What this is all about...

It all started with a "little" book called 1001 Wines You Must Taste Before You Die. I asked a few girlfriends if they would be interested in working through the book with me. I mean, 1001 wines, by myself? Thought that would seem a little selfish. Fortunately, I have some of the greatest friends in the world and they have willingly agreed to take the plunge with me. We have gone a little "off book" but I haven't heard a complaint yet.

As we continue with these tastings, I hope to share not only the wines and what we thought of them, but also the food we paired with the wine and recipes as needed. Food can make or break a wine and our tastings have borne that out. I want to share that information and help break the "mystique" of wine.

We are expanding our wine knowledge and narrowing our choices at the same time. The real time goal is for all of us to find a few varietals (that is what the different grapes are called) that we like and then find the lowest, consistently good price point for those varietals. You do NOT have to spend a lot of money to drink really good wine!!!

13 tastings down, 100s still to go. So grab a glass, pop a cork, and join us!

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Bordeaux - The not as scary as you think French Red - March 2013


I do not believe I have ever tried a Bordeaux.  French reds used to intimidate me and so I just avoided them.  I mean, this is a wine that they sell futures for (what the heck does that mean anyway?)!

Leave it to the French to make things complicated, again.  As we learned when we tasted Burgundy, French wines are named for their region and not their varietal.  Think what it would be like if California labeled its wines solely by growing region (Napa, Sonoma, Russian River) instead of by varietal.  Scary, huh?  In truth, it is not.  Let's break it down and move past the fear (NEVER fear a French wine).

Bordeaux is the largest fine wine region in the world, for now.
Bordeaux is a BLEND!!!  Who knew?
Bordeaux's 2 main grapes are Merlot & Cabernet Sauvignon.
The deeper the color, the younger the wine (hmmmm).
Bordeaux is named by its "chateau" (that's vineyard to those of us outside of France).
There are over 7,000 chateaus that produce Bordeaux.
There is a white Bordeaux.
Sauvignon Blanc is the primary grape for white Bordeaux.
Growing regions are classified as:
                  Left Bank (best vineyard zone)
                  Right Bank
                  Graves
The Best Bordeaux towns/localities are:
                  Margaux - Left bank
                  St. Julien -Left bank
                  Pauillac - Left bank
                  Ste. Estephe - Left bank
                  St. Emilion - Right bank
                  Pomerol - Right bank
                  Pessac-Leognan - Graves (top White Bordeaux locale)
                  Sauternes - Graves

So, what is the deal with "Bordeaux futures" anyway?  This is a process of buying wine 2-3 years in advance of release at a discounted (hopefully) rate.  Professional wine tasters taste the young wine and rate it.  Based on the growing conditions of the year and the ratings, a price is set (heavily influenced by the chateau and growing region).  The goal is to buy early at a lower price than the wine will actually go to market for.  See, that wasn't too complicated, was it?

So, here is the line up...


As always, we try to work lightest to fullest.  We started with our white Bordeaux (which comes from the Graves region).  The first bottle was o-k.   This is a 2011 Chateau Fage (not related to the yogurt).  It cost $10.99 at Wegmans.  It definitely tasted like Sauvignon Blanc & smelled like it too (green grapefruit).  However, there are those in the group who love SB and this was consumed.


This white Bordeaux is actually one of the best, according to France, I guess.  This was the worst wine of the night!  This 2006 Chateau Carbonnieux set us back $36.99 at Wegmans and got dumped down the drain.  Talk about age not helping a wine!  It looked almost caramel yellow and smelled like acidic mildew.  P-U!  Skip this one.


2009 Chateau Jacquet (right bank) - the deal of the night!  $9.99 at Wegmans.  This was jammy and yummy and we drank the whole thing!  I HIGHLY recommend laying this in for regular drinking.  This wine could make anyone feel carefree about Bordeaux.  This was a 100% liked wine.


2009 Grande Reserve Chateau La Grange Clinet - right bank, Cotes de Bordeaux region (sub classification).  $13.99 at Wegmans and it was yummy also.  I nice blend of Merlot and Cab Sauv with a lovely bit of Cabernet Franc to round it out.  Not a bad wine to have, but if I had a choice, I will still go with the Jacquet.


We called this one "Hot Magnet" just cause it was funnier.  2010 Chateau Haut Maginet (right bank) was a fuller wine than the other 2 and was yummy as well.  It cost $10.99 at Wegmans and we all liked it enough to finish it, but the first red was still the fave.


2008 Chateau Malmaison was our only left bank wine.  It had a nice full body.  At only $14.99 from Wegmans, it is definitely a drinkable wine, but not as good as the Jacquet.



So, what did we learn?  We learned that California Merlot & Cab. Sauv are trying to duplicate the Bordeaux style (we will do a comparison tasting another time).  We learned that Bordeaux isn't so scary.  We learned that the whole futures thing is just bargain shopping.  We learned that we don't so much care for the white Bordeaux, but we LOVE the red Bordeaux.  We really learned that you don't have to spend a lot of money for a yummy Bordeaux - who knew?!!!

Cheers,
Kitti




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