Bordeaux Part 2/3

Our first day touring was in the Medoc. I will give a bit of a background on the area and its wines, that hopefully is not too boring and a bit educational.

The Medoc is on the left bank of the Gironde River. The area is home to the famous appellations of Margeaux, Pauillac, St. Julien, St. Estephe, and others. The land lies between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Gironde River to the right.

Recall the five grapes of Bordeaux are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petite Verdot and Malbec. Most people equate Bordeaux with Cabernet Sauvignon. However, the most widely planted grape in the region is actually Merlot, which accounts for 50% of the acreage. (In the Medoc appellation however, Cabernet Sauvignon is the main grape with Merlot and lesser amounts of Petite Verdot).

A few words on Merlot: this grape has gotten a bad rap from one little line in one little movie. Before Sideways, Merlot was a huge success, in fact the most popular red wine varietal in America. Merlot is a good wine for beginners because it has low tannins and is thus more drinkable. In addition, it is harvested earlier than other varietals, making it a good insurance policy for the winegrower, having Merlot to fall back on if bad weather damaged the Cabernet crop. In case you haven't seen Sideways or don't remember, the infamous line is made by Miles before going on a double date :"If anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving. I am NOT drinking any fucking Merlot!" After the movie, Merlot suddenly had a decline in the American market. In addition, sales (and prices) of Pinot Noir went up, up, up. (Merlot is making a comeback and is still the most popular red varietal). FYI the Cheval Blanc Miles drinks at the end of the movie, his cellar prize that he was saving for a special occasion...guess what, it is a Merlot/Cabernet Franc blend. They don't tell you that though...

Back to the Medoc. In 1855 Napoleon commissioned wine brokers to classify the great wines of Bordeaux for the Paris Exposition to bring attention to the great wines of the region. The end result was the 1855 Classification. The brokers got together and came up with the 1855 Classification. As far as red wines go, every single Chateau was from the Medoc (except one). These brokers classified the wines based almost solely on their market price at the time, and the Classification has never been changed. It ranks Grand Cru Classes from 1st to 5th growths, 1st being the most prestigious. Despite the fact that the Chateaus have changed hands over the years, with different winemakers and different levels of quality, the rankings have never changed. However, a certain level of quality is expected from the Grand Cru Classes, but a second growth might not be better than a third or fourth, although it will probably be more expensive.

The Premier (1st) Grand Cru Classes of the Medoc are very prestigious, such as Chateau LaTour or Chatau Margaux, and very expensive (Think 800 Euro per bottle). I booked us a tour which included three Grand Cru Classe winery tours. We went to a second growth: Chateau Lascombes in Margaux, a third growth: Chateau Branaire-Ducru in St Julien, and a fifth growth: Chateau Pontet-Canet in Pauillac. (The fifth growth in my opinion was the best).

Chateau Lascombes was certainly the most modern of all the vineyards we visited. The French are obsessed with terrior which includes the soil, the microclimate, and the winemakers themselves. It is very important to grow the right grape for the right area. Chateau Lascombes acquired new owners in 2001 who analyzed the soil. They discovered that unlike the gravelly soil that makes up most of the Medoc and is great for Cabernet Sauvignon, their land actually had more limestone which is better for Merlot. Thus this Chateau plants 60% Merlot which is unusual for this area. They use a modern racking system which was developed in California, and this was the only winery we saw that used this. I think this is the reason why this cellar and its barrels were so clean. Usually the barrels are stained with wine. Each Chateau also has two labels. The first label, which bears the Grand Cru Classe is blended with their oldest vines. The younger vines go into the second and less expensive label, which typically has a different name, usually something to commemorate the original owner or family of the Chateau. Then for the tasting! We sampled the 2007 Chateau Lascombes. The blend was 50%Merlot, 45%Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petite Verdot. We all agreed it was a well balanced wine, blackberry fruits on the start with smooth tannins and a long dry finish. While it could certainly be aged it was very drinkable already. As the weekend progressed we noticed that the 2007 vintage in general tasted more "ready to drink" than the 2005 or 2006, which were good but definitely would improve with more aging.

Next stop Chateau Branaire-Ducru in St. Julien. For some reason I have no pictures of this vineyard, but it was the least memorable of the trip for me anyhow. We tasted their "second label" Duluc 2007 first. This was 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 3%Petite Verdot. This was followed by The Chateau Branaie-Ducru 2006 as well as the 2009. The blend percentages vary slightly in each one. The best wine of the group was the 2009, which is actually still in barrels. It was quite young (obviously) and after some aging should be a very nice wine. The second label was nice but nothing special. I won't describe the smell, color and taste of everything we tasted because that can get a bit old, especially if wine is not your thing. (Not to mention a good portion of it is bullshit - everyone has a different sense of taste and smell, and no one is ever wrong).

