The Bordeaux First Growths 2007, my verdict
Last month I gave you my impressions of the tasting organized by the Union of the Grands Crus Classés, the UGCB. I told you that 2007 is a difficult year with a lighter structure and an elegance more than power. At the tastings Margaret and I both found a huge difference in quality, even within appellations.
But we hadn't tasted the First Growths yet, so in late April we went back up into the Medoc for a day of tasting the First Growths of the Medoc
So here we go:
Chateau Mouton Rothschild
  
 Ronald tasting the 2007 with Dominique Garcia, the Sommelier of Mouton Rothschild |
We started the day at Chateau Mouton Rothschild. Here we were welcomed by Dominique Garcia, the chateau's sommelier. We tasted the second wine, Le Petit Mouton and the Mouton Rothschild and finished by the white wine, the Aile d'Argent. As a special treat we re-tasted the Petit Mouton as well as the Mouton Rothschild 2006.
Le Petit Mouton de Mouton Rothschild (17.5 points).
(the second wine of the property)
A dark and intense color. A beautiful very complex nose with overwhelming fruit and nice peppery tones, usually typical for its big brother Mouton. The best Petit Mouton I have ever tasted.
Mouton Rothschild (18.5 points).
A beautiful intense black in color with purple tints. A complex nose displaying expressive black (blackcurrant) fruits and typical peppery hints in the nose. On the palate, the wine has a fleshy strong mouth feel. Beautiful round velvety tannins for a wine that is a little lighter in taste and structure than usual. Forest fruits, blueberry and hints of coffee. A wine more for the elegance and finesse than on power and concentration. For me this Mouton 2007 is the winner of the vintage of First Growths!
Aile d'Argent, the white wine of Mouton Rothschild (18 points). A light pale color. The nose is an explosion of fruits. A complex and nervous and very good wine. Remember, this wine is "just a simple appellation Bordeaux". In the mouth it is an absolute fruit basket with all sorts of citrus fruit, pineapple and other aromas we usually find in sweet wines although this wine is certainly not sweet. Delicious!
Chateau Latour
  
 Margaret tasting the Latour 2007 with Stéphanie Mazet at Latour |
Our next stop was at Chateau Latour. Here we tasted the three wines produced at this property. The Chateau Latour, Grand Vin, the second wine: Les Forts de Latour and the wine I usually consider as the second wine of the second wine: Le Pauillac de Latour.
Le Pauillac de Latour (15.5 points). Light color with little depth. Very closed on the nose, some hints of spices. Strong (green?) tannins with a lack of elegance and complexity. Rather short.
Les Forts de Latour (16.5 points). More color than the Pauillac but still lighter than usual. Almost no nose. Much more and rounder tannins and more interesting than the Pauillac.
Chateau Latour, Grand Vin (17.5 points). Darker than the Les Forts but still less dark than usual. Even the Grand vin was very closed on the nose. I had the feeling these wines were not tasting well at this point. The Latour had pleasant spices and some hints of laurel. Nice fruit. Although it was much longer than the second wine, it lacked some of the usual longness of a great Latour in other vintages.
These baby wines sometimes close up for a certain period of time. Definitely a wine I want to re-taste at a later moment in time.
After a lovely lunch in The Saint Julien restaurant, always a favorite on our tours, (I know it is a tough job, but somebody has to do it) we tasted at:
Chateau Lafite Rothschild
  
Ronald tasting the Lafite 2007 with Francis Perez, the Cellar Master of Lafite Rothschild |
Our host at Lafite Rothschild was the man responsible for the making of this great wine: Francis Perez, the cellar master of this First Growth.
Monsieur Perez prepared a tasting of the second wine: Les Carruades de Lafite followed by Chateau Duhart Milon, a Forth Growth owned by the Rothschild family. Of course we ended our tasting with the Grand Vin Lafite Rothschild.
