VINEXPO is one of the leading international wine and spirits exhibitions for professionals where over 48,000 visitors, 2,400 producers and 1,254 journalists and wine writers ^.from 148 countries from all over the world are expected to gather. Held on alternate years in Bordeaux and Hong Kong the 2013 VINEXPO will be the 17^th to date and is at the Bordeaux ‘Parc des Expositions’ Exhibition Centre.

Cheers!

Paul Smith, our Financial Director, has been on a mission in Bordeaux to discover new wines, chateaux and wine makers. This is the first in a series of blogs about his trip and his discoveries.

Bordeaux, for me, holds many an untapped gem and when I was given the opportunity to join a trade delegation heading out ‘into the field’ under the auspices of the CIVB (Bordeaux Wine Bureau) I leapt at the chance. My role normally keeps me at my desk dealing with – amongst other things – buying, selling and shipping Grand Cru Classé, so the CIVB’s kind offer enabled me to touch base with the bedrock of Bordeaux: small producers making fantastic wines that give good value for money.

Our group was made up of hoteliers and restauranteurs as well as independent wine merchants and their customers. Listening to the conversations within the group the prevailing message that I came away with was something that was music to my ears. Given the fact that most of the Grand Cru Classé have moved well beyond most Bordeaux wine enthusiasts reach, attention is shifting to discovering quality wines from lesser known wine makers and over looked appellations. This is exactly what our company Bordeaux-Undiscovered is all about.

Chateau Lauduc

The talk centred on tracking down small chateau that lie in the shadow of their ‘great’ neighbours; whose terroir is just as good, whose wine makers are talented individuals and whose owners have invested in modern wine making technology to up their game.

You’ll often find that these wine makers work in the more famous chateaux; or that their grapes – and even wines – once upon a time went into those of the more prestigious chateaux. Occasionally the wine maker turns out to be a distant relative of a great wine making dynasty with all the benefit of their experience but their chateau is located in an ‘unfashionable’ area. Or that the wine maker owns a once famous but now run down estate with stacks of potential that they are working hard on to unleash.

Vines at Chateau Lauduc

And sometimes you’ll find a wine made by a complete unknown who has an incredible gift and no means of publicising their chateau as no one has ever heard of it. In short, there are some wonderful wines just waiting to be found and you have to get out there, do the leg work, and bring them back home.

The CIVB arranges tours and tastings to promote all levels of Bordeaux wines and our Guide was none other than Alexander Hall who runs Vineyard Intelligence – which advises on the acquisition of vineyards in France. His knowledge is formidable and he is full of invaluable insights into the Bordelaise wine industry. Several chateaux had expressed an interest in meeting with us once they had been told a trade delegation was coming to their area and the first day revolved around White Wine.

White Wine – Chateau Lauduc

The one chateau that I must tell you about is Chateau Lauduc.

This is a small property that is one of the nearest producers to Bordeaux city centre, being only 6 miles distant in the village of Tresses. Tresses has nothing to do with flowing locks of hair – it takes its name from the old French “Tres Leu Cas”, meaning ‘3 Leagues From Bordeaux.’ It’s owned by the Grandeau family and I tasted their white wine with Helene from the chateau.

Range of wines produced at Ch Lauduc

Lauduc was founded in 1930 and the family built up their modest vineyard during the sixties to the 128 acres it is today. The vines are planted on limestone, clay and gravel south facing slopes. They make several award winning wines in white, red (including a Bordeaux Superieur), clairet and rosé. The wine maker is Francois Le Tonturier and the consulting oenologist is Emmanuel Villega (who also oversees wine making at Chateau Cheval Blanc).

Horses in the vines at Lauduc

The property is run by Hervé Grandeau and his brother Regis, 3rd generation wine makers. Hervé and Régis share the workload; Régis manages the vineyard and wine making, while Hervé puts the finishing touches to the blending and markets the wines.

They have a small negotiant business selling Bordeaux wines and Hervé is working hard to promote them – he became president of Quali-Bordeaux in 2008 (the independent organisation for quality control) and joined the CIVB in 2010 to work on the Bordeaux Tomorrow Plan that helps producers. The brothers also breed cattle and Breton cart horses on the estate, and Régis trains the horses to work in the vineyard.

