Last night I had a late dinner at friends in Blaye and, as it was really cold, I only brought southern wines, all made to warm our hearts and the atmosphere.
Clos del Rey 2002, Mas del Rey 2002, Dentelles 2004 from Calvet-Thunevin, Constance 2004 and 2005 and even a magnum of 1996 Vieille Cure Fronsac, quite good (for a Bordeaux
)
In my opinion, the right time to drink wines from the Roussillon is now when it is cold: it feels like the sun gets into our veins. I speak, of course, of the southern wines. They taste like the area they come from, not like those who want to stay cold, those have to be drunk during the Summer
Also yesterday at 11 am, we tasted many batches at our place: Bellevue de Tayac finally with a great 2010 (we just had to wait), outstanding batches of 2010 in Saint Emilion, even before malo! Batches of 2009 for the 3rd and 2nd wines are being transferred back in tanks, as the barrel aging is now complete.
Valandraud still has a few months to spend in good new oak barrels, as our friend Hervé Bizeul would say, causing debates on site La Passion du Vin: if new barrels didn’t taste so good, why are they more expensive than old barrels? I'm not sure that’s what he said, but this is what I say to visitors who are being brainwashed with the anti-barrels rhetoric, as if it were that simple.
In any case, our barrel manufacturers are certainly working much better and it is now rare to find issues with aging in new oak.
This is a very personal opinion and non-negotiable.
Clos del Rey 2002, Mas del Rey 2002, Dentelles 2004 from Calvet-Thunevin, Constance 2004 and 2005 and even a magnum of 1996 Vieille Cure Fronsac, quite good (for a Bordeaux
)In my opinion, the right time to drink wines from the Roussillon is now when it is cold: it feels like the sun gets into our veins. I speak, of course, of the southern wines. They taste like the area they come from, not like those who want to stay cold, those have to be drunk during the Summer
Also yesterday at 11 am, we tasted many batches at our place: Bellevue de Tayac finally with a great 2010 (we just had to wait), outstanding batches of 2010 in Saint Emilion, even before malo! Batches of 2009 for the 3rd and 2nd wines are being transferred back in tanks, as the barrel aging is now complete.
Valandraud still has a few months to spend in good new oak barrels, as our friend Hervé Bizeul would say, causing debates on site La Passion du Vin: if new barrels didn’t taste so good, why are they more expensive than old barrels? I'm not sure that’s what he said, but this is what I say to visitors who are being brainwashed with the anti-barrels rhetoric, as if it were that simple.
In any case, our barrel manufacturers are certainly working much better and it is now rare to find issues with aging in new oak.
This is a very personal opinion and non-negotiable.
No comments:
Post a Comment