Chateau Prieure-Lichine

The Prieure of the Chateau name indicated a monastic origin which goes back 1000 years and the Priory of Cantenac was producing wines of a quality that attracted similar taxation to the wines of Hermitage and Clos de Vougeot in the 15th century. Although the estate produced notable wines and were included in famous classifications of wine estates, it had fallen victim to phylloxera, then downy mildew and also to subsequent misfortune so that by the time Alexis Lichine acquired the vineyard in 1951, only 4 hectares of vineyard were left. The estate was rebuilt and renamed Prieure-Lichine and the wines produced now live up to what is expected of a 4th Growth.

Chateau Balestard la Tonnelle

This was one of the wines I tasted at a recent dinner, a reunion of secondary school mates, and someone had brought a magnum of this wine to share. The Chateau is one that I had seen from time to time, but nevertheless had not managed to tasted until the last weekend. The estate goes back to the 15th century and was named after Canon Balestard. The Tonnelle (or tower) also dates back to the same period. It had important fans even back then; the poet Francois Villon mentioned this wine in a poem of his and two verses of this appear on the label (making it look a bit crowded). Owned by the Capdemourlin family, the wines benefit from the touch of Michel Rolland who is consultant for this chateau.

Ch Haut-Bages-Liberal 2014

I had this wine for Easter Sunday dinner. The estate is one I had blogged about before. The grand vain of this relatively unfamiliar estate is selling in the larger branches of one of the two big supermarkets, so for an Easter treat, I thought I would get a bottle.


The wine was a deep ruby with a sweet berry fruit acid nose. The palate was sweet woody acid slightly fruity, with wood and a bit of tannins mid palate, spiced with some chanpimui (dried plum flavoured with mandarin peel). There was a touch of soya sauce savouriness in the finish. Unfortunately, it did not go that well with the rack of lamb that we had.

Cordoniu's two wine producing monasteries

I blogged about coming across the wines of the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Poblet earlier. Looking up the information for those wines, I found out that the Cordoniu Raventos group actually includes another Spanish monastery in its portfolio, Scala Dei, of which I had also blogged. This latter also has another estate and wine which I had tried and about which I had also blogged.

Last July I found at the annual Book Fair, that someone had written a book about wines and spiritual formation. In that piece, I mentioned wines being made by monasteries as an idea if I were to think about writing a book about wine and the Church. These two estates in the Cordoniu Raventos group is certainly a good starting point for monastic wines from Spain (though they are both in Catalonia).

Chateau Bel Air 2012

This was one of the half bottles I got from the Sports Shop at the Club. I got a bottle of each some while back but did not get round to trying them out yet. This AC Bordeaux was an offering from Schroder and Schyler, better known to me as the owner of Chateau Kirwan, a 3rd Growth of Margaux that my wife and I have enjoyed from time to time over the years. This petit Chateau is a small family owned winery a few kilometers from St Emilion and naturally features a right bank cepage of Merlot and Cabernet France in equal proportions. Vinification and aging is in steel tanks.

As for the wine, it was a dark ruby with a sweet acid fruity nose. The palate showed a touch of dilution, and was acid fruity and astringent palate, with a hot tannic acid backbone.

Wines from a UNESCO Heritage Site

I saw these wines at the wine department of a Japanese department store near where I work. The illuminated capital P caught my eye and on further perusal I found that these come from the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Poblet, a Csitercian monastery dating back to the 12th century and a UNESCO World Heritage Site from 1991. It became part of the Cordoniu group in 1998. The area was conquered by the Moors in the Middle Ages but after the Reconquista, the French mionk brought back grape vines (Pinot Noir) from their mother abbey in Burgundy and this grape had been planted for a long time in this locality. Now indigenous grapes (Trepat, Garrut and Garnatxa) are grown and are used to make much of the wine, although a pure Pinot Noir is still made under the label Les Masies de Poblet.

Szegti Blanc de Blanc Cuvee Adele 2011

A friend gave me this bottle of sparkling wine some time ago. I had blogged about both the winery and their special take on making traditional sparklers, as well as the companion bottle which was tasted a couple of years ago.

I finally tasted this bottle a few days ago. But before considering how it tasted, a comment about the label. The label is a Klimt picture of Adele Bloch Bauer, also known as the Lady in Gold. Gustav Klimt painted two pictures of this patron of the arts and this is the first one.The wine is 100% Chardonnay fermented in stainless steel and aged for 12 months on lees. It was given 90 points by Wine Enthusiast.

AS for the wine, it was a nice golden yellow with few streams of medium fine bubbles. there was an acid appley fruity nose. An acid prickle on entry was followed by an acid slightly honeyed palate, well supported by an acid backbone. Although the winery suggested to drink it with seafood, it did not quite match the scallop sashimi nor the oyster that night.