Ch Lauduc’s Breton cart horse

Chateau Lauduc has undoubtedly benefitted from Hervé’s dynamic involvement in quality control, attention to wine making practices and activism, not to mention Régis’ care of the environment and ecology in the vineyard. Needless to say, I enjoyed their white wine and highly recommend it. It’s a brilliant example of a good quality wine hidden by the shadow of the big Bordeaux brands and it deserves it’s time in the spotlight.

La Depeche

The wines are “The City on the Edge of Forever,” “Mirror Mirror,” and “The Trouble with Tribbles.” The labels were designed by artist Juan Ortiz, who was commissioned by CBS to create a collection of original prints for each episode of the original “Star Trek” series.

Bordeaux can go one step further. It is home to Chateau Picard. The real one. There are two . . . for those of you who are not Trekkies let me explain that in Star Trek: The Next Generation Chateau Picard was the fictional 24th Century red wine estate in La Barre, owned and operated by Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s brother.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard (played by Patrick Stewart) of the Star Ship Enterprise obviously had a penchant for claret (he had good taste!) and the wine was featured in several episodes and movies. Two bottles were sold at auction by Christies, New York in 2007 for $6600.00. These two bottles featured in the 2002 film Star Trek: Nemesis and were the fictional vintage 2267.

The real Chateau Picard lies in Saint Estephe and was classified a Cru Bourgeois in 1932. It was purchased by the negotiants Mahler Besse (part owners of Chateau Palmer) in 1997 and has benefited from investment, renovation and new wine making technology. The chateau has long been considered one of the better wines of the appellation and the vineyards are planted with 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot, spanning 8 hectares. The soil is clayey but also contains fossilised cockleshells and sea urchins.

Sadly Captain James T Kirk, despite his love of alcoholic beverages, does not have a viticultural heritage and no wine from a ‘Chateau Kirk’ exists.

However over the years the crew of the Enterprise have enjoyed Saurian Brandy, Aldeberan Whiskey, Finagle’s Folly (McCoy’s cocktail mix), Cardassian Kanar, Mot’loch (Klingon), Romulan Ale, Warnog (Klingon Ale), Vulcan Ale, Synthehol and Klingon Blood Wine.

In real life the ‘original’ Captain Kirk, William Shatner, is married to Elizabeth Shatner who partnered with Elk Creek Vineyards in 2010 to bottle her own custom wine blend Faire Game and furnished the artwork for the label herself. The ‘young’ Captain Kirk, Chris Pine, has no wine making aspirations (yet) but he did star as ‘Bo’ in the film Bottle Juice (oops, I mean Bottle Shock) based on the story of the wine competition ‘The Judgement of Paris’.

Beam me up Scotty!

A spokesperson for Clarence Dillon confirmed the sale to Decanter, and said no decisions on the running of the property would be taken until September. This is third purchase for Haut Brion in recent times as as they purchased Domaine Allary Haut Brion last Winter. Unlike their two Saint Emilion estates Domaine Allary lies practically on Haut Brion’s doorstep. (You can read the story here).

L’Arrosée’s vineyards cover 9.5 hectares (23 acres) and unusually for Saint Emilion a large percentage of the grapes grown are Cabernet Sauvignon (20% Cabernet Franc, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 60% Merlot). The estate takes its name from small underground springs which flow 10 metres below ground in the vineyards (arrosée means ‘watered’). It was sold by the Caille family who had owned the estate since 2002. The chateau is renowned for producing elegant wines which some have described as having an almost Burgundian quality. The Caille family invested in a brand new high tech winery, revitalising the chateau – which has since gained an excellent reputation.

L’Arrosée was first mentioned on the map in 1783 (lieu dit Larrosee) and by 1868 it was listed in Le Féret among the Saint Emilion Premiers Crus having won a gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in 1867. It was purchased in 1868 by Pierre Magne, Finance Minister to Napoleon III who also owned a number of properties including Chateau de Montaigne and Chateau Franc Mayne. On his death L’Arrosée was inherited by his daughter Mary who was married to the French Ambassador in Austria (and later in Bulgaria, Egypt and Spain). In her absence the estate was managed by the Dupuch family (owners of Domaine Bigaroux) who later purchased L’Arrosée in 1911.

In 1931 Georges Dupuch was involved in the creation of the Cooperative of Saint Emilion, to which he donated part of L’Arrosée’s vineyard located on sandy soils at the foot of the hill. After his death in 1938 his son in law, Pierre Rodhain, inherited the estate and in 1955 L’Arrosée was ranked as Grand Cru Classé – a position it has held ever since.

