Category Archives: Bordeaux

Chateau Haut-Bergey Blanc 2007

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Dear Readers,

Let me boldly interrupt my summer-long hiatus from blogging by introducing to you the best wine I’ve enjoyed so far this year, hands down: Ch Haut-Bergey Blanc 2007 from Pessac-Léognan.

A find from last fall’s BC Liquor Stores Bordeaux Release, an annual promotion I’m proud to say I used to work on, this wine waited patiently on my wine rack for nearly a year until I decided to uncork ce petit chiot (“this little puppy” in French, naturellement) on my birthday in August.

And what an excellent gift this wine was to the tastebuds, indeed!

A little bit of background info:

Together, Ch Haut-Bergey and Ch Branon (Pessac-Léognan) plus Ch Barde-Haut (St-Emilion) and Clos l’Eglise (Pomerol) comprise the Bordeaux properties of Vignobles Garcin, a small family-owned wine conglomerate.

The white wines of Haut-Bergey come from a mere 2 hectares of Graves soil, well known for a high gravel composition (from which Graves gets its name), excellent drainage, and the unique trait of imparting particularly mineral-tasting characteristics into wines from that area. Graves is 50 km inland from the Atlantic coast, along the southern edge of the Garonne, an estuary of the famous river Gironde in Bordeaux.

I’m sure by now you’re asking, “So… What the hell did it taste like?!” Indulge me while I offer a few more fun facts.

Made of 82% Sauvignon Blanc and 18% Semillon from mature vines (35 years on avg.), only 8,000 bottles of this wine are produced. Hand-picked grapes, grown under la lutte raisonée (philosophy of minimal intervention), are fermented in stainless steel vats; 30% of the grapes then aged in French barrels over 12 months.

Ahh… Okay, now let us give the tasting note.

Ch Haut-Bergey Blanc 2007, Pessac-Léognan

Lemon in colour. The nose reveals an inimitable Bordeaux white wine bouquet of crushed granite, ripe apple, freshly sliced citrus, burnt grass and hints of tropical fruit with cerebral intensity. Not to be outshone by the heady scent, the palate is at once radiant and delicate, with wave after wave of juicy citrus, quince, mango, gravel and subtle warm spices from the oak aging. Supported by a firm acidic backbone, the velvety textured wine feels rich in body yet refreshing at the same time. The only thing holding one back from rushing to down the entire bottle is the wine’s delectable finish.

Fantastic with oysters on the half-shell (which was the food theme of my birthday party), and I’ll wager that a slice of that heavenly chèvre (soft goat’s cheese) with preserved lemon from Les Amis du Fromage would be another mouth-watering pairing. $59 last year at BCLDB.

Some echoes of praise from the pros:

Profile: This white wine is very accomplished: it is just a shame that they have such a miniscule vineyard. They are almost Burgundian in style with their plushness and creaminess. If you can find a bottle, these are well worth picking up for they are very reasonably priced given their scarcity.
- 92-94 pts, Wine Advocate

Golden. Oaky nose. Palate also quite oaky, with nice weight of fruit. Creamy-rich, with nice freshness. Oak tannin on the finish a little dominant. Sound effort. Drink 2012-18.
- 15 points / 3 stars, Decanter

 

Bottle Maturation

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Sipping on a bottle of properly matured, well cared-for wine is like running into the awkward guy from algebra ten years later at your high school reunion.

He’s turned out to be – hopefully – fleshier and more toned in physique than his younger, gangly self, with a smoother timbre replacing the squawky, pitched stutter of yore. And perhaps his then-clashing talents of number-crunching and collecting 70′s vinyl have evolved into a profitable online music entrepreneurship.

Everything about him is still there, just now in far better shape. It just took several years for that potential to develop into something more.

I’ve got both an Old World and a New World example that I’m excited to share with you:

Château Faizeau Sélection Vielles Vignes AOC Montagne St-Émilion 2006

This wine was released in BC in the fall of 2009. The Montagne Saint-Émilion area is just northeast of the principal Saint-Émilion appellation, and like its namesake, showcases Merlot-based wines, which in this case come from some older vines that have been green-harvested to concentrate flavour development in select bunches that have been left on the vine. From one French website, it appears that “flying winemaker” Michel Rolland seems to have consulted on the wine. The site also notes that the vineyard is made of 12 hectares of clay-limestone and sandy soil, and 50% of the wine was aged in barrel for 18 – 24 months.

Opened on April 16, 2011, thanks to my generous friend (and graphic designer extraordinaire) Lydia. Within an opaque core of blood red lies a soft and seductive nose of black cherry, plums, blackberries, baking spices, cocoa and licorice. The rich, velvety palate is gently concentrated with red and black berry flavours, a hint of herbaceousness, and secondary notes of cinnamon, chocolate, licorice and earth, finishing with refreshing acidity that suggests further aging up to another 5 to 6 years would be fine. Lydia, Natasha and I ate this with Mediterranean cheese and spinach pies, which tasted great – I would also recommend trying this with a piece of good dark chocolate or a meat dish with mole sauce to really play up the voluptuousness of this wine.

