Credit
Agricole Grand Crus
Tasting wines from CA's Bordeaux portfolio, including Meyney, Rayne
Vigneau and Grand-Puy Ducasse
Website: http://www.cagrandscrus.com
Credit Agricole is one of France's
leading banks, and is the number one bank supporting agriculture.
This has presented them with opportunities to acquire wine estates
at good prices, when former owners were in a position of being
forced to sell. So they've developed an attractive wine portfolio.
I met with CEO of their wine division,
Thierry Budin, to taste through the wines of some of their top
estates.
Thierry is originally from Champagne, and
worked for Seagrams for more than 20 years. At this time they owned
Champagne houses Mumm and Perrier Jouet. In a nice twist, his family
used to own Champagne Perrier Jouet, and through his position at
Seagrams he got to manage the old family property.
There are six Bordeaux properties in the
portfolio, of which the four best known are:
-
Château de Rayne Vigneau, 1er Grand Cru
Classé Sauternes – an 84 hectare Sauternes estate
-
Château Grand-Puy Ducasse, 5ème Grand
Cru Classé Pauillac – a 40 hectare classed growth Pauillac
property
-
Château Meyney Cru Bourgeois Supérieur
Saint-Estèphe – a 51 hectare estate with a good terroir, but
which missed out on the 1855 classification
-
Château Blaignan – a 97 hectare
property higher up in the Médoc
'Having a portfolio helps you gather
competencies,' says Budin. 'We have more people.' At the moment he
has 10 people working for him in Bordeaux, of who only one was in
2006 when Budin started. Budin's approach is to recruit young people
with new knowledge, and he's interested in implementing the latest
technologies.
As an example, he has purchased an
infrared grape sorter, which is used at the two top estates (Grand
Puy Ducasse and Meyney). This can sort ripe grapes from less ripe
ones, even though the two are visually indistinguishable. This tool
will be very useful in a vintage like 2013, where there is a high
degree of variation in ripeness.
CA own six chateaux in Bordeaux, some of
which are distributed through the Place, and others of which are
distributed directly, market by market. 'Distribution is very
important for developing the right image for the chateaux,' says
Budin.
THE
WINES
Château Clos St Vincent 2011 St
Emilion, Bordeaux, France
Fresh, bright and supple with cherry and spice notes. There's
some elegance here to this bright, ripe St Emilion. Lovely fruit.
90/100
Château La Tour de Mons 2011 Margaux,
Bordeaux, France
Fresh and grippy with nice supple cherry and berry fruit. Good
acidity and freshness. There's some sweetness to the fruit but it's
nicely poised and balanced. 90/100
Château La Tour de Mons 2005 Margaux,
Bordeaux, France
Beautifully fresh with sweet fruit and a grainy, chalky texture.
Smooth, pure and quite delicious. 93/100
Château Grand-Puy Ducasse 2011
Pauillac, Bordeaux, France
Supple, sweet and nicely structured, showing good density, some
mineral notes and a core of blackcurrant fruit. Lovely precision to
this wine: it's youthful and taut, but not unapproachable. Proper
wine. 93/100
Château Grand-Puy Ducasse 2005
Pauillac, Bordeaux, France
Ripe, sweet and bold with lovely textured blackcurrant fruit and
some spice. Lovely weight here: it’s supple and bright with good
concentration. Fine and expressive. 94/100
Château Meyney 2011 Saint-Estèphe,
Bordeaux, France
Supple and elegant with pure blackcurrant fruit. Very structured
yet fine with nice pure fruit and some grippy gravelly notes. A
stylish wine. 94/100
Château Meyney 2005 Saint-Estèphe,
Bordeaux, France
Fresh, pure and supple with nice blackberry and blackcurrant
fruit. Sweet but fresh with lovely structure and precision.
There’s a chalky, gravelly edge to the fruit which is supple and
elegant, and still youthful. 95/100
Château Blaignan Quintessence 2011
Bordeaux, France
This is a 100 hectare property in the north of the Medoc, and
this top wine is an attempt to show the potential of the terroir.
It's 90% Merlot with40% new oak. Lush, ripe and structured with
fresh blackcurrant fruit. Very pure, ripe and richwith some oak
influence. Hints of chocolate with some spice. Lush and sweet.
91/100
Château Rayne Vigneau Sec 2012
Bordeaux Blanc Sec, France
Aromatic and fine with lovely precise grapefruit and citrus
fruit. Pure, lively and delicious. 90/100
Château Rayne Vigneau 2011 Sauternes,
Bordeaux, France
Lovely pure melon and grape fruit with some honey. Rich textured
and very sweet, but pure and fresh in style. 92/100
Château Rayne Vigneau 2005 Sauternes,
Bordeaux, France
Sweet, peachy and spicy with some apricot notes. A stylish,
pure, textured wine. 92/100
See
also:
Haut
Bailly vertical tasting
2000
Bordeaux horizontal
Pontet
Canet vertical tasting
Wines
tasted 10/13
Find these wines with wine-searcher.com
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