L’Arrosée was bought in 2002 by Roger Caille and is son Jean Philippe and that same year a few plots were detached and used to create Chateau L’Armont – I am not sure whether Haut Brion have purchased L’Armont as well or whether it remains in the hands of the Caille family. I suspect the latter.

Gilles Pauquet is currently consultant oenologist at L’Arrosée. To date, the Clarence Dillon estates use their own oenologists, director Jean-Philippe Delmas and technical director Jean-Philippe Masclef.

Last week 45 chateaux attended the

The chateaux that travelled to the Great Wines of Bordeaux included a range of Grand Cru Classé and rising stars. A full list can be viewed here. My good friends Jean Francois and Veronique Julien of Chateau La Fleur Morange attended the event and here are a selection of their photos. La Fleur Morange was promoted to Grand Cru Classé in the 2012 Saint Emilion Classification so we should hopefully be seeing a lot more of this dynamic wine.

The Juliens with James Suckling

The IFC Tower in Hong Kong

Presenting Chateau La Fleur Morange

Veronique by the pool

The world’s largest rubber duck in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour

Jean Francois relaxing after 2 solid days on his feet pouring his wines!

Jean Francois talking about La Fleur Morange

The Waterfront

At the Four Seasons Hotel

]]> http://bordeaux-undiscovered.co.uk/blog/2013/06/chateau-la-fleur-morange-in-hong-kong-with-great-wines-of-bordeaux-and-james-suckling/feed/ 0 http://bordeaux-undiscovered.co.uk/blog/2013/06/three-rolland-chateaux-purchased-by-chinese-goldin-financial-holdings/ http://bordeaux-undiscovered.co.uk/blog/2013/06/three-rolland-chateaux-purchased-by-chinese-goldin-financial-holdings/#comments Mon, 03 Jun 2013 15:07:43 +0000 Nick http://bordeaux-undiscovered.co.uk/blog/?p=5543 Continue reading →]]> The wine press are reporting that Chateau Le Bon Pasteur in Pomerol, Chateau Rolland Maillet in Saint Emilion and Chateau Bertineau St Vincent in Lalande de Pomerol have been sold to the CEO, Sutong Pan, of the Chinese Goldin Financial Holdings. According to Jeff Leve at the Wine Cellar Insider Sutong Pan also owns the cult winery Sloan in Napa which he purchased for $40 million.

The three chateaux were sold by Michel Rolland – probably the most influential wine consultant in the world. Known as the “Flying Wine Maker” Rolland has some 150 clients spanning 13 countries, including Bulgaria, Greece, India, Brazil, California, Italy, Spain, South Africa and Argentina. He has apparently also explored Chinese efforts to make wine, and is working with The Great Wall Group.

Chateau Le Bon Pasteur is Rolland’s family estate and he has been at the helm since 1979. It sits at the border between Pomerol and Saint Emilion and the chateau’s name translates as ‘The Good Shepherd’ – a biblical reference. The chateau was founded by Joseph and Hermine Dupuy and has been in the Rolland family’s hands since 1920.

The Le Bon Pasteur vineyards were made up of small plots from the 3 communes of Pomerol, St Emilion and Lalande de Pomerol and in 1978 the Rolland family started to produce wines from these plots under Chateau Bertineau St Vincent and Rolland Maillet.

The Rollands also own Chateau Fontenil in Fronsac, and La Grande Clotte in Lussac Saint Emilion. Michel also has joint venture partnerships with Bonne Nouvelle and Remhoogte in South Africa, Val de Flores, Yacochuya and Clos de los Siete in Argentina and Campo Eliseo in Spain.

Most of Rolland’s clients are in his native Bordeaux and chateaux such as Angélus, Ausone and Pape Clément are under his wing. His signature style are fruit-heavy and oak-influenced wines, a preference shared by critic Robert Parker. Born into a wine making family, Rolland studied at Tour Blanche Viticultural and Oenology school in Bordeaux and the Bordeaux Oenology Institute. At the Institute, Michel Rolland learnt from renowned oenologists Pierre Sudraud, Pascal Ribéreau-Gayon, Jean Ribéreau-Gayon, and Émile Peynaud – the “Fathers of Modern Oenology.”

