Better Late than Never: 2015 Bordeaux Fete in San Francisco

On August 3, 2015August 3, 2015 By Bob WattIn FranceLeave a comment

It has been a busy year! We are so far behind in our blog, but have every intention of making up for lost time.

To start, here’s the recap we have to add from last January’s (gasp!) Annual Bordeaux Fete. We need to get this down for the record before next year rolls around in a few short months!

Bob Watt, Christina Watt, Jean-Charles Cazes from Lynch Bages and Nancy Rugas from Chateau Suduiraut.

I was very happy to be able to go this year, as I missed last year. This year, Christina and I attended the one put on by K & L Wine Merchants and the participating Chateaux in San Francisco, since we had just moved to the Bay area. The Bordeaux Fete was at One Market Restaurant and we tasted the new 2012 releases from:

Ch. Langoa Barton, St. Julien

Ch. Leoville Barton, St. Julien

Ch. Ormes de Pez, St. Estephe

Ch. Lynch Bages, Pauillac

Petit Figeac, St. Emilion

Ch. Figeac, St. Emilion

The 2012’s while not in the same league (or price) as the 2009’s or 2010’s, they are good in their own right. The 2012’s are medium bodied with good fruit/acid/structure and will be good to drink while you are waiting for your 2010’s to mature in your cellar. These wines will be a pleasure to drink in the near-mid term, particularly with food.

This is always a fun event to taste the new wines and talk with the Chateaux proprietors that we have gotten to know over the years. This year in addition to Jean-Charles Cazes from Ch. Lynch Bages and Lilian Barton-Sartorius from Ch. Leoville Barton, the event included Chateau Figeac, with proprietor Hortense Odoine Manoncourt. We had spent some time with Hortense at Chateau Figeac on our trip to Bordeaux and it was great to see her again.

The tasting format in San Francisco is a little different than what they do in Seattle. In San Francisco, they set up three tables with all of the new release wines being poured by the proprietors and you get to taste them over an hour time period. After tasting the new releases, we were given a glass of non-vintage Thienot Brut Champagne as we made our way to the dinner tables. Once at the dinner tables, the older wines were poured to enjoy with the food courses. Here are the other wines that we tasted with the meal:

2013 Blanc de Lynch Bages – Tangerine, lemon mineral nose. Very nice bright clean lemony white fruit, with a little stone mixed in. Lively acidity, smooth mouth feel, medium-light body. Nice long lemony energetic fruit finish. This is a very nice white Bordeaux wine that is only produced in smaller quantities, so it may not be easy to find, but is worth the effort. I will have to track some down for the cellar. 93 pts.

2009 Figeac – Ripe black/red berry fruit nose. This wine is lush with sweet black/red fruit, some spice and a little forest floor. There is good acidity to the wine, medium-full bodied with lots of very fine ripe tannins (iron fist in velvet glove). It is nice to taste a right bank right wine if a field of left banks, just for comparison. This is a very nice wine from a great vintage. 93 pts.

2005 Langoa Barton – Subtle nose of red / black fruit. In the mouth crunchy dark red and black berries, hints of forest floor and tobacco, with bright acidity. Nice medium – long dark fruit finish. 91 pts.

2005 Lynch Bages – This wine has a suave nose of spicy dark cherry fruit. In the mouth, the rich sweet dark black/red cherry fruit combines with baking spices and just a hint of leather. The wine has very nice acidity and very fine ripe tannins. The wine has great balance to it and a very long sweet spicy dark fruit finish. This wine is still very young, but is just starting to show what it has in store for a very long future. The 2005 Lynch Bages can be enjoyed now with air time, but will reward further cellaring. It wine will gain even more complexity as it is still on the uphill climb to maturity. Drink now or over the next three decades. 95+ pts.

2003 Figeac – Very ripe red and black fruit nose. In the mouth, very ripe dark red bing cherry and black berries, decent acidity, with a very tannic fine grained structure. Medium – long very ripe dark fruit finish. Over the course of the evening, the wine seemed to lose some of it’s acidity that supported the very ripe fruit. I would drink the 2003 sooner rather than later, over the next 10 years or so. 91 pts.

1995 Lynch Bages – Rich dark cherry fruit nose. In the mouth, plush sweet dark red / black fruit combine with forest floor and baking spices. This wine has good acidity, soft mostly resolved tannins and a long beautiful dark spicy fruit finish. The wine is drinking really well now and will continue to do so over the next 10-15 years. If you have some of the ’95 in the cellar, open one now and enjoy it. 94+ pts.