Carruades de Lafite (16 points). Medium light color, rather closed on the nose but some nice notes of cherry. Fine concentration with hints of laurel. Pleasant fresh wine with a good balance in the acidity.
Chateau Duhart Milon (16.5 points). Deep purple color, rather closed on the nose. Slightly green tannins and less balance, a rather keen acidity.
Lafite Rothschild Grand Vin (18 points). Extremely deep purple colored wine. A very expressive nose displaying violets and a lot of fruit. Nice soft tannins with a good presence but without dominating the wine. Stays very long in the mouth.
Chateau Margaux
  
 Margaret (L) tasting the Chateau Margaux 2007 with the ever charming and knowledgeable Gunvor Bizard (R) and her new assistant Marie Meunier (M) |
The last tasting of the day was at Chateau Margaux.We were supposed to be received by Paul Pontallier, the Directeur Général, the general director. Monsieur Pontallier prefers to present a newborn vintage himself. Unfortunately there was a last minute change of plans so he couldn't welcome us. We were received by the ever charming and very knowledgeable Gunvor Bizard and we got to meet her new and very pleasant assistant Marie Meunier. We tasted the second wine of the property the Pavilon Rouge de Chateau Margaux followed by the Chateau Margaux Grand Vin. And we tasted another "simple appellation Bordeaux" Le Pavillon Blanc de Chateau Margaux.
Pavillon Rouge de Chateau Margaux (16.5 points). Light, medium intensive color and a rather closed nose with some hints of fruit. In the mouth an array of fruits and some licorice.
Chateau Margaux (18 points). Light purple color and a rather closed nose with some hints of red fruit. A well balanced fruity wine with hints of coffee, laurel, leather and some spices. A good acidity and a nice structure.
Pavillon Blanc de Chateau Margaux (17 points). 100% Sauvignon Blanc. Very light golden colored wine. Very pleasant fresh nose. An agreeable complexity with nice tones of citrus fruit and some lychees. Not too dry.
Chateau Haut Brion
 Margaret (R) with Laetitia at Chateau Haut Brion |
Early May, to complete the First Growths, we tasted at Chateau Haut Brion. Laetitia Dubos led us into the tasting room. Here we started our tasting with another property: the La Mission Haut-Brion (both their first and second wines). We continued with the second and the first wine of Chateau Haut Brion. At these tastings you serve the wines in the opposite order to when you drink them with a meal. At a dinner party you would start with the whites and then go on to red. At wine tastings the whites are tasted after the reds. We therefore continued our tasting with the delicious white wine: Chateau Laville Haut-Brion and the very impressive Chateau Haut-Brion Blanc, a very rare wine as there are only 2,8 ha (6.9 acres) of whites at Haut Brion.
Red Wines
Ronald "at work", tasting the
Haut-Brion 2007 |
La Chapelle de la Mission Haut-Brion (16.5 points), the second wine of La Mission Haut Brion)
A nice purple color, somewhat closed on the nose. Combines hints of laurel with a good acidity and good fruit tones.
Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion (18 points)
Medium purple color. More open on the nose than La Chapelle with hints of coffee, tobacco and leather. It's beautiful balance combines velvety (cherry) fruit tones with a surprising freshness. Very long finish.
Le Clarence de Haut Brion (17 points), the second wine of Chateau Haut Brion (the name has changed; it used to be called Bahans Haut Brion)
Medium purple color. Beautiful complex nose with lots and lots of fruit and hints of strawberries and cherries. Licorice and velvety round tannins.
Chateau Haut-Brion (18.5 points)
A dense purple color. Impressive complex nose with spicy, smoky and cherry aromas. Beautiful soft tannins .A long staying wine with a very good balance.
White wines
Haut-Brion white, one of the winners of the vintage!
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Chateau Laville Haut-Brion
(19 points)
Beautiful complex nose with loads and loads of (citrus and tropical) fruit on the nose: lemon, orange, pineapple, peach, it just goes on. Delicious and very good. Hints of very rich sweetness (honey?) very rich.
