{"id":16020,"date":"2016-10-21T07:40:21","date_gmt":"2016-10-21T07:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/?p=16020"},"modified":"2016-10-21T21:25:49","modified_gmt":"2016-10-21T21:25:49","slug":"four-days-in-bordeaux-some-highlights-and-the-2016-vintage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/bordeaux\/four-days-in-bordeaux-some-highlights-and-the-2016-vintage","title":{"rendered":"Four days in Bordeaux – some highlights and the 2016 vintage"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Limestone
Limestone at Ch\u00e2teau Falfas, C\u00f4tes de Bourg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just in the airport after four days in Bordeaux. The goal of this trip was to look beyond the established image of the region, to the more hidden side of Bordeaux. \u00a0We looked at producers using organics\/biodynamics, we looked at the younger generation of winemakers, and we looked for good terroirs in less-known regions. There were lots of surprises.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Maxime Juillot of Ch\u00e2teau S\u00e9millan Mazeau, AOC Listeras. His superbly elegant 2014, from organically grown grapes, was a real highlight.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Cabernet Sauvignon at Ch\u00e2teau Lafon Rochet in St Estephe. Basile Testeront (nephew of Pontet Canet’s Alfred) farms organically, and he’s very happy with 2016 so far – harvest here was just finishing.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

This is a 2016 Merlot from Lafon Rochet that’s fermented to dryness. It was looking pretty smart, although this is a baby wine. Pretty much everyone we visited was very happy with 2016, which looks like being a consistently good vintage. The only problem for a few is reduced yields, caused by horribly wet weather in late spring\/early summer. Where will it rank? Too soon to say, but while there may not be some of the peaks of 2015, there will probably be more consistency. It has turned out much better than most winegrowers had expected or hoped for, which is good news.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Perfect-looking Cabernet Sauvignon at Lafon Rochet.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Basile Tesseron, Ch Lafon Rochet<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Palmer. It was great to visit with Thomas Duroux to hear about how Palmer is now 100% biodynamic.
\n\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Harvest was underway, and here are some Petit Verdot grapes on the sorting table.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Thomas Duroux in the cellar at Ch\u00e2teau Palmer. The 2015 we tried from barrel were sensational. He’s pleased with 2016 but lost half his crop to mildew in June.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Ch\u00e2teau Falfas, C\u00f4tes de Bourg, has some lovely soils. It has been farmed biodynamically since 1988.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

V\u00e9ronique Cochran is an inspiring, charming winegrower, and the inspiration for farming Falfas biodynamically came from her father, Francois Bouchet, who was the pioneer of biodynamic wine growing back in the 1960s.<\/p>\n

\"chateau<\/p>\n

Falfas dates back to the 17th century. The Ch\u00e2teau is from 1612 (pictured), and the winery dates from later in the same century.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

We had a lovely visit at Ch\u00e2teau Peybonhomme Les Tours in Blaye, which has been biodynamic since 2000. They are now working with a range of different amphora\/terracotta vessels.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

The family behind Peybonhomme: Guillaume and Rachel Hubert with their father Jean-Luc.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

We also visited the hugely impressive Cite du Vin in Bordeaux.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

A nice surprise was Ch\u00e2teau de C\u00e9rons, in the Graves appellation. They have lovely limestone terroirs, and their red and white are both superb, as is the stunning sweet wine from the tiny C\u00e9rons appellation. Pictured are owners Catherine and Xavier Perromat.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

The limestone of C\u00e9rons, with its fossils.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

It was great to visit Sauternes\/Barsac. This will be a great year for Sauternes. Here are some Semillon grapes nobly rotting at Chateau de Myrat in Barsac.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

The press being loaded at Myrat with dust from the spores.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Harvest of the nobly-rotted grapes at Ch\u00e2teau Doisy Da\u00ebne, Barsac.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Limestone-rich soils at Doisy Da\u00ebne.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Bordeaux Oxyg\u00e8ne is a great organization of young winemakers looking to change the face of Bordeaux. We had dinner with a group of them at the fabulous Belle Compagne in the city.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Tasting the 2016s at Vignobles Ducourt. This is a bigger operation with 14 Chateaux.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Jonathan Ducourt explaining how they’ve been trialling new disease resistant varieties. The wines tasted good, and the grapes don’t need spraying. Will they be allowed in future AOC Bordeaux wines?<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

On the plateau of Saint-Emilion with Ch\u00e2teau Coutet. A lovely terroir. They’ve been organic forever, too.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Saint-Emilion. Too pretty for words.<\/p>\n

So, just a glimpse of what I’ve been up to. Bordeaux is more than just the famous Ch\u00e2teau of the M\u00e9doc. There are stories that need to be told.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just in the airport after four days in Bordeaux. The goal of this trip was to look beyond the established image of the region, to the more hidden side of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[359],"class_list":["post-16020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bordeaux","tag-bordeaux"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16020"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16059,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16020\/revisions\/16059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}