Chateau Magdelaine 2

Chateau Magdelaine was owned by the Chatonnet family in the 18th century but subsequently fell into neglect and was bought in 1952 by Moueix who turned the estate around with replanting and modernization of the wine-making facilities. Planted with 90% Merlot and the rest with Cabernet France, it made classic St Emilion wine with a light fresh and bright style, rather then being lush or fleshy. A second wine (Les Songes de Magdelaine) was also made. The  estate was merged with its neighbour Chateau Belair Monange (also a Moueix property) to form a contiguous 23.5 hectare vineyard in 2012, making the 2011 vintage the last for Chateau Madgelaine.

Ch Haut-Bergey 2006

This is an estate that I had tasted a number of times, but cannot remember exactly which vintages and when I had tasted them. Fortunately the most recent one was a few weeks ago at home. This estate in Pessac-Leognan, the more prestigious part of Graves, can trace its history back to 1500 when it was called La Maison Noble de Pontey.The vineyards were expanded to 100 hectares around 1700, but fell into non-production the next century. a new chateau was built in 1850 and in 1991 new owners turned the estate around, producing both red and white wines. The 2006 red was a deep ruby with a sweet cordial-like blackcurrant nose (in fact rather like Ribena). The palate was savoury with berry fruit notes, marred by a touch of alcohol heat, but well supported by an acid backbone.

When the restaurant wine list fails to impress

Sometimes when you want to have wine with your meal, the restaurant wine list just fails to give you the choice of a suitable wine. It's not just a matter of whether their mark-up is acceptable, or even whether they have got something to offer at the price range of your choice, sometimes there are just no suitable wines in the list. Many a times, the white selection is more limited than the reds both here and elsewhere in Asia.

We went to a restaurant specializing in hotpot meals in Tokyo and ordered a seafood hotpot with a large emphasis on oysters. As it was Beaujolais Nouveau season, that was the main wine on offer (perhaps the only one). Having just been shopping, I decided to go back to one of the previous retailers and got a bottle of Premier Cru Chablis which went much better with what we had ordered than their Beaujolais Nouveau.

A Tuscan Vermentino IGT

I tried a Tuscan Vermentino at the neighbourhood organic wine shop today. It was not the first time I tried such a wine. I recalled one Valentine Day dinner where the menu featured something cooked in Vermentino wine. There was a Vermentino on the wine list - from Guado al Tasso in Bolgheri and we ordered a bottle. But we were not going to finish that bottle and what we had in mind for the main course. We did find that a freind was at a table not that far away, so we offered them the remainder of the wine, so we could enjoy the red we had selected for the main course to its full. (Unfortunately, I cannot locate the notes for this wine at present.)

Now the Guado al Tasso Vermentino wines (both the original wine and the new Camillo cru wine) are DOC, but this one is an IGT. Tasting it, the wine was a nice straw colour with a crisp citrussy nose (hints of white pepper). The palate was initially off dry going onto a crisp slightly fruity palate. The backbone was acid and citrus with hints of citrus peel.

Chateau Pichon Baron

With two 2nd Growth estates in Pauillac with names beginning with Pichon, it can safely be assumed (correctly) that the two were originally part of a larger estate. Both belonged to a larger estate owned by Pierre de Rauzan (and you guessed right, the two 2nd growths with names beginning with Rauzan also once belonged to him). The estate was divided in 1850 and although they were basically different parts of the same vineyard, the resultant wines are quite interestingly different.

Pichon Baron tended to be the less expensive wine over the years I have encountered it, though that did not mean it fared any worse than Pichon Lalande. I think I had tasted more Barons and Lalandes, though probably the same numbers as regards their second wines. My most recent encounter was the 2006 Pichon Baron in the 2006 claret tasting, and it showed up very well.

Bean sprouts in the nose of a red wine

As I have previously blogged (1 2 3), sometimes we identify the most amazing smells on the nose of the wine. Although WSET and other teaching authorities restrict the vocabulary with which one can describe the nose of a wine, to standardize the language in order that communication be efficient, one need not have such inhibitions when one wants to make notes to record how one found a certain wine at a tasting.

