Barrels

Friday morning, we tasted 6 batches of Valandraud 2006 aged in various barrels. This was done directly from the barrels with our oenologist from Laboratoire Michel Roland, Jean-Philippe Fort. This time, our preferences were totally different from our first tasting. Why these tastings? Simply to make sure that the level of quality of the barrels is still good. In fact, a simple way to understand is that some barrels tend to dry-up the wine’s smoothness giving it a dusty wood flavor, while others give it roundness and in this specific case, the barrels from our main supplier (and historical) Seguin Moreaux were hardly noticeable and enhanced the fruit flavors.
In the same week, I could find my wine extremely deceiving and incredible this Friday, especially drank during a meal. Such evolution is hard to understand, after already spending 21 months in the barrels. The wine must keep on aging for another 3 month.

In the afternoon, following a last minute cancellation of a meeting with the group Fayat, in Bordeaux, I visited our favorite wine store in Bordeaux (Maison des Millésimes) in front of the Grand Theatre. Looking at the prices of old vintages of 1st growths displayed, I noticed that they were half the price of the latest vintage… Go figure?!