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The
wines of Bernard Magrez
Part 2: Château Pérenne
After lunch, we were back in the
helicopter to fly to another of Bernard Magrez' properties, Château Pérenne. This meant we
had to fly over the Gironde to the right bank, which is where the
famed appellations of St Emilion and Pomerol are located.
If
you look at a map of the Bordeaux region, you'll see that there's no
equivalent to the Medoc on the right bank of the Gironde: directly
opposite the left bank estates, the first appellation you come to is
the rather lowly Côtes de Blaye.
Pérenne
is located in the 1er Côtes de Blaye, and this is an example of an
ambitious estate in an undistinguished appellation. The Château
itself is fairly typical for Bordeaux, and was built as a rather
grand residence in the 1870s. Magrez purchased the estate in 1997,
and it is fairly sizeable, with 64 hectares of vines, mostly Merlot.
This
is also where Gerard Depardieu, a friend of Bernard Magrez, makes
his wine ‘Confiance’. His small vineyard is literally next door,
and he has a separate area in the cellar where Confiance is made.
When we visited they were draining the wine off its skins, preparing
to press (below).
The
wines
Château
Pérenne
Blanc 2008 (barrel sample)
This is 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Sauvignon Gris and 20%
Semillon. Very bright aromatic nose leads
to a grassy, tropical palate with a nice spicy edge to the bright
fruit. Deliciously broad and fresh. 87-90/100
Château
Saint-Genès 2006 1er Côtes
de Blaye
Bright, sweet
blackurrant nose with some green herbiness. The palate shows sweet,
forward fruit with a nice citrussy structure. Blackcurranty and
fresh – tastes a bit Chilean, even. 87/100
Château
Pérenne
2005 1er Côtes de Blaye
A bit closed on the nose. Nicely rich
and dense on the palate with lovely bright, pure fruit and some
grippy tannins. Lots happening here
but needs a year or two to open out. 89/100
Château
Pérenne 2004 1er
Côtes de Blaye
Green herby lift
to the blackcurranty fruit. Nicely aromatic. The palate is bright
with blackcurrant fruit and nice freshness. Delicious for current
drinking. 88100
Confiance
de Gerard Depardieu 2004 1er Côtes de Blaye
95% Merlot, 5% Malbec, from old vines.
Hand destemmed and aged for 20 months in predominantly new oak.
14.5% alcohol. Sweet, pure, aromatic nose with some chocolatey
notes. Quite lush with dark fruit character. The palate is sweet and
rich with new oak evident, as well as pure, dark fruit. Great
concentration to this really powerful, smooth wine which has a long
future ahead of it. 92/100
La
Croix de Pérenne
2005 1er Côtes de Blaye
100% Merlot, hand picked and hand destemmed, with 20 months in
new oak. Sweet, intense nose with vibrant, vivid black fruits, some
floral notes and some spicy oak. The palate is concentrated and lush
with sweet fruit, refined tannins and a spicy finish. Really superb,
but currently a bit oaky. 92/100
A
short film of the visit:
Also
in this series:
Wines
tasted 11/08
Find these wines with wine-searcher.com
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