Chateau Haut-Brion Blanc
(19 points)
Amazing complex nose that smells like? Like everything you would want in a beautiful white wine. Beautiful fresh acidity. Tropical and citrus fruit displaying papaya, pineapple, peach, lemon and some hints of oak and honey. Great balance and freshness. A wine that stays in the mouth for a very long time. Delicious.
Robert Parker on the 2007 vintage
Robert Parker was interviewed by the French newspaper Le Figaro. Here Parker said that although the vintage was impressive in places, overall the wines were poor.
'It [the vintage] is showing much better than I thought,' he said.
Underlining what many producers, merchants and tasters have said about the vintage,
 American wine guru Robert Parker at work |
Parker said that last year's warm September seems to have 'saved' some of the wines.
'The best chateaux, with the financial resources to do rigorous work in the vineyards and have a strict selection policy, have produced fruity, soft and charming wines, which will be pleasant to drink in the next few years,' he said. 'They do not have the density, structure and weight of a great vintage.' He compares the 2007 vintage with the 1997 or 1999. He awarded only three wines up to 100 points - all of them white; among the reds, only four achieved up to a potential 95.
Chateaux Pape Clement Blanc and Haut-Brion Blanc both earned 96-100, while Climmens (tasted by Neal Martin) was awarded 98-100. The top possible mark for the any first growth was 94 - with Margaux earning 92-94; Haut-Brion, 91-94; and Mouton-Rothschild,90-94. Chateaux Lafite-Rothschild and Latour both earned 90-93.
Parker's prognosis for whites was better, with Laville-Haut-Brion Blanc earning 93-96, Smith-Haut-Lafitte Blanc 94-96 and a handful more achieving up to 94.
Parker dubbed Sauternes a 'silver lining' to the vintage's cloud, with taster Neal Martin awarding Chateau Climens 98-100; Yquem, 96-98; and Doisy Daene l'Extravagant, 97-98. Several more Sauternes - as well as dry whites - hover in the mid-90s. Parker's other ratings include: Angelus (90-93), Cheval Blanc (88-91), L'Eglise Clinet (91-94), Leoville-Barton (87-90), Palmer (91-93), Petrus (90-93), Le Pin (91-93), Rauzan-Segla (89-91) and Vieux Chateau Certan (89-91).
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ProWein Germany, impressions
Ronald remains faithful to Bordeaux |
The Bordeaux Wine Experience was present at the International Wine Exhibition ProWein in Düsseldorf in Germany.
This visit was by no means a Bordeaux Wine Experience as the best wines I tasted there were "foreign" wines from Spain and Italy. You will find them in "What Ronald's been drinking this month".
The idea of ProWein is similar to Vinexpo in Bordeaux but much smaller in scale. As much as I am interested in discovering wines from all over the world I still tend to remain faithful to Bordeaux. The great Bordeaux chateaux do not present their wines at ProWein. I participated in the tasting of the Rothschild's (Mouton) branded wines. We tasted the Mouton Cadet 2005, the Reserve Mouton Cadet 2005 Médoc as well as the Reserve Mouton Cadet 2005 Graves. These wines proved for me once and again the power of the vintage 2005. Even the branded wines are very good.
 Of course I had to go and see the French pavilion |
Many countries presented their wines and it is not only the French that are chauvinistic. There was an entire hall dedicated to German and Austrian wines.
Fortunately for me France still had a strong presence at ProWein.
 What Ronald's been drinking this month...
The best of Bordeaux and the Best "non-Bordeaux"
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The Best Bordeaux:
We were invited to a dinner party with a personal friend and Chateau owner in Saint Emilion. The dinner at Chateau Milens was based on truffles, as our host loves them and has "someone to find them for him". He also loves wine and he loves to cook. (I am sorry ladies but he is already happily married).
We tasted all wines blind. Most of them were from that other wine growing region starting with a B.
