Bordeaux

FUN LITTLE VALUE FINDS

As we have said, we taste constantly, without any agenda. We’re just looking for good things that fill a need and deliver value at whatever its price level is. It’s a lot harder to find things that excite us in the under $20 category for a variety of reasons. But we don’t view something as ‘good‘ simply because it isn’t ‘bad‘. . For us something needs to not only be a solid example of its genre, there has to be some interest and character to it. That is particularly difficult as you get down into lower price brackets, but it does happen. We found a couple of fun things this week that had distinctive character and represent their category well while selling for a song.

White Bordeaux isn’t the first thing on people’s minds but a good one can be quite serviceable and versatile. The Domaine de Cheval Blanc 2019 was a new label for us and kind of a surprise. Certainly, there’s an interesting story somewhere regarding the name since it is also the handle of one of Saint Emilion’s elite producers. But here it’s about the juice.

This 42 hectare estate in Entre-Deux-Mers produces both red and white Bordeaux, and the third generation owners are currently at the helm. This snappy little white is a blend of 40% Sauvignon, 40% Semillon, and 20% Muscadelle from vines averaging 23 years of age. The Semillon lends some texture and the Muscadelle some spice to the aromatics, but the Sauvignon is clearly in the driver’s seat with ripe grapefruit in the nose and flavors.

The surprise isn’t the expected clean, bright flavors, but the depth, volume, delivery for a wine of such humble origins. The fruit, personality, and unexpected charm got our attention, particularly for the fare. It’s no ordinary $10 wine in this vintage ($9.98 actually).

There isn’t much of a story to the Marcel Martin Chinon Les Bernieres 2019. It is a wing of a large negociant producer that makes several labels. We taste a lot of wines like this and you don’t hear about them. We don’t know the background here so we have to figure that the 2019 vintage had a lot to do with this wine but what a joy to drink!

There have been few vintages where the Cabernet Franc gets this ripe and plush in the Loire Valley but 2019 is one of them, reminding us of epic years like 2005, 2009, and 2010. We have had examples at every price range but something this friendly and generous at this kind of price ($11.98) was truly surprising. A little bit of pepper in the nose, a hint of refreshing green and tobacco to the finish, but the middle is stuffed with broad, engaging, supple blackberry fruit. It’s Chinon in a whole new light and scores high on the pleasure scale.

The Cave des Vignerons de Saumur has been on our radar for a long tim and was a staple at the old location. Ye ah, it’s a cooperative, but one that has the ability to produce honest and tasty examples of their terroir at surprisingly attractive prices fairly regularly. The operation dates back to 1957, and they bottle most things under the title of a particular lieu dit (named vineyard)

The Cave des Vignerons de Saumur Saumur Blanc Les Epinats 2020 is from a vineyard that is located on a plateau on gently sloping north-facing hills. The large nearby forests serve as a windbreak and have an influence on the microclimate and two types of soil ( shallow, pebbly soil called terre à silex (fl and less pebbly soil with more clay) create diverse fruit to energize the blend. It’s 100% Chenin Blanc with the nose and flavor showing lime, orange, and peach with flecks of minerality and a hint of sweetness to the finish. Textbook fresh, engaging Loire Chenin for a low price($11.98).

The Cave des Vignerons de Saumur Saumur Les Vignoles 2019 comes from a south facing vineyard looking over the Loire River. The soil here sits atop carbonate formations of Turonian limestone. It is mostly shallow, with soft limestone, resulting in a moderate, but fairly regular water supply, ideal for growing high quality Cabernet Franc. The average age of the vines are 55 years. Nature was kind to the reds in the Loire in this vintage and this one packs plenty of dark red and black fruits along with element of mineral and, again, an unexpected tender fleshiness for the genre. A steal at $14.98.

THREE IN A ROW IN BORDEAUX? OUI!

We’ve just gone through a very complete tasting of the 2020 Bordeaux and we can say with no hesitation that it is another sensational vintage. What defines it in comparison to the prior two vintages is, in a sense, size. The colors are uniformly dark and saturated and a number of the wines, particularly on the Right Bank, have unusually substantial weight and richness. Many of them almost flirt with a California-like ripeness which certainly is not a bad thing.

We aren’t going to get too much into our personal picks but there are some very impressive efforts based on the barrel samples we tasted and a number of them are definitely worthy of consideration for purchases on a pre-arrival basis. There are a few things that might be best-evers when all is said and done. Stay tuned as prices start to surface over the next couple of months beginning in earnest this week.

A big part of the consideration for a futures purchase is, of course, price. It will be interesting from an intellectual standpoint to see how the pricing shakes out. There are two very good vintages already completed and ready to go, so one might presume that such a situation might cause a bit of downward pressure on pricing. To that we must remind you that this is Bordeaux and standard logic does not apply. But there are definitely a number of very impressive wines in 2020, with the Right Bank perhaps the showiest.

It would not be surprising if the Bordelaise used the frost devastation in France to justify higher fares. But Bordeaux, which mainly sits along a series of larger rivers, was not hit particularly hard. In any case, the important message is that 2020 is a fantastic vintage based on what we tasted and Bordeaux aficianados definitely should be paying attention.

