Garage wine

Monday evening, we tasted a series of so-called "garage wines" with a couple from Quebec (the French speaking side of Canada).
We had 2 bottles of Rol Valentin 1995 slightly corked. Unfortunately, I couldn’t figure out the provenance of the cork. A good bottle of Lynsolence 1998, followed by Hermitage 2001 (Matras), also good, and Le Dome 1996 which was a bit restrained.
Was the difficulty to taste red wine due to tiredness or the seasonal heat? Aren’t Murielle and I a bit too demanding?

In the afternoon I hosted a group from Miami (a rare occasion) to introduce these amateurs neophyte to wine. I had a good time, their questions were pertinent, and their joie de vivre refreshing and contagious.
Following, we visited the “historical” cellar of Valandraud in Saint Emilion and tasted several wines at L’Essentiel to grasp their differences. As usual, amateurs believe that they are not able to make the difference between wines. In the end, the wines picked by professionals are the ones they liked most.
We tasted Présidial 2006 (which will soon be available in their area through a large chain of supermarkets), Bad Boy 2005 which will be sold in another retail outlet, Bel Air Ouÿ 2000, Valandraud 1999 and Cuvée Constance 2004 from Domaine Calvet-Thunevin which was, as always, very “voluptuous”.

At noon, still at L’Essentiel, a group of friends came to drink a glass of Marjosse white 2006 from Pierre Lurton, always good, and for some, a glass of Bad Boy (a touch corked, which is very rare with our current cork supplier).

We had lunch and a tasting at Restaurant du Tertre invited by one of our favorite and most important cooper, Radoux.
We ordered 500 barrels this year, much less than previous years due to the low yields expected in our vineyards (last year I ordered 600 barrels): 230 Seguin Moreau, 120 Radoux, 50 Saury and 100 from 5 different coopers for testing.
Radoux is becoming an important cooper for us and sharing our technical information is greatly appreciated by my employees and myself.
If you ad purchasing for the Vignobles Fayat, Fleur Cardinale, Carles, Marojallia and Thunevin-Calvet… Every year, I remind myself that I should have invested in a cooperage firm… However, I seriously need a large storage space for I am currently using 2 outside storage companies to store close to 2 million bottles.