It is expected that the Rolland team (Michel and Dany Rolland) will continue to manage the properties purchased by Goldin Financial Holdings.

Saint Emilion and Champagne have more in common than you might think. The Tourist Office of Chateau Thierry and Festival Committee of Mont Saint Père (in the Champagne department of Aisne) recently met officials of Saint Emilion in the town to revive ties between the two regions. A partnership was signed to promote both wine producing areas and a delegation from Saint Emilion will travel to Mont Saint Père to complete the process.

The Aisne enjoys a long tradition of wine making and has around 2,600 hectares of vineyards that produce 10% of the entire Champagne wine area, hence 10% of world production of Champagne. Most of the vineyards are centred around the Marne Valley and Chateau Thierry. The Aisne ‘terroir’ is divided into many small plots and has no ‘grand’ Champagne Houses as the 800 champagne producers tend to be small family vineyards. In this sense its topography is similar to the patchwork of little vineyards of Saint Emilion. However the ties between the two regions run deeper than that.

Chateau Thierry is a small town in the area built around the ruined 9th century chateau that owes its name to Thierry V, the penultimate Merovingian King. It has long been battled over down the centuries but one of the more important battles was the Battle of Chateau Thierry in 1918 during the First World War between US troops and Germany. President Theodore Roosevelt’s son Quentin was shot down there in July 1918 while flying a French SPAD plane during WWI.

Mont Saint Père is the birthplace of Lèon Augustin L’hermitte (1844 – 1925) a famous French painter whose paintings of peasant and rural scenes were much admired by Van Gogh. Mont Saint Père was also severely damaged by the fighting and in the aftermath Saint Emilion financed its reconstruction.  Beginning in 1921 Saint Emilion gave aid to Mont Saint Père, helping to rebuild homes destroyed by bombing and the church for the next 20 years.

There are other ties too – over the years Champagne Houses have owned Saint Emilion Chateaux. Currently Chateaux Cheval Blanc and Quinault l’Enclos spring to mind, both are owned by Bernard Arnault and LVMH whose Champagne brands encompass Moet et Chandon, Dom Perignon, Krug, Veuve Cliquot and Mercier. Chateau Sansonnet was once owned by the d’Aulan family of Piper Heidsieck Champagne but has since been sold on (in 2009) and the owners of Chateau Gessan also own Champagne Philippe de Langoz. If you know of any others please get in touch!

Chateau Troplong Mondot

Christine’s great grandfather, Alexandre, already owned Chateau La France in Fronsac (sold in 1988 and later purchased by Bruno Mottet in 2010) and went on to buy Chateau Pavie and La Clusière in 1943. On his death in 1957 the properties were divided amongst his heirs. Christine’s father, Claude, inherited Troplong Mondot, whilst Jean-Paul inherited Chateau Pavie and La Clusière (his son, Patrick, later sold them both in 1998 to Gerard Perse and La Clusière was absorbed into Pavie in 2002). Incidentally another of Alexandre’s grandsons, Thierry Valette, went on to purchase Clos Puy Arnaud in the Côtes de Castillon in 2000.

Troplong Mondot was rightly promoted to First Growth (Premier Grand Cru Classé B) in the 2006 Saint Emilion Classification and has retained this rank in the 2012 Classification. It’s regularly appeared in my ‘Top Twenty Wines’ duing my En Primeur tastings and at the 2012 tastings of Saint Emilion wines at Chateau Soutard, Troplong Mondot was my favourite wine from the group on offer.

“A good rich dense dark red colour. Lots of fruit on the nose with notes of red berries, blackberries and violets. Very fresh in the mouth. Very well balanced acidity with lots of elegance. When this wine is mature enough to drink I am sure it will be lovely.”

I also thought the 2010 was particularly good:

“Once I saw the alcohol level was 15.5% I thought that the wine would be hot and would not suit my palate. I could not have been more wrong. Troplong Mondot have got it absolutely right this year. Fantastic colour, opulent fruits on the nose, great depth with complex aromas. It just wanted me to taste it. In the mouth flavours of blueberries and blackberries – a lovely, lovely wine. This is a great example of an estate whose previous vintages have been somewhat overlooked. This year I hope people will take note of it because they work very hard to produce some great wines. Bravo to Troplong Mondot for the 2010!”