The highlight of the day was Chateau Pontet-Canet. When I booked our Medoc Tour via email, the tour guide asked me for a brief description of our relationship to wine. Are we simply tourists, wine enthusiasts, or work with wine? I responded truthfully that we are all wine enthusiast and that I am a wine buyer at Whole Foods which is an organically focused store. Well, being a "wine professional" can get you some perks. Apparently they though I was a bit more important that I am, but I'm not complaining. They booked us a tour at a biodynamic vineyard and made sure that the vineyard manager himself joined us to tell us about the vines.

(Now I'll educate you about Organic wine.) Organic wine is apparenlty confusing to a lot of people, as I have learned since people ask me more questions about it at work than anything else. There are still very few wines that carry the USDA certified organic label. In order to carry this label, there must be no added sulphates. (Also called Sulfur Dioxide or SO2). Sulphates are a naturally occuring part of grapes, but winemakers also add more (they clean the barrels with it to kill microorganisms) and it also acts as a preservative. Some people are allergic and many people think this is what causes the red wine headache. However, there are far more sulphates in white wine than in red wine, so the conclusion is that something else (perhaps tannins) cause headaches. So a USDA organic wine will probably still have some sulphates, but a much lower amount as they are only naturally occurring. If you open a bottle of organic wine you probably want to drink it all, it won't hod as well.

However, there are far more wines on the market now that say "made with organically grown grapes." These do not carry the organic logo because they still have sulphites added. Grapes are among the top ten fruits containing the most pesticides (as well as apples, strawberries, and peaches, and you can't wash it off). This is measured by the pesticide residue on the grapes you eat (and drink). These millions of gallons of pesticides are also washed into the oceans along with chemical fertilizers where they create dead zones. More concerning is they wind up in your drinking water. Virtually all municipal drinking water in the US has pesticide residue. (Just one of many reasons to support organic farmers). Ok, that was my organic push ;-) So, it is a good thing to see wineries starting to take notice and grow their grapes by following organic practices. Many farmers still feel it is impossible to grow without pesticides (I wonder how they did it all those hundreds of years..) and while it can be a harder process, those who do it are passionate that they are reaping more rewards for it. (Be good to the terroir, and it will be good back to you).

Well, there are organic grapes, and then there are biodynamic grapes. This takes an even more holistic approach, taking into account the relationship between the soil, plants, and animals, viewing the farm itself as a complete organism. This is the path that Chateau Pontet-Canet has chosen. While conventional farmers are spraying copper on their vines to protect from mildew, Pontet-Canet is spraying an herbal infusion of stinging nettle leaf. Jean-Michele, the vineyard manager, is the man who converted the farm to biodynamic and he joined us to talk about what he described as his "only passion." While a regular organic farm still uses machinery and trims the stalks in the middle of the growing season, Chateau Pontet-Canet realized the machines were packing the soil to firmly, and have switches to using horses, and rather than trimming the vines in the middle of the season Jean-Michele arranges his vines in a bridge formation, allowing the vines to concentrate on nourishing her grapes, rather than growing new leaves to replace those which were just cut off.

Everyone at Pontet-Canet spoke with a little more passion in their voices, a little more conviction that what they were doing was good for the land and good for the wine. Jean-Michele spoke with more passion for his work than I have ever heard. Everything about the vineyard was truly rewarding. Including, of course, the wine. We tasted the 2009 vintage. We all agreed it was our favorite wine of the day (and the trip). Later we discovered that it was awarded 100 points from Robert Parker (not bad at all). Unfortunately it is not on the shelf yet as it is still in barrels so we couldn't purchase a bottle. The blend was 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petite Verdot. Jean-Michele interestingly believes that 90% of the wine is crafted in the vineyard itself, and the winemaking process accounts for no more than 10% of the end product. Everyone at Pontet-Canet agreed that the vineyards are healthier since the conversion. The reputation of the wines has also been very good and consistent for the past 5 years. The Chateau does not announce anywhere on its label that it is biodynamic or organic. They feel that this would lower their standing and look as though they were simply catering to a market trend. Instead, they are simply following a practice they believe in and that they believe will produce superior wines. Terrior includes the people, not just the land, and in this case the passion of these people really went into producing a great wine. (I looked up a few more reviews after I got home.."near perfect" seems to be the general concensus).

Another fun fact: Fortune magazine conducted a blind taste test with head sommeliers and a Master of Wine. They tested 10 biodynamic wines with their conventional counterpart. 9 of the ten chosen by the experts turned out to be biodynamic. I have heard lot of people in my work who turn their nose up at an organic wine because they feel it will be inferior (are they the same people who turn their nose up at a Merlot because of a line in a movie)? Wine snobs are such snobs...like I said, it's mostly bullshit!
We had a great first day in the Medoc, and another great day followed in St. Emilion. More on that to come. I will leave you with a few more photos.
IN the effort to be unique (superior?) each Chateau is constructed in a different style. These distinctions are supposed to eliminate confusion perhaps, but that is futile....