago her vineyard made mediocre wines but no more but she cannot seem to get any of the wine "experts" or "writers" to recognize this and from time to time she hears well yea maybe they make better wine now but years ago they did not. She is having trouble shaking off this old reputation and is frustrated by it, who can blame her. But frankly, her wines were some of the best I tasted and her prices in some cases are 10% of the high-end wines.
11. Cote d Bourg and Blaye are the sleeper areas with vast improvement and great wines on Bordeaux's Right Bank. The vineyards are between Blaye and Bourg very close to the bank of the Dordogne river and where it meets the Garonne river at the start of the Garonne estuary and on a high bluff overlooking the water. For years these wines were considered cheap poorly made right bank wines but I can tell you no more. Of all the wines tasted these were the best for the price. Outstanding and well-crafted wines most of them under $30 a bottle. Some were better than others of course but overall they showed outstanding fruit and terroir and all the winemakers we met were committed to improving production and most are moving towards organic and biodynamic. I was just very impressed and feel you can get some great right bank Bordeaux's here at rock bottom prices, especially the 2015's which are going to blow everyone out of the water as well as 2016 and 2018.
12. The other wines underrated for years are those from Francois Lamarche in Vosne Romanee in Bourgogne currently being made by his daughter Madame Nicole Lamarche. I tasted all of her 2015 Grande Crus out of the barrel called Grand Rue and they were spectacular and pretty much perfect. For a long, long time the Lamarche family has owned some sections of the Domaine Romanee Conti Vineyards. The best example is the Grand Rue which is a section of vines in DRC's La Tache vineyard and many years ago the two families traded some of the vines. The Lamarche family also owns vines in other Grand Cru vineyards adjacent to DRC vines.
13. Over the years our French wine friends have told us the best time to go is in February as the vintners will have more time to spend with us. This year we went in January and will return in September. Yes, it was chilly in January but was not as cold as you would think. We only had a couple of days of light snow that did not stick and with a warm coat and a hat and gloves we were comfortable and there were no crowds and no problem going into the vineyards. We spent almost the entire day at Chateau Pouilly Fussie with the winemaker. November and early December are also a good time to go. Forget going late August during harvest as no one is available as they are busy again with harvest and summers are too hot and many hotels do not have air conditioners. We are on a specially organized tour in September so that most likely will not be an issue but on my own, I wouldn't risk it. If you would like help or suggestions with a trip to the French wine country feel free to leave me a comment or email me at rosgriffin@gmail.com.
14. Visiting Bordeaux I had an Epiphany which is what makes great, complex wines, especially Bordeaux and Bourgogne wines is the optimal amount of water delivered to the roots of the wines and this is accomplished by the slope or drainage angle of the land and proximity to a river or valley with water. All of the first growth Bordeaux's and Grand Cru Bourgogne are on the mid-slope. The upper slope of land has a steeper slope so the water drains off quickly, the lower slope or valley has sometimes no slope so you end up with a swamp and constant standing water that saturates the grapes and dilutes the wine. At mid-slope everything is ideal. The vines are not saturated, and the water does not immediately drain off. Sort of like Goldilocks, not too steep, not too shallow, just right. In addition when you see the lay of the land the greatest vineyards are approximately 1/2 to 1 kilometer upslope from the valley or river. During the Ice Age and Prehistoric times, it most likely resulted in the best concentration of the best dirt at those levels from the forces of the sea beds at the time or the movement of glaciers.
14. Visiting Bordeaux I had an Epiphany which is what makes great, complex wines, especially Bordeaux and Bourgogne wines is the optimal amount of water delivered to the roots of the wines and this is accomplished by the slope or drainage angle of the land and proximity to a river or valley with water. All of the first growth Bordeaux's and Grand Cru Bourgogne are on the mid-slope. The upper slope of land has a steeper slope so the water drains off quickly, the lower slope or valley has sometimes no slope so you end up with a swamp and constant standing water that saturates the grapes and dilutes the wine. At mid-slope everything is ideal. The vines are not saturated, and the water does not immediately drain off. Sort of like Goldilocks, not too steep, not too shallow, just right. In addition when you see the lay of the land the greatest vineyards are approximately 1/2 to 1 kilometer upslope from the valley or river. During the Ice Age and Prehistoric times, it most likely resulted in the best concentration of the best dirt at those levels from the forces of the sea beds at the time or the movement of glaciers.
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