The surprise this time is something quite incongruous - the smell of soy bean sprouts in an Australian wine blended from Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and a small percentage of Merlot. Perhaps it would do well to remind people that there are two sorts of bean sprouts in Chinese cuisine, one sprouted from soy beans and the other from mung beans. The latter is the one which is often used (minus bean or husk) in stir fries. The soy bean sprouts are larger and is always sold with the yellow seeds on top of the sprouts. It is this latter, with its associated whiff of soy beans that was detected in this Cab Shiraz (with a sprinkle of Merlot).

A varietal Pinot Meunier Sekt bA

Although Pinot Meunier is one of the three well known Champagne grapes, it is somewhat of a Cinderella. Whilst there are varietal Pinot Noir and Chardonnay champagnes, 100% Pinot Meunier champagnes or traditional method sparklers are less often seen. (It seems that the maker of the champagne with all seven allowable grapes make a pure Pinot Meunier champagne too). So it was quite a nice surprise to see a Sekt bA made entirely from Schwarzriesling (German for Pinot Meunier) at the Winter Food Festival at the end of last year. This sparkler is from a specified vineyard and is a coppery pink with a few streams of fine bubbles. The nose was crisp with berry fruit and the acid prickle gives way to a sweet berry palate, well supported by an acid backbone.

Szigeti Pinot Noir Rose Brut 2011

This was a gift from a friend and we had it during the Xmas period. I had already blogged about the winery and their special way of making sparkling wine. Looking them up made me realize how long I had had these wines for and that finally I found the occasion to taste them. I was given two bottles and the other one with a Klimt label is still awaiting tasting. As for this wine, it was a pale rose pink, with some streams of very fine bubbles. The nose was crisp with berry fruit but also a slight metallic note. The palate was crisp with berry notes after the mild acid prickle died down. The whole was well held together with a nice acid backbone.

Ch Lascombes

This is a second growth Margaux estate whose wines I have tasted quite a few times. In earlier times (such as the 1990s), the wines were not all that consistent, and quite often even when one has a good bottle from a good vintage, it can be a matter of not dallying over the wine as sometimes it can fade and deteriorate suddenly say a couple of hours after pulling the cork.

However the estate changed hands in 2001 and the estate underwent modernization leading to improvement in its wine. It has however, been sold again in 2011, so we must wait and see what effect this has on the finished wine a few years down the line.

A second wine, Ch de Segonnes was produced in the 1980s with the fruit from the lesser terroir in the estate, but another wine - Chevalier de Lascombes started to be produced in 1997, and Ch de Segonnes was relegated to a third wine. I have hardly seen de Segonnes so far in Hong Kong (whether as second or third wine), whilst Chevalier is now quite widely available.

Chateau Magdelaine 1

This is a wine which I had met a fair number of times. The most recent was the Bordeaux 2006 dinner at the beginning of the month. I also mentioned at the La Lagune entry that I had bought a 1985 wine, and that I could not remember if that wine was held back. Now having checked the wine list of that dinner, it seemed that the La Lagune was drunk, but the Ch Magdelaine was the one that was held back. So much for the 1985 vintage! I did have the 1986 wine the year before, in a dinner at a friend's house in London. I took a detour to a nearby wine shop (one with royal patronage) and I bought along the 1986 Magdelaine as there was a 1982 claret on that evening's wine list. We had the 1982 Bel Air first. Then we had the Magdelaine 1986 which was a nice ruby garnet with dark core. The nose was fruity with vanilla wood with a medium dry slightly fruity vanilla wood palate, supported by a moderately acid backbone. 

