Wines we recently drank

Yacochuya 2004, well known Argentinean wine produced by Michel Rolland from old vines of Malbec grown at an altitude of more than 2000 m (6500 ft). This wine has incredible power: ripe grapes, even over-ripe, and this is rare, despite Bordeaux fantasy with over-ripeness. I never drank a bottle of Bordeaux made from over-ripe grapes! This bottle drank with Joëlle put us in a good mood. True that this wine is quite rich!

Château Balestard 1997 drank with the in-laws was totally worth being tasted and compared with 1st growths or similar Bordeaux. It could even easily overshadow them as it had no vegetal flavor: ripe fruit, still vibrant with its dark robe and the true taste of great Merlot grown on clayey-limestone soil. It reminded me the time when curious consumers would pay more for a good Bordeaux than a bad cru from the 1855 classification.

For Catherine Péré-Vergé’s 70th birthday (I thought she was 60), we drank : La Violette 2007, remarkable, following Angélus 2000 (magnificent) loved by every guests at the table, despite its young age, and preferred to the famous Château Lafite Rothschild 1995 (which should have been served before ?) . Yquem 1988 was a “pre” desert, drank alone. It did convinced us of the importance to drink a Sauterne with such a fine dinner where it is never too much to pour a great sweet Bordeaux. We ended with an Armagnac from Laberdolive. Luckily, we spent the night there.

Are we seeing the end of the financial crisis ?
While Europe is in full recession, the road between Bayonne and Bordeaux was loaded with trucks from Spain, Portugal, the Czech Republic, France, etc…
Monday, the road was saturated by this tide of big trucks. When will they be transported by train?

Already 100 wine futures were released, less than 30 which have sold well. We have now put together a list of 50 crus, including 50 sold by us. We certainly really miss a bit less than 20 references (some 1st growths, of course, and a few seconds – like Carruades, and Angelus, Léoville Barton, Pichon Lalande, Lynch Bages, Carbonnieux blanc, Arums de Lagrange etc..)

Bad Boy 2006 : at least, we sold a bottle, thanks to Zapata. I am waiting for the response from my colleagues in Saint Emilion, to the point of wanting to taste this wine next Sunday…