Finally, this vintage is somewhat historic. As long as we have been doing this, we don’t ever remember three vintages of this caliber occurring successively. Two, yes, 1961/1962, 1989/1990, 1995/1996, 2005/2006 and, of course, 2009/2010. But three? Not that we can recall.

There could potentially be even four but it is far too early to tell. However understand while that frost in the spring can dramatically reduce crop levels, put a financial strain on producers and gets growers upset, whatever survives can still be successful depending on the rest of the growing season. There just won’t be very much of it.

We can’t stress enough what a special moment it is for Bordeaux right now, maybe by a quirk of fate, maybe just as a function of global warming. But we remember all of the crummy vintages of the ’60s (’63, ’65,’68, ’69), ’70s (‘72,73,74,’77), ’80s (’84, ’87) and ’90s (’91,’93, ’97), and clearly things have changed in the new Millennium. There are three outstanding vintages to consider before. Take a long look at the 2020s. The good times are here…until they aren’t.

2016 Bordeaux: Tristen’s Overview

For the past two weeks, I was in France spending four days in Burgundy (I’ll get to that part of the trip later) and the rest of the time in Bordeaux hunting for deals as well as tasting the 2016’s which is the topic of this article…

Over the years, I’ve been traveling to Bordeaux for the annual En-Primeurs tasting and have experienced some of the greatest vintages ever produced in the region. As much as many will try and deny it, Bordeaux is the undisputed King of wine with a rich history going back to Roman times. There is nowhere in the world that can produce a wine that tastes quite like it. While we here at the Exchange love wines from the many regions of the world, Bordeaux has been and continues to be at or near our top selling category over our 35+ years in business.

No matter how long I’ve been going to En-Primeur, it’s always exciting to taste the wines at this early stage of their evolution. Over the years, the bar for Bordeaux keeps getting higher and higher as investment continues to pour into the region. Today, Bordeaux lovers are blessed. There are so many great wines being produced at all price points that there is something special for everyone willing to look. The problem is that there is so much happening, it’s getting harder to keep a finger on the pulse and on top of who’s the new up-and-coming estate.

For Bordeaux 2016… what can I say that you haven’t heard from previous great vintages… “It’s a vintage of a lifetime”! As much as I hate to admit, I must say it surely is one of the greatest vintages I’ve ever tasted at this stage of the game. When it comes to having your cake and eating it too, 2016 has it all. The wines are striking with rich, intense fruit, incredible structure, silky texture, great freshness and acidity and big but velvety tannins that are sweet and seamless and finish on an up-note. There was no specific regional winner. From Right Bank to Left, there were estates that made some of the best wines they have ever produced. In fact, they’re so good and so balanced, you can drink many of them now!

The 2015s are also great and I can’t’ say at this point which one I prefer as a vintage. That’s a good problem to have. I can say that the wines from the Northern Medoc in 2016 are uniformly sublime which was not the case in the more erratic 2015 vintage. But for the Right Bank, Pessac Leognan and Margaux, 2015 is great! It’s the Cabernets, both Sauvignon and Franc, that make this vintage special. That in combination with great Merlot and Petit Verdot made for some spectacular wines.

So, for now, with two outstanding vintages in the chai (not to mention the very good 2014s coming to market), the city of Bordeaux is bustling and every major chateau owner has a big grin on their face. But what does this all mean for prices in the coming months? We’ll see.

As a retailer, we of course are excited and will participate in this campaign. But it’s going to be tricky. For the moment, we can’t emphasize enough that, again, Bordeaux has a chance to win the hearts of Americans. We have a strong U.S. Dollar versus most of the world currencies, including Great Britain, one of Bordeaux’s most important markets. However, the old saying “sound as the Pound” has a little resonance thanks to Brexit (United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union).

Given that, imagine if the chateaux raise their prices 15%. That would translate to the Brits, given the currency, as receiving nearly a 30-40% rise in the costs over the 2015s. So the Bordelaise have to be extremely careful. Europe, America and Great Britain are the biggest buyers of En-Primeur (China still isn’t into buying ‘paper’). Who knows… that may change in 2016 but nobody in Bordeaux is counting on it as far as I’ve heard …we all know what happened with the 2010 vintage.

C’mon Bordeaux! Let’s make En-Primeur fun and interesting again, both to the trade and consumers. We say that knowing that a lot of folks in the Bordeaux trade pay attention to what we say (if not always heed it). En-Premieur may never be what it was in the mid-2000s, but it sure wouldn’t hurt to try and give people a reason to play. Okay, maybe that’s wishful thinking. But the opportunity is there to potentially make Bordeaux as relevant in the marketplace as it used to be prior to 2010. It just matters how bad the chateaux owners want it. Time will tell…

In the coming weeks, we will dissect the vintage by appellation starting with the Satellites as they’re most likely the first to release.

So in typical Wine Exchange fashion… Let the Games Begin!

-Tristen