More about the Rosso del Camul 2010

I had previously blogged about the unusual combination of grapes used in this wine. Now I write a little more about it. The fruit comes from stony soil along the Piave river and is grown at a low yield to enhance quality. The fruit is fermented and matured separately in Slavonian oak barrels for 18-24 months. After blending, the wine ages for another 6 months in bottle before release. Having tasted the wine, the questions still remain. Maybe the Pinot Nero was to soften the Cabernet, but is it the best choice for blending with the Cabernet? Is this the best use of a Pinot Nero in a blend?

Chateau La Lagune

I don't often see the wine from this Third Growth estate in the Haut-Medoc appellation often in the local wine shops. If one were to blame the fact that it is in Haut-Medoc, then why is it less often encountered than say the Fifth Growths Ch Camensac and Cantemerle? I remember having got a 1985 wine from the estate to celebrate 20 years of being a doctor in 2005, but as we did not finish all the wines from that dinner, I cannot recall if it was the La Lagune or another wine that was kept back.

The estate can be traced back to 1730 when the chartreuse was built and the vineyards were planted. After the war, the vineyard was rescued from a state of dereliction by George Brunette in 1958, and this gradually led to the renaissance of the estate and set it on the path of recovery to its former glory.

Bordeaux 2006 dinner

Having been extra busy at the end of last year, we decided to skip the wine tasting dinner between Xmas and New Year and open with a dinner in the first weekend of 2015. The theme was Bordeaux 2006 and we had a total of 8 clarets for the night. I was not able to find a dry white Bordeaux until very late and we also managed to drop dessert and its accompanying sweet wine. In lieu of the white I had an extra 2006 vintage Champagne.

The clarets were (in alphabetical order) Branaire -Ducru, Clos l'Eglise, La Lagune, Lascombes, Magdelaine, Montrose, Pichon Baron and Smith-Haut-Lafitte. Magdelaine was lovely, but was overwhelmed if drinking it with food. The favourite was split between Pichon Baron and Smith-Haut-Lafitte.

Chateau Siran 2001

I first blogged about the art labels of Chateau Siran early on in the blog with an entry illustrated by the 2003 vintage label. I had also written about their 1998 vintage. This time I recently tasted the 2001 vintage, which featured a picture of the DNA double helix as the trunk of a plant with exuberant branches and foliage. The artwork named Le Genome was created by the American Mark Asterlind in honour of Franco-American scientific research on the genome. As for the wine, it was ruby with a sweet berry woody nose. The palate was sweet fruity acid and mildly tannic, with and acid backbone for support.

Cour-Cheverny Moelleux

It was one of those serendipitous opportunities that I encounter from time to to time. When I blogged about Cheverny, I read about Cour-Cheverny and its special grape Romorantin. I was recently reminded of it and then I ran across a special wine from this appellation, not only that but a Moeulleux example which they only can make when the weather is hot enough. The fruit for the sweet version is late harvested but not affected by botrytis. Sure, I am still waiting to taste dry wine, but I had already tasted the sweet version.

Romorantin is an ancient grape which is a full sibling of Chardonnay Aligote etc, and is now in retreat, only being grown in Cour-Cheverny. Apparently it is somewhat phylloxera resistant, so the vines which gave the fruit to this wine is actually ungrafted. The dry wines are somewhat intense and minerally, being compared by some to Chablis. As for this moeulleux example, it was golden yellow with a sweet fruity nose. The palate was sweet with a hint of honey, well supported by an acid backbone.

Changing to alternative day blogs

This blog has now run for 4 years and has accumulated over 1000 entries (or at least it should have). My initial commitment to do a blog a day for the weekdays has now proven unsustainable, given that the rest of my life (including other blogs to which I have also a commitment) has slowly grown busier. There is also the backlog of the task necessitated by the closure of the original Yahoo blog, at which this endeavour had first started.

To make the blog more sustainable, and to give me some room in catching up the reposting of both text (and more importantly, as I have hardly started on this) and accompanying pictures, I have decided to cut back from 5 posts a week to alternate day posting, cutting down to 183 posts a year from 260. Hopefully, by the end of the year, all the 1200 odd entries will be here on Blogspot with their accompanying pictures.