1999 Leoville Barton – Black cherry fruit and spice nose. In the mouth, very concentrated dark black cherries, spices and a little forest floor. Nice acidity, with some very fine grained ripe tannins still present. The wine has a very nice sense of balance, with a very long dark sweet black fruit finish. This wine is drinking really well right now, but I think it will continue to improve. 94+ pts.

2004 Suduiraut – Orangey-yellow in color, nose of very ripe fruit and butterscotch. In the mouth, again very ripe tropical fruit, over ripe melon, honey and butterscotch. This wine is too ripe for my taste, it doesn’t have the acid to back up the sweetness, so it comes across as heavy. Medium length very sweet finish. 82 pts.

It just so happened that the same day as the dinner, the Seattle Seahawks made the finals for the SuperBowl. Since Seattle was the next stop on the tour for our winemaker friends, we zipped into the city early to buy them a little something so they could show their support at their next dinner.

Jean-Charles Cazes of Cht. Lynch Bages, Christina Watt, and Lilian Barton- — Jean-Charles Cazes of Ch. Lynch Bages, Christina Watt, and Lilian Barton-Sartorius from Ch. Leoville Barton. They were very good sports about showing their Seahawks support!

Too bad the Seahawks didn’t pull through this year – but perhaps those hats will come in handy again next year! It will certainly be here before we know it…

Fete du Bordeaux 2014 – Year Six

On February 8, 2014February 8, 2014 By Bob WattIn FranceLeave a comment

Authored by Christina

As previously noted, this was the first year I attended the annual Bordeaux dinner in Seattle alone, as my husband had to be out of town. Alas, I wasn’t entirely left to fend for myself, as good friend Bill Schallert from Young’s Market Company made a great stand-in date (thanks Bill!).

Bill Schallert from Young's Market Co., Nancy Rugus, representing Chateau Suidaraut, Jean-Charles Cazes from Chateau Lynch Bages, Christina Watt, and Damien Barton Sartorius with Chateau Leoville Barton. — Bill Schallert from Young’s Market Co., Nancy Rugus, representing Chateau Suduiraut, Jean-Charles Cazes from Chateau Lynch-Bages, Christina Watt, and Damien Barton Sartorius with Chateau Leoville-Barton.

One of the highlights of the evening is always hearing from the representatives from the various estates whose wines we’re tasting – we appreciate their efforts to be here. We were pleased to welcome Jean-Charles Cazes again from Chateau Lynch-Bages and Chateau Ormes de Pez, as well as Damien Barton Satorius, from Chateau Leoville-Baron and Chateau Langoa-Barton. The dinner was held on the day of the Seahawks Victory Parade that brought out over 700,000 fans into the streets of Seattle. Ever mischievous, Jean-Charles had a little fun with the theme, bringing Seahawks “Lynch: Beast Mode” jerseys to describe the Lynch-Bages wines.

Damien is the grandson of Anthony Barton, who has visited for dinners in the past. Damien’s mother Lillian has also joined us on a few occasions. Damien is currently finishing up his Masters Degree in International Business, and this was his first trip to the United States and second wine dinner in which he was asked to provide remarks on behalf of the estate, which he did very well. You can certainly see the resemblance to his very gracious grandfather, and we look forward to hearing more from Damien in the future.

Chateau Montrose was notably absent in representation again this year, citing ongoing construction work that kept them from attending. Here’s hoping they get that construction done soon – it’s always nice to hear from the Chateaux themselves at these events. Nancy Rugus did a nice job explaining their wines, however, and also those of the venerable Chateau Suduiraut, whom she represents and who makes exceptional Sauternes.

Just a few things to taste through... — Just a few glasses to taste through…

This was the year we tasted the 2011’s, coming off of the major hype of the ’09’s and 10’s, and even the very good year of the ’08’s.

Here was the line-up:

2012 Blanc de Lynch Bages
2011 Chateau Tronquoy Lalande
2011 Chateau Ormes de Pez
2011 Chateau Langoa-Barton
2011 Chateau Lynch-Bages
2011 Chateau Leoville-Barton
2011 Chateau Montrose
2000 Chateau Langoa-Barton
2005 Chateau Lynch-Bages
2005 Chateau Montrose
1990 Chateau Lynch-Bages
1990 Chateau Leoville-Barton
1998 Chateau Montrose
2003 Chateau Suduiraut

Now let me preface my remarks by saying that in general, my wine of the night has typically always been one of the older vintages, which makes perfect sense, right? Well, in 2010, I actually prefered the 2010 Chateau Montrose as my wine of the night – there was so much potential there, but you could still get an immediate sense of the power and complexity. (I tend to prefer the 10’s to the ’09’s, though I wouldn’t turn any of them down!)

