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Pulled the trigger on Calon Segur en primeur 2011: no real need to, but a passion purchase

Panos Kakaviatos — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:15:33 GMT

Calon Segur exuded charm, harmony and elegance. This is a wine that seemed to me more appealing than the 2010, which was more brawn and power. The 2010 will turn out very well, I am sure, but this is one very rare 2011 that matches it, in a more welcoming manner.

From my blog notes on Bordeaux 2011:

Among the Saint Estephes, Calon Segur remains the most impressive, although Montrose is noteworthy, very classical � and more expensive� Vincent Millet of Calon Segur told me that they had not suffered from hail and that their yields were rather high, about 42 hectoliters per hectare. Quite high for the 2011 vintage, considering that a wine like Chateau Palmer in Margaux had barely half those yields, to take one example. Montrose? Closer to 35 hectoliters per hectare. Another advantage in St Estephe, according to Millet, were that the colder clays kept the subsoil more humid than the gravels during much of the arid growing season, so that Cabernets grown on clay actually were able to mature better� because they did not suffer as much from the dry conditions. I did not taste Cos d�Estournel, but plan to visit and taste later this year, so stay tuned for updates.

Chateau Calon Segur is a wine to purchase in 2011. 13.3% alcohol, with fine acidity, the wine is made with 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot. Tasted at the estate on 3 April with Vincent Millet. Aging in 100% new oak, I was amazed how the sample exuded both freshness and sap. No drying tannins, perhaps a touch of tonic austerity on the finish � we are not in 2009 in any case � but very impressively medium-plus bodied. I preferred tasting this at this stage to the 2010 at the same stage last year. Perhaps the 2010 will last longer? But the 2011 has far more charm. 92-95+

Complete Bordeaux 2011 notes here: http://www.connectionstowine.com/bor...ose-carefully/

Top wines from Bordeaux 2011: a casual list

Panos Kakaviatos — Thu, 03 May 2012 10:37:03 GMT

Just posted full notes on Bordeaux 2011, with videos and photos and analysis, and feel like rattling off wines that come to mind as the most memorable, if not necessarily the "best" ...

The first list evidently does not take price into account, and does not include Latour and Mouton, which I did not taste, nor several apparently kick ass Pomerols which I did not get to taste either - including Evangile, Eglise Clinet and the Moueix stable...

Anyway, there were some striking wines from 2011!

Of course, little interest in en primeur purchasing, because of the fatigue over crazy pricing in recent vintages, but if you want to lock in some special sizes from reliable sources, I might consider pulling the trigger for certain wonderful whites as well as some outstanding reds for the vintage, so here in no particular order:

Calon Segur - St Estephe
Vieux Chateau Certan - Pomerol
Coutet - Barsac
Cheval Blanc - St Emilion
Domaine de Chevalier (White) - Graves
Yquem - Sauternes
Haut Brion Blanc - Graves
Pontet Canet - Pauillac
Doisy Daene - Barsac
Pavillon Blanc de Chateau Margaux - Bordeaux
Clos Fourtet - St Emilion

And some super QPRs that will likely be available at good prices in a couple of years once in bottle:

Carbonnieux Blanc - Graves
La Louviere Rouge et Blanc - Graves
Latour Martillac Blanc - Graves
Oliver Blanc - Graves
Haut Carles - Fronsac
Lynch Moussas - Pauillac
Capgern Gasqueton - St Estephe
Cantemerle - Haut Medoc
Marquis d�Alesme Becker - Margaux
Mazeyres - Pomerol
Bellegrave - Pomerol

German Chardonnay and other tales from an intense weeklong tasting organized by Decanter Magazine

Panos Kakaviatos — Tue, 01 May 2012 07:32:42 GMT

Today is May Day. And last week, I sometimes felt like crying for help after tasting over 80 wines per day for Decanter Magazine's World Wine awards. Some 150 judges tasted 14,000 wines in a single week. It was intense, and even tiring, but oh-so rewarding.

I had been originally assigned to taste Bordeaux all week, but thankfully spaces opened in the German and Alsatian categories, so that I tasted Bordeaux three days out of five, and then one day German wines, another day Alsatian. Great to taste primarily Alsatian Gew�rztraminers (yes, some were flabby, but a couple were amazingly good in their crazy cheap price categories of being up to 15 pounds per bottle), but perhaps the most interesting day was spent tasting German wines, because I do not do that often enough.

All tastings were blind, but we had detailed information sheets, indicating region, blend, alcohol and acidity and rs levels, and price points (A being really cheap and J being over 200 pounds sterling per bottle). We did have a couple of magnificent Trockenbeerenauslesen wines in the I category (btw 150 and 200 pounds), earning gold medals (at least 18.5 on the 20 point scale), but - surprise, surprise - a couple of quite fine German reds, too. Yes, there were some that were quite bad, too - and expensive.

For example, I gave flight 11, wine number 5, which costs between 50 and 100 pounds per bottle (wide range, yes), 13 points, which is very low on the 20 point scale: "chemical fruit nose, disjointed, alcohol and acidity both painful"...

But especially reds we tried from the Pfalz and Ahr regions performed well. Take flight 11, wine number 7, which costs only between 10 and 15 pounds: 17 points, smooth and flavorful, fine mid palate, long on the finish... Consensus from the entire group, silver medal, meaning that the score was between 17 and 18.5 points.

As you can see in the video below, groups did not always agree, in this somewhat amusing example of a German Chardonnay. World Wine Awards chairman Steven Spurrier stepped in to offer his opinion, as he did in such rare cases.

As for tasting Bordeaux, I have to say that young Bordeaux from the Right Bank in 2009 and 2010, when tasting over 80 bottles per day, can be trying! There were some fine wines, of course, but rarely any golds. The price category was lowish, ranging from Bordeaux AOC and Bordeaux Superieur to satellite appellations from the Right Bank. Although I also tasted a string of fine Margaux cru bourgeois from the 2009 vintage, with several reaching silver rankings, as well as some Saint Emilion GCCs.

Read and view more about my experience tasting in London last week for Decanter, HERE. :party35: