Bordeaux tasting: what to expect after 5 years ? Part 1

Bordeaux wines are meant to age.
One could even say that great Bordeaux wines should only be opened after 20 years.
They can sometimes last for a century without losing their texture and aromas.

But people are like children. 
We can't wait. Having a magnificent bottle of Leoville Poyferré in your cellar is like waiting until the morning for Santa to give you your new Nintendo game : it is distressing.
And most of the time, you end up sneaking up in the living room to get of peak of what your presents will be before dawn.
Well it's the same for wine. Most of the time, you want just a little taste. Just that one time.
The problem is: there is no putting the wrapping paper back on. When you're bottle is open: you just have to finish it up.

So that is why people hardly get to try out really old Bordeaux wines.
In restaurants they are unaffordable, and in your cellar, well, in your cellar they just don't make it to that point in time.
Shame.

The trouble is that when they are young, Bordeaux wines can seem a tat too tannic, even austere from time to time. And it is not always easy to make out what their aromas deliver...which is a pity when you paid 50 euros for your bottle.

So here is an introduction to what you can find in a 5 year old Bordeaux wine. You know the one you should keep for 20 more years. 


I will start my tasting with a Saint Julien (Part 1 of this series) and we will go on through the whole Medoc region with tastings of the 6 appellations  (Saint Estephe, Pauillac, Margaux, Moulis, Listrac and Saint Julien).

Château Léoville Poyferré, 2004

Eye: Deep red, with hues of brown and orange. Very bright. 

Nose: Prune, black current (typical of Cabernet Sauvignon) and cherry (Merlot). The secondary aromas revolve around spices (hard to tell which at this point, but I think I can tell their is cinnamon). Then subtle notes of cedar and unsweetened chocolate make their way, translating the aging in oak barrels. 

Mouth: the mouth is fine and subtle. The tannins are soft, round, pleasantly balanced.This is typical of Saint Julien where soft tannins are a signature. 

How to recognize Saint Julien ? 


Go ahead and read my post on how to recognize aromas if you are a beginner at wine tasting: http://alamodeaujus.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-to-drink-wine-recognize-aromas-and.html

1. First try to know what variety you are drinking.
If you taste black current, cherry or prune their is a big chance that their is some Cabernet Sauvignon is your wine.

2. If this is the case and you know you are drinking a French wine, it is very likely that you are drinking Bordeaux. A Californian Cabernet Sauvignon would be very ripe and fruity.

3.  Now you know you are in Bordeaux. But from which appellation comes your wine? Try to focus on the mouth. As is described in my tasting notes, Saint Julien has signature soft tannins yet intense structure. You may also find mineral aromas (because of the gravelly soil). Saint Julien is an area of Medoc on the left bank of river and is formed of gravelly soil. Wines from Saint Julien can be recognized because of their smooth and harmonious nose. They combine a rich and solid mouth yet display subtle aromas.

If this is all in your glass of wine, then you can bet it will be a Saint Julien.
I know, it's easier to say it than to actually get it right during a blind tasting.

2 steps to getting invited for dinner

Do you know if you are a good guest ?

I'm not talking about whether you're fun and entertaining or whether you can handle yourself at a dinner table.

I'm not speaking about the fact that you bring a little present for your host to show your appreciation.

I'm not even talking about your ecstatic praise of the cooks' home-made bolognaise even tough you don't eat meat.
All this is very good, and ensures that your friends will continue inviting you over.
But to be a REALLY good guest revolves around something else.

A good guest helps to magnify his hosts food. He participates to the overall success of the dinner, but without showing it.

The key to achieving this is to do more without the other guests noticing. Don't worry though, your host most certainly will.

And he will do the exact same thing when you're the one inviting him.

So here is my secret recipe to being a perfect guest:

One of the most accessible things that will make it easy for you to score big time with your host is to bring some wine. I know it doesn't really come as a surprise. All the more so as this is a blog on wine. Yet beware, it's not that simple. For my secret knack is not to bring any wine : it is to bring a special one.

1. First, try and bring something that actually matches the food you are going to have.

In order to do this, yes, you will have to harass your friend until he accepts to tell you what he is going to cook for you. Or you could just go to a mind-reader. Your choice. I'd I go for the first one though. I don't like to live dangerously.

If you manage to find a good pairing your friend's food will be embellished by the aromas of your wine. And he'll get more credit for what he cooked.

2. Second, if you can, you may want to surprise your friend, with a wine he does not know.

Try experimenting, finding something that matches the food yet cannot be found on the middle shelf of your local supermarket. It will give your party a theme to talk about and leave time to your friend to prepare the rest of his dishes if he needs to.

With these 2 simple steps you'll be sure to boost your host's party. It is not very difficult and nobody will even notice you helped. Your friend will be grateful for your modesty and he'll invite you to most of his dinner parties.

Free food for the rest of your life, that's what I'm talking about!

Here is an example of the wine I brought to my last dinner party. My little technique worked out beautifully.

Take a look at my tasting notes:

Menetou-Salon, 2008, La tour Saint Martin

Albane et Bertrand Minchin

100% Sauvignon blanc

Nose: Fresh exotic fruits, honey, raisins but also some herbal aromas and white flowers like honeysuckle.

Mouth: A rich and full mouth, with a little woodiness and acidity.

Pairing: Cold chicken salad and asparagus, Balsamic vinegar.

Here is a bit of honeysuckle so you know what it looks like

How to drink wine, recognize aromas ... and impress your friends !

It was a few years ago, in a fancy restaurant in Paris. The sommelier delicately poured a crimson colored wine in my glass. The moment was tantalizing. The beauty of terroir. I leaned forward to taste the wine and tell him it was great. Everyone was looking. Waiting. Expecting me to sigh with ecstasy. So I did, of course.


But it was corked.
And I thought it was just a very heavy smell of mushroom. Or someone's bad cologne. Or my nose. Hell, I didn't have a clue.

Now I'm pretty sure this could happen to anyone who doesn't have any experience in wine tasting. And it's ok. It happens. It would just be a shame for you to spend 200$ on cork juice for your wedding day.
That's why I decided to deliver my experience of and show you with a little "how to" post, precisely HOW TO drink wine, recognize aromas... and impress your friends !

1. The first and most important thing you need to do is train your nostrils.
Nowadays our noses have just about all their core functions. They are meant to smell, whiff, sniff, snivel, inhale, and mostly identify. But that last action takes practice. You need to learn what a food or flower smells like and memorize this scent. It should be a game really. Each time you go out in a garden or stand in your kitchen (or someone elses !) just try to deeply inhale and sniff everything you can get your hands on.
Ok so you may look a little dumb if your friend stumbles upon you with your nose stuck in a jar of mushroom.
But remember one thing, it is for the greater good: you may have lost your dignity, but next time you drink a 10 year-old Burgundy, you'll know there's truffle in there.


2. The second thing you should consider is, well, cheating.
Fumbling around your friends kitchen may be fun once or twice, but what will happen if people start thinking your a kleptomaniac, or a utensil fetishist? There must be another solution.
Well, there is my friends, and I, in my immense generosity, will promptly deliver it to you. It is a well kept secret. The secret to learning quickly how to recognize different scents without loosing all your friends.
Here is my secret weapon to shine in society and impress my friends with my super smelling skills (I know it sounds very sexy):
Le Nez du Vin, by Jean Lenoir.
A kit of 54 aromas captured in little flasks (the basic fragrances you can find in wine)so that you can train your nostrils until they die. I do not work for Mr Lenoir, nor do I have shares in his business, but I still really recommend anyone who wants to learn how to taste wine to buy it.






3. Drink and taste as much as you can.
But mostly don't just drink, take the time to reflect and think about what you are drinking. Why do you like it ? or not ? What aromas are predominant. Do you smell fruits, flowers ?



So next time you sit in a fancy restaurant, and the sommelier comes up to you and asks you to taste, don't be scared, if the wine is corked, you're allowed to say so. Just think about your little flask and try hard to remember if it corresponds to the same smell. Before you know it, it'll come naturally and you won't even have to think about your magic kit !

Independent Wine Makers Fair

Twice a year the Independent Wine Makers Fair (Salon des Vignerons Indépendants) takes place in Paris.

It's quite an event, and the occasion for amateur wine connoisseurs like me to discover small estates that are hardly sold on the mainstream wine market.

I went there with a couple of friends to experience the frenzy of tasting wines from 9am to 5 pm in a gigantic garage-like hall that held approximately 1000 wine makers.

We started out spitting our wine, but by 2pm we had completely forgotten all about our spitting cups. So I'm not sure my judgment on the last wines we tasted is totally accurate...

In fact, I realized the following morning that I had bought 3 times as much wine past that time.

Unfortunately, I don't think this is because we got lucky and found the best estates towards the end.

26 years old, not a wrinkle.

Of course it's not me I am talking about.

I'm talking about someone special. Someone I met quite a while ago, during a dinner party at my parents' house in the Alps.

I'm talking about one of my first experiences as a wine lover.

I'm talking about Château La Lagune, 1983.

Wine tasting in Boston - Chile & Argentina

The weather gets pretty cold in Boston.

So a bunch of HBS guys decided it would be a good idea to get warmer buy trying out a few wines from South America during a small wine tasting session.

Now to tell you the truth, I'm not a big drinker of South American wines.

Not that I don't enjoy them - usually their powerful berry flavors are rather ravishing - but it's just not easy to find good quality yet affordable prices for these wines in France.

I don't know if this is French wine retailers' sly way to promote French wines by only offering the worst new world wines they can get their hands on. I know for a fact that there are great South American wines. Some are probably among the best wines on earth (like the beautiful Bodega Noemia de Patagonia) but a fact remains that cannot be ignored : each time I've tried a South American wine in France, it's been

- Either completely bland

- Or a woody vanilla syrup