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Home Aoc Fine Wines > Newsletters and Emails > Newsletter November 2009
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Highlight on the Lapalu Family - Winemaker of the month
Bordeaux Expert Jean Marc Quarin - a new partnership with AOC Fine Wines
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AOC Fine Wines is happy, honored, and excited to announce our partnership with Jean-Marc Quarin. Jean-Marc is an influential wine critic based in Bordeaux. He will provide us with information from the inside of the vineyards and opinions formed on the other side of the ocean. His insight will no doubt bring a lot of nuance and finesse in our understanding of the great wines from Bordeaux. More than a wine critic, Jean-Marc is above all a great wine educator. AOC Fine Wines will host a series of wine seminars in February 2010. Jean-Marc will introduce us to the secrets of Bordeaux from the insider point of view. Exciting times ahead! I also strongly recommend his web site www.quarin.com, packed with tasting notes and educational material. It is fun and very informative. «It is always with the greatest anticipation and interest that I read the winetasting notes of Jean-Marc Quarin. The clarity of his comments matches the sharpness of his palate; the selection of words also conveys the sensuous pleasure of the wine lover: Jean-Marc Quarin teaches us, trains us and shows us the voluptuous world of great growth wines.» Paul Pontallier, General Manager of Château Margaux |
Jean-Marc Quarin’s view of the latest vintages
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2004: 2004 displays some weak points (dilution, ill-mastered extraction) and one strong point: the absence of greenness. What is more, a tender character makes it possible to envisage drinking the wines young. The 2004 vintage in Bordeaux benefits the amateur with very good value for money. 2005: With this 2005 vintage Bordeaux attains a pinnacle. Never have the wines been so well made and so drinkable young. The pleasure of flesh, longtime lost, has returned. 2006: The quality of red wines ranges from good to very good. As for dry white wines, it is excellent. For sweet white wines, it ranges from good to excellent. 2007: For now, the 2007 Bordeaux red wines appear as wines of thirst, medium ageing potential and with a strong pleasure note. This last point is new…Their tenderness of structure, their easy aspect and the vibrancy of their fruit along with their coated tannic presence invite to an early drinking. Indeed, only power and complexity are lacking. 2008: I have started tasting the 2008 vintage at numerous estates before malolactic fermentation. One is surprised and even marveled by fruit quality, body power and fatness, lack of greenness and great smoothness of tannins despite being mixed with a strong concentration. 2009: I would add that it is rare to witness the combination of both tannin and aromatic intensity, i.e. perfume. These two factors only rarely coexist together. This was the case in 2005. This gave a genius character to that vintage. And I am finding it back again in 2009… To be continued.
More about wine in general and Bordeaux in particular: www.quarin.com |
Should we buy Bordeaux Futures ?
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Yes and No. The Bordeaux Futures market is the same as any Future market such as orange juice, coffee, or crude oil. It is a market which enables professionals to lock today a price for a good which will be delivered in the future. As in every futures market, the price reflects an anticipation of the value of the product and how much the market will be ready to pay for this commodity when it will be available to consumers; it is therefore a volatile market. Bordeaux Future prices are a combination of supply and demand, and quality of the vintage. The supply is limited and the demand is growing. The fundamentals are therefore good for prices to appreciate over the years. If a vintage is rated by the critics such as Jean-Marc Quarin as a good to excellent vintage, then prices will appreciate year after year and yes buying future is a good idea. If a vintage is rated as classic or average, then there is absolutely no rush in buying futures as prices will appreciate very slowly and most likely not before the wines reach the final market. A shrewd customer of mine gave me this interesting tip: “When I buy Bordeaux Futures, I only buy the top years and the top chateaux. I also always buy 2 cases; one for me and one to resell.” Following that tip meticulously enabled him to drink extraordinary wines for free since the profit made on the second case amply covered the cost of the first case. |
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How to read a Bordeaux label?