Which is my long-winded way of saying that while the 2011’s are admittedly young, honestly, I struggled to differentiate between them in any meaningful way, and to my taste, they seem to be wines to drink sooner, rather than aging for later. This was the general opinion of my tablemates as well, though we all admitted to not having a crystal ball! At the end of the day, we decided it’s not a bad idea to have a few bottles of good Bordeaux to drink now rather than later anyway. I will say that the 2011 Chateau Lynch Bages had a nice earthy nose and seemed to have some good potential, and the 2011 Chateau Montrose, though very tight, had some of the characteristic earthiness and complexity I’ve come to associate with these wines – it would be interesting to come back and taste this wine again once it gets a little age on it, as it appears to have some good structure behind it.

1990 Chateau Leoville Barton. Was a crowd favorite.

To that end, I struggled a little with the older wines to pick a definitive wine of the night – there were some nice wines there. The 2000 Langoa-Barton particularly stood out, but perhaps especially because of the shift to a significantly older wine after the 11’s! It was a good, round, earthy wine with a great nose, and a nice pairing for the roasted loin of Ostrich we had for that course.

The final three wines of the night, the 1998 Montrose, 1990 Chateau Leoville-Barton and 1990 Chateau Lynch-Bages were all drinking well. The 1990 Lynch-Bages was probably my favorite of the evening – it was still a little tight, but the nose was dreamy – green bell pepper and barnyard – one of those that I could just sit and smell and not even drink and be happy! The 1990 Ch. Leoville-Barton was also very good – I heard several of my tablemates claim it as their favorite. Really, I wouldn’t turn any of those wines away.

The chef also did a masterful job of pairing the 2012 Blanc de Lynch Bages with a seared sea scallop dish – the wine and the briny flavors of the scallops worked really well together. Of course, I’m a huge fan of this white, and I know from this summer that it also pairs well with charcuterie and just about anything else you can think to nibble on. They’ve done a nice job with the consistency of the profile year over year, peachy, earthy, grassy – just green enough, but still a round, full wine with a crisp finish and good minerality – it’s one of my favorite whites these days. (That’s typically code for, okay, honey, you can buy more if you can find it!)

Which, at the end of the day, is always the fun of these dinners – tasting things you may have in your cellar to see how they are drinking now, and deciding what to add and age for later. Me? I’m happy that I usually have help making these decisions, but no matter, the discussion and company is always fun while you’re forming an opinion!

Looking forward to next year…

Day Eight, First Stop: Chateau Suduiraut

On January 12, 2014January 28, 2014 By Bob WattIn FranceLeave a comment

Today we visited the region of Sauternes – I think Christina was looking forward to this day of our trip more than any other. My wife used to like to share an occasional glass of port with me, until she discovered Sauternes. While Christina still does like a nice port, she absolutely loves Sauternes, hence we don’t have as much port as we used to!

Our first stop was at the venerable Chateau Suduiraut. The estate was named Chateau Suduiraut in 1580 with the marriage of Nicole d’Allard to Leonard de Suduiraut. The Chateau was looted and burned down in the Fronde insurrection of the 1640’s and then rebuilt in the late 17th century. Chateau Suduiraut was classified as a Premier Cru in the 1855 classification. Chateau Suduiraut was purchased in 1992 by the AXA Millesimes global investment and insurance company group. AXA Millesimes is headed up by Christian Seely and the company also owns other properties, such as Chateau Pichon Baron in Pauillac.

Christina Watt at the beautiful Chateau Suduiraut.

The grounds were very pretty - there was a lunch being set for a special event. — The grounds were very pretty – there was a lunch being set for a special event.

The wines of Sauternes and Barsac (just to the north) are made from Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, but there are a few Chateau that add a little Muscadelle to some of their wines. Chateau Suduiraut is a blend of 90% Semillon and 10% Sauvignon Blanc. The wines can age for decades and even a 100 years in the great vintages. What makes the wines of Sauternes and Barsac so special is what they call “noble rot”. Noble rot is a fungus called Botrytis Cinerea, which is present on the undeveloped fruit after flowering. If the season is damp, then the Botrytis fungus develops into grey rot, which makes the grapes unusable. If there are damp mornings followed by hot days, the Botrytis fungus develops into noble rot. The noble rot shrivels the grapes, by reducing the amount of water in them and concentrating the flesh and sugars. It is this noble rot that gives the wines of Sauternes and Barsac their great sweetness balanced by wonderful acidity.

