Thank you, Thank you, Thank you !

Wednesday, I was invited by the Guide Hachette to the Pavillon Dauphine in Paris for the special selection given to Valandraud 2005:
“After having worked for a bank, JL Thunevin had a spectacular success in the wine world for the past twenty years. Valandraud is his most well known wine and received several Special Selection in the past. His 2005 is back on the podium, succeeding Clos Badon last year. Everything is still a bit excessive in this wine today, but its potential is unquestionable and it will become a fabulous bottle to cellar. The nose, marked by toasted wood, still allows the expression of black fruits (cassis). Fat and rich, fruits are revealed in your palate, supported by solid tannins already melting. The Virginie de Valandraud 2005 cuvee (46 to 60 Euros) is a more feminine wine, expressing more elegance than power, even if it still needs some cellaring for the wood to melt. One star. Finally, Clos Badon Thunevin 2005 (23 to 30 Euros) with its interesting notes of truffles and its superb overall harmony, also received, two stars.”

Note the nice ratings and comments on wines I take care of, especially Clos Badon, Fleur Cardinale and Haut-Carles.
Calvet-Thunevin: just one star for Les Dentelles, we should encourage tasters to change and accept our rich and generous wines…
With the TGV, I am only 3 hours from Paris. It is quite practical.

Please, find below the comments from David Schildnecht (Wine Advocate) on Constance 2006:
Source : Wine Advocate # 178, Aug 2008
Reviewer : David Schildknecht
Rating : 91
Maturity : Drink -
Current (Release) Cost : $18 (18)

A blend of Grenache with 30% Syrah and 10% Carignan, Thunevin and Calvet’s old vines 2006 Cuvee Constance serves as their entry-level wine, which makes the quality on display here quite extraordinary. Of course, this wine’s elevage accords with entry-level status: all in tank. But when you get a whiff of the cherry and plum preserves, coconut, mint, dark chocolate, vanilla and exotic spices emanating from the glass, you may well ask what level of toast was used for the concrete! A creamy texture complements the nearly over-ripe fruit character and inner-mouth perfume and spice, and faintly bitter notes of coffee and dark chocolate and pungent smokiness, along with notes of stone and lead pencil, add counterpoint to a long finish.

Thursday, I had lunch at La Cadène to meet a œnologist from the Chamber of Agriculture and at 3 pm, I hosted a group of 10 people at Château La Dominique. They were sent by a colleague negociant (Barton & Guestier).

We had dinner at friends to celebrate their new house near Fronsac : in fact they took a house over. I have a hard time not to gain weight : Friday, I had another lunch, at home this time to taste the wines from the Roussillon. Back to my story, last night we went to our friends near Fronsac to celebrate their new house (modern, with a breathtaking view!). The wines were served blind, including a Feytit Clinet 2004 served quite cool.
Pape Clément 2003: The wine of the evening, refined, full of fruit, modern and classy – I didn’t say classic… The precision of the texture on the palate, the complex nose, at the level of a first growth. Angelus 2004: closed shut, to forget in a cellar for at least 10/15 years. I announced Eglise Clinet without naming a vintage, I should have said 2002! It was Cheval Blanc! Vive the Cabernet Franc which gives wine its airy, light, tasty side, a real pleasure!

As one of my very wealthy friends and great wine lover would say: well then, what are you drinking on Sunday?