The chateau sits on the 100 metre high hill named ‘Mondot’ which is the escarpment to the east of Saint Emilion, giving magnificent views of the medieval town below. In the 17^th century the vineyard belonged to the Abbéde Sèze, who built the chateau in 1745. The de Sèze were a powerful family and Raymond de Sèze was one of the lawyers who defended King Louis XVI at his trial during the French Revolution. De Sèze survived, the King however did not.

In 1850 Troplong Mondot was purchased by another peer of the realm, Raymond Troplong, who was also a famous jurist. He became President of the Senate in 1852 and Troplong Mondot flourished under his management. He increased the vineyards to 33 hectares and in 1868 Troplong Mondot’s wines were ranked Saint Emilions second finest. At the end of the 19th century, Troplong Mondot was on a par with Chateau Figeac, being one of the largest producers of Premier Cru Saint. Emilion wines.

Today Christine runs Troplong Mondot with her husband Xavier Pariente and their daughter Margaux who is Head of Communications and Marketing. The vineyards have remained much the same in size since 1850 – although wine making techniques and vineyard management have not! The soils are limestone and clay with patches of flint and some of the vines are over 90 years old. The grapes grown are 80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cabernet Franc. Troplong Mondot’s wines are full bodied, fruit driven and a bluish purple colour. They have notes of blackcurrant, coffee, earth, truffle, vanilla, pepper and plum. They are rich, dense, well structured and classic wines which age gracefully and should be cellared. If you are interested in buying Troplong Mondot’s wines you can find them at www.interestinwine.com

Chateau Beausejour Duffau Lagarrosse

sits high on a hill overlooking the isthmus of the River Dordogne and the surrounding patchwork of vineyards. The view is breathtaking and at night you can even see the lights of the city of Bordeaux from the terrace. In the Middle Ages this domaine was known as ‘the peak where the cuckoo sings’ (Peycoucou) and was owned by the monastic order of Cordeliers. These were Franciscan monks who followed the teachings of St. Francis of Assisi (1181/2 – 1226). Being renowned for his love of all God’s creatures, St Francis even preached to the birds, so its rather fitting the Cordeliers made their home on the hill where the cuckoo sang.

The Cordeliers gained their name on account of their traditional dress of a large brown or grey coarse cloak fastened with a knotted cord belt. They built the small church of Saint Martin that now leans against the present chateau’s stone walls and they grew vines here in the Middle Ages. In 1338 they expanded into the town of Saint Emilion itself, establishing a monastery within the city walls. The remains still stand as the Cordeliers Cloister and sparkling wine, Cremant de Bordeaux, is made there nowadays.

In the 17^th Century the Gères family took over the vineyards on the cuckoo’s hill from the Cordeliers and in 1722 Jeanne de Gères married into the de Carles family, owners of Chateau Figeac, Haut Sarpe and Tauzinat l’Hermitage. It was Count Jacques de Carles (1724-1803), Lieutenant General of the Armies of King Louis XVI and also a General under Napoleon, who named the vineyards Chateau Beausejour in 1787. ‘Beausejour’ translates to ‘Beautiful Days’ and its thought the General named it for the happy memories he had of the estate.

In 1847 Beausejour was sold to Pierre Ducarpe and in 1869 he divided it between his two heirs (a brother and sister) and split into two properties: Chateau Beausejour Duffau Lagarrosse and what is now Chateau Beausejour Becot. Today Beausejour Duffau Lagarrosse is still owned by the same family, now in their 9^th generation at the chateau.

The 17 acres of vineyards neighbour those of Chateau Angelus and Chateau Canon and wines are aged in the limestone quarries beneath the chateau. Classified as a First Growth (Premier Grand Cru Classé B) since 1955, the chateau was given a further boost in 2009 when the family entrusted wine making to some of Bordeaux’s top consultants: Nicolas Thienpont (who manages several estates including Chateau Pavie Macquin), Michel Rolland and Stéphane Derenoncourt.

Their input and expertise have had a dramatic effect and the wines are now at the top of their game – both the 2009 and 2010 received a 100 point score from Parker and the 2011 a 92 – 94+. The 2012 vintage tasted in barrel received a 93 – 95+ and having tasted the wine it is well worth looking out for. If you are interested in acquiring some of the wines from the ‘the peak where the cuckoo sings’ you will find these vintages available at Interest In Wine.