Chateau Suduiraut is a beautiful estate of 92 hectares in the middle of the Sauternes region. Our knowledgable guide, Camille, showed us around the estate. Chateau Suduiraut uses traditional wine making practices and stainless steel vats for their wines, which are aged for 18-24 months in French oak barrels. The estate will pick through the vineyard up to 5 times during harvest, to keep pace with the development of Botrytis and ensure the optimal quality of the grapes. It is this painstaking attention to detail that makes the wines of Chateau Suduiraut so wonderful – and what makes a good sauternes a very special treat.

The progress of the grapes. From here... — The progress of the grapes. From here…

To here, getting ready for harvest with the appearance of noble rot.

To here - ready for harvest. — You can easily see why they have to pick in cycles, waiting for the grapes to mature.

The wines that we tasted at the estate were:

2006 Castelnau de Suduiraut – This is the second label for Chateau Suduiraut. Sweet and spicy nose of pineapple and white fruit. In the mouth, spicy pineapple combine with sweet white peaches and good acidity. Finishes with a nice long balanced sweet fruit finish.

2006 Chateau Suduiraut – Complex subtle nose of white fruits and a hint of pineapple. Very creamy and smooth in the mouth, very delicate. This wine feels lighter in weight in the mouth than the 2nd label does, but is much more complex and very fresh tasting. The sweet white peaches and pears combine with young pineapple flavors. The wine has very good acidity and there is a noticeable spiciness from the botrytis on the very long sweet white fruit filled finish. This is an excellent Suduiraut, and one to look for.

1989 Chateau Suduiraut – Wonderful nose of peaches, ripe pineapple and orange peel. Smooth in the mouth with yellow peaches, pineapple, spicy honey and good acidity. Nice long complex spicy fruit filled finish.

Chateau Suduiraut makes some of the very best wines in Sauternes. If you are a fan of the wines from the Sauternes and Barsac region or just dessert wines in general, I would highly encourage you to try the wines of Chateau Suduiraut. These wines are wonderful drunk young after realease, but will develop so much more complexity with age if you can keep your hands off of them. (The only way I can keep my wife’s hands off of them is to bury them in the cellar!) I am very happy to have quite a bit of Suduiraut in the cellar – when she figures it out, Christina will be too.

From our at home tasting experience, I can also tell you that the 2001 Suduiraut is absolutely off the charts and will be one of the very best dessert wines that most people have ever had, definitely a wine to hunt for. 2009 is also stellar vintage for Sauternes and Barsac. If you like dessert wines, this is a vintage to buy by the case. The 2009’s have sweet fruit, great acidity and they will age a very long time (many decades), but the 2001 Suduiraut will age gracefully longer than anyone who is able to read this blog. It really is that good…

Speaking of good, we ventured next into the little town of Sauternes, which was truly, just great!

Wouldn't it be fun to drive off in one of these cars from the estate?? — Wouldn’t it be fun to drive off in one of these cars from the estate??

Bordeaux Bound

On September 15, 2013December 9, 2013 By Bob WattIn FranceLeave a comment

Next week, my wife and I head to Bordeaux, sans children – for a highly-anticipated trip of wine tasting (a big thank you to my in-laws for staying with our kids!).

Although those in the industry would call our tour a “death march,” we’re quite excited by the itinerary we have lined up. The extraordinary team at Bordeaux Saveurs has helped us put together this remarkable tour, complete with a few cooking classes on estates, as well as numerous great meals.

Over roughly two weeks, we will visit:

Chateau Phelan Segur
Chateau Cos d’Estournel
Chateau Pontet Canet
Chateau Leoville Barton
Chateau Lascombes
Chateau Mouton Rothschild
Chateau Lynch Bages
Chateau Haut Brion
Chateau Pape Clement
Domaine de Chevalier
Chateau Pichon Longueville Baron
Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
Chateau Palmer
Chateau Suduiraut
Chateau Y’Qeum
Chateau Guiraud
Chateau Haut Bailly
Chateau Smith Haut Lafite
Chateau Troplong Mondot
Chateau Angelus
Chateau Figeac
Chateau Soutard

We will stay at the Cordeillan Bages hotel for the first part of the trip, then in a private apartment in Bordeaux proper over the weekend, and finish out our stay at les Sources de Caudalie, which friends tell us is heavenly. A big thanks to dear friend and awesome travel agent Kelly Bonewitz at Woodside Travel for her assistance pulling things together – we can’t wait to give a full report on our adventure!

Speaking of which, we have never blogged remotely before, so we’ll have to see how it goes. Given how much we’ve packed in, the updates will probably happen once we return, jet-lagged and happy…and dreaming of our return!