Yes they make decent wines outside Bordeaux as well...
For the cheese dish we were back home again: definitely Bordeaux was our conclusion and definitely left bank. A beautiful evolved wine with the color turning towards orange and brown. Definitely not a baby wine. We were amazed by the richness and the strongness of this wine. An overwhelming rich body with very strong aroma's.
It turned out to be a Chateau Lynch-Bages 1989 an outperforming Fifth Growth from Pauillac. 95 points by Robert Parker. A truly memorable wine; thank you very much Ludo and Valerie.
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The best "non Bordeaux" wine:
Although I drink mostly Bordeaux wines we sometimes have the occasion to taste some very interesting wines from other countries or regions.
You will remember me describing the Vintage Port from 1958 in my last Newsletter. At the International wine show ProWein in Germany, I had the pleasure of tasting two of my favorite foreign wines: The Vega Sicilia and the best wine from Spain: the Vega Sicilia Unico. Although the name suggests an Italian decent it is in fact the flagship wine producer of the Ribera del Duero. I tasted the Vega Sicilia cosecha (vintage) 2003, a delight. This wine was followed by an impressive ever lasting Vega Sicilia "Unico" 1998. This is Spain's most expensive and most prestigious wine. The beautiful brick colored wine with an very complex nose and velvety taste that seems to go on forever.
 We are planning to go to Spain and Portugal this summer. I will be tempted to go and visit this bodega and maybe stock up my cellar with some of these foreign gems...
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 Chateau Haut Bailly, a private luncheon at a Classified Growth |
Bordeaux Wine Tour Schedule 2008
You can still join us on one of our Bordeaux Wine Tours in July or in September. The other week tours are already sold out. Our tours are different because we have a different perspective: Let me take a minute to tell you how I see things. I know that the wine world can be a bit pretentious and elitist at times and Bordeaux is no exception. Don't worry I have a more down to earth approach to wine and wine tasting. With us you'll taste, learn and enjoy in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Leave your tuxedo, suits and ties at home! A wine tour is a vacation and you are on vacation to have fun! With us you visit the good stuff, the best Grand Cru Chateaux but without snobbery.With us you'll taste, learn and enjoy in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
 Food and Wine Experiences
Our wine tours are truly gourmet food and wine experiences, but they are definitely not stuffy. Sure, you will dine at Michelin starred restaurants, but we don’t chase stars. We’ll take you to the good ones, not the stuffy ones.
No impressive, formal restaurants where eating sometimes turns into an exam!
We prefer the more contemporary "younger" ones.
Forget the impressive snobbery that is the enemy of any real wine and food lover.
We proudly present the following Tours and dates for 2008:
§ The Bordeaux Grand Cru Tour
July 7 - July 12, 2008 (Open for booking) and
June 23 - June 28, 2008 (Sold out)
§ The Bordeaux Harvest Tour
September 22– September 27, 2008 (Open for booking)
§ The Grand Tour of Bordeaux
May 26 - May 31, 2008 (Sold out) and
September 1 - September 6, 2008 (Sold out)
Our Tours are 6 days, 5 nights (Click here for the Itineraries).
 People that join our tours are wine lovers and wine drinkers and usually this is their first trip to the Bordeaux region. They want to learn about wine and wine tasting, and what better place to start than in Bordeaux, the world’s most famous wine region. I am convinced you will grow to love our region as we do if you join us on one of our tours.
Remember we want to keep things personal. That's why we only organize tours for small groups and tailor made trips. A small group from our perspective means a maximum of ten people. That’s just you and four other couples! All tours start with a two guest minimum.
Click here for more information on our Bordeaux Wine Tours.
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 Dear Wine Lover, I hope you enjoyed this
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members and colleagues that love wine, because
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Have a great spring and we look forward to seeing you all in Bordeaux this summer!
Cheers from Bordeaux,
Ronald and Margaret Rens
   
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