Poplar Grove Cabernet Franc Okanagan Valley VQA 2005

Sean and I had the fortune to visit with Poplar Grove’s winemaker, Ian Sutherland, two years ago on a holiday in Naramata. There, we got to barrel sample some varietal components of his Bordeaux blend, Legacy, including some Cabernet Franc, and I’m fairly certain it was at that moment that I became a believer in Cabernet Franc’s potential to claim the title of Best Okanagan Black Grape. The barrel samples were intense, concentrated and left us with black teeth for the day – Sean was especially hooked and bought a bottle of the 2005, and we’ve been interested in Cab Francs across BC since.

I visited the winery again this past weekend on the way home from a short road trip through Penticton, and Julie, the lovely lady managing the tasting room that day, mentioned that Poplar Grove uses the help of Bordelais consultant Alain Sutre. Apparently, Sutre’s advice vis à vis Poplar Grove’s Cab Franc is that extra hangtime is allowed for the fruit such that it’s picked within the precise and short timeframe wherein sugar ripening slows down but the rate of phenolic ripeness speeds up, letting the grapes build up extra flavour complexity without the excess of natural sugars.

This funny, adorable border collie belonging to a neighbour of the winery had me working hard for my wine! I must have thrown that grapevine stick 50 times.

Opened on May 7, 2011. Deep purple-black in the glass with some garnet hues along the rim, this wine displays a heady aroma of ripe plums, prunes, blackberry, currants, tobacco, cedar and spice. In the mouth, fine sweet oak tannins combine deliciously with a medium-plus body of ripe cherry, currant, plum, leather, spice, chocolate and licorice flavours and a medium-plus finish. A rewarding wine right now but could certainly hold up for another couple years if not longer.

This still had all the concentrated black fruit flavours and tannin of the original barrel sample, except worn and woven into a much smoother cloth. We sipped happily on this without food, however I would have loved to try this with some grilled rosemary lamb chops or rib eye seared perfectly medium rare. Finishing: 18 months in French oak barrels plus an additional 12 months of bottle maturation prior to release. $35 at the winery (fairly positive it’s now sold out)

Holiday Roundup, Part Three: Christmas Extragavanza

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My family is pretty unorthodox when it comes to cooking for special occasions. I suppose we’re fairly unorthodox by default, since we don’t observe any religious dates anyway, but suffice it to say we never pass up a good holiday meal. If it’s on the calendar, why not?

Typically, we forgo the traditional turkey or ham and opt for maximum indulgence instead, such as T-bone steaks, duck, or tenderloin. This year, my mother showed an unprecendented amount of frivolity and decided to make a gigantic five-pound lobster our Christmas dinner centerpiece. I, in turn, volunteered several tasty bottles from my collection.

Unfortunately, this post is not accompanied by any photography, as we ate on December 22nd, and I didn’t know about or open my digital camera gift from Sean until Christmas Day. Needless to say, I was in no condition to take a clear photograph that evening anyhow.

The Menu

  • Pan-Seared Diver Scallops with Kale and Dragonfruit
  • Roast Chicken with Savoury Pumpkin and Apple Stuffing
  • Baked Lobster with Bacon and Herb Cream Sauce

The Wines

My white and red were pretty much served back to back, and I had the chance to try both the chicken and lobster with each of the wines. I decanted the Bordeaux for two hours prior to serving. The late harvest was served following the meal with chocolates, when my huge, rich dinner caught up with me and I fell asleep watching The Usual Suspects, glass (empty, of course) in hand.

Burrowing Owl Pinot Gris 2007

I first tasted this in November 2008, when it initially hit the market. It was very fresh and fruity then, and I can’t say it’s changed too much since.

Light greenish lemon in colour. A lively nose of core fruits and a bit of starfruit with a zippy but juicy palate of apples, melon and pears and a tiny bit of minerality. No oak influence in this light-bodied patio sipper. I think I would have been happier with a Chardonnay pairing with regard to the chicken and lobster courses, but this went very well with the scallops. $20

Château Rozier St. Émilion 2005

Took a chance here by opening one of my 2005 vintage buys for the first time ever, suggested by my colleague out of the list of Bordeauxs I showed her. Good value in this lower-end St. Émilion. I had first tried this in September 2008 at a tasting; it’s since subdued in all the right places. My mom’s dining room was a bit too cold for the wine, however, and it tasted probably a bit more closed than it should have.

Darkly purple, almost opaque in colour. Plummy black fruits with some oak and spice on the nose. Rich, velvety tannins coat the mouth along with more black fruits on the palate and some vanilla. A predominance of woody oak flavours suggests that this medium-bodied, Merlot-based red still needs more time before opening. Luckily, I still have another bottle waiting for me; I’ll keep cellaring that one for another year or two yet. $29

Hillside Estate Late Harvest Kerner 2007

This was a purchase from the winery during my Okanagan road trip last July. The winery has a fantastic tasting room where a few bucks gets you a handful of samples and possibly a couple of bonus wines like I did. Hillside Estate produces a lot of varietals, so it’s well worth tasting your way through their portfolio!

Light gold in colour. The nose was a heady bouquet of citrus and sweet flowers with hints of tropical fruit, honeyed but not at all syrupy or like icewine. Medium- to light-bodied, this shows lots of citrus and crisp acidity on the palate with apricot and other stone fruit flavours, with quite a refreshing finish for a sweet wine. $20