Bordeaux BBQ Wines!

If I hold my arms up in the air and make the biggest circle I can clasping my hands together – this is the size of the entrecote cooked on an open fire in the garden of Yves-Dominique and Laura Pages. Yves is a specialist in all things wonderful to eat and sells fine wines mainly from Italy and Spain. They live not far from Bordeaux on the other side of the Dordogne River. What you need to remember is to cross the Dordogne via the metal criss-cross Eiffel bridge to get there successfully.

What was remarkable about this dinner was not the conversation which indeed was interesting enough ranging from the origin of such expressions as ‘cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey’ to the rightful role of a man during childbirth, but the quality of food and wine served in such a relaxed and down-to-earth manner. That is one of the advantages of living so close to the source of good food and wine.

Deep-fried ‘Blayais’ Asparagus in filo with balsamic vinegar

Veal tongue with sauce gribiche (shallot, hardboiled egg, vinegar, gherkins and lots of freshly cut herbs)

Giant Entrecote a la Bordelaise

1986 Chateau Canon, Premier Cru Classe St Emilion: smooth fruity light and elegant. Soft with pleasant red fruit flavours and melted tannins.

1988 Clos de Marquis, St Julien: the depth of flavour that the addition of Cabernet Sauvignon really suits my palate. The smoothness of the tannins and the concentration of pure fruit for me lifts wines to another plateau.

1994? Pesquera Ribera de Douro (unfortunately by this time I was not keeping note of vintages). Interesting nose of chocolate, oaky spiciness which continued in the mouth. Long finish. Hot spicy wine with herby grilled meat smokey flavours.

amongst others…

That Eiffel Bridge creates an optical illusion; it seems narrower on the way home.

1989 Bordeaux vintage; arrival in Bordeaux in 2CV

It was around lunchtime when I finally arrived in Bordeaux in my English Charleston 2CV (black and Bordeaux colouring of course) onto the Quai de Bacalan. It was 21st August 1989. It was hot and there was not a soul to be seen. Little did I know that it was the hottest summer since 1949 and that the harvest was about to begin, the earliest since 1893. And it was lunchtime and it was August after all. I was the ‘jeune stagiaire’ reporting for my duties at Maison Sichel,19 Quai de Bacalan – a family run wine negociants run by the inimitable Peter Sichel who part-owned Chateau Palmer in Margaux and Chateau d’Angludet, who sold petit chateaux and blended and made wine themselves. Somewhere perfect to get a good understanding of how the Bordeaux wine trade worked for a few months. If I could find somebody that is.

So conditions were perfect that year for producing concentrated well ripened grapes with silky tannins. It turned out to be the second of a trio of great vintages (1988, 1989, 1990). Good timing for my ’stage’ (work experience) which ended lasting a little more than a few months (my initial idea was to spend three months in the key wine regions of France, Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhone – needless to say I never made it beyond the Dordogne and my heart has remained here ever since).

So how have these wines matured over the past 19 years? There were concerns that due to low acidity levels the wines might not have the potenital to age. But these initial fears have proved unfounded as these wines which are beginning to drink very well still have the concentration and complexity of a very good vintage. 

At the age of 22 in a way my arrival in Bordeaux was the start of my true adult life, away from everything I knew. I cannot say I have matured as well. Tasted recently around the time of my 41st birthday.

1989 Gruaud Larose, St Julien 58% Cab Sauv, 31% Merlot, 7% Cab Franc, 3% Petit Verdot, 2% Malbec. Quite evolved garnet colour and slight oranging at the edges. Intense sweet cherry nose. A purity of cherry fruit and liquorice and notes of truffle on the palate. The sweetness of the ripe fruit and the silky tannins give the wine a pleasant density (approx 85€ ex VAT) **

1989 Pavie, Premier Cru Classe St Emilion 60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet colour, less evolved. Nose of meat essences, coffee and truffles. Soft and round juicy cherry flavours in the mouth which end a little dry. Fleshy and attractive but lacking finesse (approx 60€ ex VAT)

1989 Cos d’Estournel , St Estephe 60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine took a good hour and a half to open out. Exotic spicy intense nose of blackcurrant and caramel. Density of pure fruit and silky smooth tannins. Sweetness of ripe black fruit. Very long finish. Very complex wine with beautiful balance (approx 70€ ex VAT) ***

Fine and Rare wines from Cedric Manet  of CM Vins: cmvins@wanadoo.fr

www.cmvins.fr

1979 Figeac, St Emilion; the sum of its parts guessing game

Five glasses of mahogany brown-orange tinged wine but what are they? The colour alone indicates considerable evolution during the slow oxidation over the years of ageing in bottle. A slow changing of the colour as the purple and red hues of youth fade to browns and oranges. (Both red and white wines end up the same tawny orangy colour at the end of their lives).

This wine is now in the autumn years of its life. Its aromas and flavours have also evolved. Gone are the forward fruity ‘primary’ flavours replaced today with a ‘bouquet’ of more complex earthy aromas of leather and truffles (‘tertiary’) with some sweet blackcurranty sirop notes coming through on some of the samples.

These wines were infact the ‘unassembled’ wines of Figeac 1979 separated  into their different cepages (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot) when vinified and kept separate over 29 years - and the actual 1979 Figeac the assembled wine (35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot).

Chateau Figeac, Premier Cru Classe is to be found on the border of St Emilion and Pomerol, an area referred to as the ‘Graves’ of St Emilion. It is due to these gravelly soils that Figeac is to be able to grow Cabernet Sauvignon – which normally makes up thirty-five percent of its final blend. Unheard of elsewhere in this appellation. Figeac is said to be the most Medoc of St Emilions.  This is equalled by Cabernet Franc which makes up another 35% of the blend  – less than its famous neighbour, Cheval Blanc whose vineyards are grown on the same gravel outcrop. Cheval Blanc is normally made up of two-thirds Cabernet Franc. The rest of Figeac is Merlot.

Guess which of the four glasses is which? 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, 100% Cabernet Franc, 100% Merlot, The 1979 Figeac (‘assembled’ 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot)

Wine 1: Green pepper (indicative of a wine being  ’vegetale’ due to lack of ripeness) on the nose with sweet blackcurrant on the nose and on the palate. Good volume of fruit and a purity of flavour. Little one-dimensional but very pleasant.

Wine 2: Smokier nose with little fruit on the palate or via retro-olfaction. Good structure but lacking in freshness. It seemed that the fruit had dried out.

Wine 3: Attractive intense blackcurrant on the nose. Very soft and rounded on the palate. Good structure. Very soft and still fresh and juicy. Lacked something?

Wine 4: Medicinal nose of leather and humus (indicative of being ‘phenole’). Palate superior to the nose with some noticeable intensity of black fruit flavours. Sour finish.

Answers:

Wine 1: Cabernet Sauvignon

Wine 2: The assemblage of 1979 Figeac  (35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot) *

Wine 3: Merlot

Wine 4: Cabernet Franc

Conclusion: * In my opinion the final blend which included 35%  of the Cabernet Franc had the effect of drying out the fruit that was apparent in the Cabernet Savignon and Merlot only samples.

Thank you to Raoul Salama (Revue de Vins de France) and Figeac owner Thierry Manoncourt for this opportunity to taste 1979 Figeac in its entirety and in its constituent parts - aged over 29 years.