Posts Tagged ‘chateau tours’

Over 350 Grand Cru Bordeaux Wines Tasted and the Winners are:

Station Plaza Wine just got back from Bordeaux and tasted over 350 Classified wines.  We had dinner and lunch at Vineyards and visited several wine estates. I’ll keep this short and sweet. I’ll list the wine that we are taking in the shop and talk a bit about the vineyard.  The winemakers have also promised when they make it to NY they will stop in and do a customer tasting at the Station Plaza Tasting Bar. (sign up for  our newsletter to keep informed about our events and specials)

1)      Chateau Clerc Milon – We tasted the 2007 and the 2005, these wines were amazing!  We took the 2004, 2005 into the shop as well as a 2006 6 Liter (aka Imperial size)

     The wine is rated a 5^th Growth in the 1855 Classification. Baron Philippe de Rothschild purchased this estate in 1970 for the paltry sum of one million francs after the property fell into disarray. He spent lots of money fixing up the property and now the wine ROCKS!

The little village of Milon is situated near Chateau Lafite, but vineyards of Clerc-Milon themselves are is situated in the northernmost part of the Pauillac appellation, closer to Mousset. Here Baroness Philippine de Rothschild – Baron Philippe’s daughter – can oversee activity at Clerc-Milon, Mouton-Rothschild and d’Armailhac, whilst keeping up to date with progress at her other interests in Chile (Almaviva) and California (Opus One), as well as the branded side of the business – such as the infamous Mouton Cadet. They produce about  14000 cases per annum, the label of which depicts a pair of dancing clowns made from precious stones, a facsimile of a 16th century piece currently housed in the Museum of Wine in Art at Mouton-Rothschild. There is no second wine.

2)      Chateau Clinet, Pomerol – This is not a Classified Estate but the wines ROCK! We visited the estate and met with Ronan Laborde the CEO and tasted a flight from 2001 – 2007. Very, very impressive! This was one of the first wines we took into the shop upon returning to the States and will most likely be a staple for a very long time. I’m already dreaming of paring dinners at our home and who to invite.  – You’ve gotta see the videos of Ronan describing the vineyard and the winemaking process, what a charismatic fellow with charm and enthusiasm for the process and the end product. Thats what it’s all about!

They produce about 3,000 cases and in 1989 received 100 points from Robert Parker.

3,4 and 5) The De Fieuzal 1999 Blanc was AMAZING, unfortunately I have not been able to locate any just yet to take in to the store. But man, was I surprised by a 10+ year old white. I literally could not get over it. Then came the best white I have ever tasted, a 1989 Saduiraut Sauturn ( a sweet desert wine) that we took into the shop faster than you can say caramel, honey, apricot and lemon explosion.  At $50 a half bottle it’s worth every drop.

Lastly I’ll just say that I have a new found appreciation for aged Bordeaux’s. Time really does make a difference with these wines. We saw it over and over in vertical tastings ( tastings of several vintages). It was basically true without exception the older the wine the better.

I’ll have a lot more to follow, including several more winemaker videos and tasting notes.

Chin chin,

Kevin