- "Grand Vin" alone is forbidden; only used in combination with the mention of the production region "Grand Vin de Bordeaux Superieur"; It cannot be used for the AOC Bordeaux; The wine must come at least from the AOC Bordeaux Superieur.
- Mention of the vintage is optional.
- The illustration must represent the reality. That is if there is a picture of a chateau, it must really be on the property.
- The AOC has to be stated as an appellation on the label, for exemple: "Bordeaux Superieur - Appellation Controlee" or "Pessac Leognan - Appellation Pessac Leognan Controlee"
- "Mise en bouteille a xxx" is compulsory information. It describes where the wine was made. Usually when it is an estate wine, then the legal wording is "Mise en bouteille au Chateau". If it is a Negociant wine, then the address of the negociant has to be specified.
- Other optional information:
"Cru Bourgeaois", "Cru Artisan", "Cru Classe", "Cru Classe en 1855 (ou 1973) with mention of the rank (1st to 5th growth)", "Grand Cru Classe", "Premier Grand Cru Classe".
It should be noted that the mention "St Emilion Grand Cru" does not represent any classification but simply explains that the wine was made at the estate. The only mention of a St Emilion classification would be "St Emilion Grand Cru Classe".
Example with the Smith Haut Lafitte Label
Useful links:
3 distinct regions and a few satellites
Left Bank: Medoc and Haut Medoc
The main varietal here is Cabernet Sauvignon. Large estates, home of the Margaux, St Julien, St Estephe, Pauillac, Listrac and Moulis.Right Bank: Pomerol, St Emilion and its satellites.
Predominantly Merlot; Much smaller operations than their “friends” from the other side of the river.The South: Graves and Sauternes, Barsac.
Extraordinary sweet wines, first of all Yquem. The dry whites from this area are also fantastic. Domaine de Chevalier and Smith Haut Lafitte are great examples of these white wines – Sauvignon Blanc, Semillion Blanc and Muscadelle.Others: Entre deux Mers – Bordeaux Superieur – Bordeaux.
Bordeaux is also the home of thousands of obscure wineries whose wines rank from mediocre to good. They are in a different league from the other, nobler appellations. They are closer in quality and price to Languedoc wines, although it is a crime in Bordeaux to state such a thing.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Bordeaux: Tourism and Fine Food
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Au Lion d’Or - Arcins - 05 56 58 96 79Regional South West cuisine. The chef Jean Paul Barbier is fun to an irritating point. It is worth a detour.Cordeillan Bages - PauillacRoute des Châteaux33250 Pauillac www.cordeillanbages.com Saint James - Bouliacwww.saintjames-bouliac.comHostellerie de Plaisance – St Emilion – 05 57 55 07 55A great hotel and restaurant in one of the France’s most beautiful villages. Superb St Emilion wine list. A must.Places not to be missed:If you want to take a break from tasting and talking about wine, then I strongly recommend a visit to Cap Ferret. Cap Ferret could be called the Hamptons of France. It’s a very exclusive vacation destination located on the end of a peninsula with the Atlantic Ocean on one side, the bay on the other. Great villages, lovely houses and beaches.Le Pinasse Café – 05 56 03 77 87 Most of the Crus Classes have now their own restaurantsThe cuisine is often much better than in local restaurants. |
Bordeaux's Quiet Masters
| "Now that the last grapes have been gathered off the vines in Bordeaux and are currently fermenting into what looks like an extremely promising 2009 vintage, this is the busiest time of the year for the most important father and son in wine, of whom you have probably never heard. Jacques Boissenot, 71, and his 40-year-old son Eric “make the greatest wines of the world”, according to Bruno Eynard of Château Lagrange in St-Julien, one of their 150 clients. They are the Médoc’s leading consultants, responsible for the great majority of the region’s famous classed growths, and all the first growths, yet they never court publicity and rarely receive it, so entrenched are they in this, the greatest concentration of fine red wine estates in the world." |
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