2005 Chateau Rocher Calon

Country: France
Region: Montagne-Saint-Emilion
Alcohol: 14%
Price: €5,00
Closure: Cork

This wine was picked up for a bargain price of 5 euro in the bargain bin of one of my local wine stores. I love a bargain as much as anyone, especially when it comes to wine, and will often take a punt on a wine that I don't know. This one being a 2005 from St. Emilion I was more than willing to give it a go at that price. Rightly, or wrongly, 2005 is considered by many as one of the best vintages of the decade in Bordeaux.

Chateau Rocher-Calon is located in Montagne-Saint-Emilion, the largest satelite region surrounding Saint Emilion. The region characterized by it's production of exclusively red wines, produced from the grape varieties Merlot (75% of vines grown), Cabernet Franc (20% of vines grown) and Cabernet Sauvigon (10% of vines grown). Two other grape varieties allowed in the region, but very rarely used, are Malbec and Carménère.

Clay and limestone along with some sand over a calcious limestone base (also known as roche calcaire, or asteries) make up the ground in which the vines are grown. The summer drought is softened by the inflow of water that rises through the porous limestone allowing the growing of high quality grapes.

Chateau Rocher Calon is an estate 12 hectares in size from which 80,000 bottles are produced with traditional winemaking methods in stainless steel vats with a long maceration of 20 to 25 days and ageing over 18 months. Michel Rolland and his team are used as consultants during the winemaking process.

This wine is typically a Merlot based red (95%) along with a small percentage of Cabernet Franc (5%). Here's what I thought of it:

Dark, deep and purple/red in colour. Nose is very clean; dark plum and current. Some evidence of oak there too. The palate is very closed at time of opening and needed quite some time to even begin opening up. Still it reveals some punchy, juicy black berry fruit on the palate. Quite big and powerful. Quite a lot of acidity in there too. Tannins are evident but not overpowering for a wine this youthful. This one really needs a lot more time in the cellar. A good effort that is value for the normal €12 let alone €5.

1964 Chateau La Burelle

Country: France
Region: Saint Emilion
Alcohol: 11-13%
Price: Unknown
Closure: Cork

My father-in-law (to be) took this one out of the cellar - as far as I know it's been there for all of it's life bar the first 5-6 years or so. Of interest was the brown wine bottle - it was certainly the first time I have seen one of those from Bordeaux. Also of interest was the alcohol percentage being displayed as between 11 and 13 % .

Now I always like to know a little more about the wines I drink. In some cases, however, this is nigh impossible especially where the wine is old and the estate or chateau no longer exists. In this case I couldn't find anything about the chateau which is a bit of pity.

1964 was an interesting vintage. It followed the superb 1961, the variable, underrated 1962 and the rain-ruined 1963. While plenty of rain fell in 1964 it fell primarily during the harvest. In general the summer months were warm and dry which allowed the earlier ripening grapes such as Merlot to fully ripen. Merlot ripens a few weeks earlier than does Cabernet (left bank Bordeax) and many right bank properties harvested just before the rain came down to ruin whatever was left including the left bank harvest. While I have no idea as to the quality of this Chateau, the chances are the grapes for this wine were harvested before the rain came and that it is more than likely largely (if not soully) Merlot.

The words of one Ellen Eller sum up the right bank vintage: "It was such an exquisite 1964 Bordeaux that one sip was more like inhaling a soft fragrance than imbibing a liquid"

Here's what I though of it:

The Orange-red clearly indicates an older wine; the core is still has good depth of red with light orange at the edge of the glass. A little funky at first but then opened up to show plenty of red cherry fruit and some cigar box aromas. On the palate it still has quite a lot of red fruit backed by soft and well integrated tannins. Acidity added some freshness. Good length on the finish. This wine has aged beautifully over the years. It certainly tasted a lot younger than a 44 year old wine. Really enjoyed the experience.

2000 Chateau Capet Duverger

Country: France
Region: St. Emilion
Alcohol: 13%
Price: €11,50
Closure: Cork

I bought this wine on a whim - most probably because it was on sale in some random wine shop. This is a vineyard that I had never heard of, and certainly couldn't find all that much about it on the web either as I find it the way with many French wines.

What I do know is that this chateau has a rather small with a vineyard of around 7 hectares in size. As you would expect from a right-bank Bordeaux vineyard Merlot dominates the vine plantings with 64% followed by Cabernet Franc (28%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (8%). It's safe to say this red blend contains the same varieties in similar proportions. The average age of the vines is 29 years.

Here is my tasting note:

Nice deep purple, red in colour. Shows some age with the brick-red near the edge of the glass. Typical Merlot nose of plummy, black fruit. The wine took a while to open up and show it's true colours but when it did it showed the same plums and black fruit as on nose. Very much Merlot in it's softness and roundness with some firm tannins but not enough here for mine. Ends with slightly bitter red fruit on the finish. A nice red, though not quite what you would expect from a grand cru.

2005 Chateau Fourreau

I picked up a couple of bottles of Chateau Fourreau after reading a very positive Hubrecht Duijker review. The producer of this wine is a family-run winery located, south of St. Emilion, in Pujols. The wine is 100% merlot-based from the 2005 vintage which was very favourable in Bordeaux.

Here is my basic tasting note:

Colour: dense deep red/purple in colour.

Nose: black fruits: currents and black berries.

Palate: same black current. lovely and smooth. good mouth feel. tannins are well integrated, although slightly hard at this stage.

Finish: nice finish, albeit slightly short.

Conclusion: very good qpr. i also suspect that it has enough in it to last for a few years. a great daily drink.