JDR

WINE OF THE WEEK #075

Hi everybody,

I am sort of in a Bordeaux vibe lately and I am starting to get familiar with the grapes, the differences in the soil, the vintages and even the different AOC’s.

The wine I am going to taste today holds the AOC “Médoc”. This is the AOC closest to the sea at the north-west top area of the left bank. What is particular for me is the classification “Cru Bourgeois” on the label. 

Château Poitevin - AOC Médoc 2008

As you know or may not know, the best Médoc wineries became classified in 1855 with the famous system of ‘growths’ or ‘crus’. You have the famous first growths like Chateau Margaux or Chateau Latour, and a lot of other wineries that are classified as a first, second, third, fourth or fifth growth. The classification was simply based on the QPR of the wines, and it still is a more or less honest representation of the situation today.
However, the list of growths is quite fixed, but 160 years along the road, other wineries were established and started to grow wine. Some of them deserve a special mention and that is why they invented a secondary or parallel system : the Cru Bourgeois. In 2003, the last list was published, and there are 3 categories from high to low : Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel, followed by Cru Bourgeois Supérieur and straight Cru Bourgeois.

So as a little recap, in 1855 they made a fixed list of big players. But next to it, there is a more active classification system called the “Cru Bourgeois” system. What I am going to taste thus is a normal Cru Bourgeois. So I guess it should be worth a taste :)

Be sure to check the comment of Nick below if you want to know why it is so difficult to understand french wine. :)

Some other wine facts before we start:

• 55% Merlot , 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot
• Aged 14 months in oak barrels (30% new oak)
• Soil : mainly gravel & clay

Let’s go!

Appearance
It’s always hard to tell something useful about the colour of a wine.
This one is just very dark ruby red. I notice nothing exceptional or wrong, and maybe that’s a good sign.

Nose
I am very happy again to have a merlot based wine in my glass that was not aged in new oak. This gives the fruit so much more expression in the nose, but it’s clear the oak adds complexity. Actually, the nose reminds me of an overtoasted piece of bread, some fresh butter on top of it, and a nice thick layer of a fresh fruit jam of blackberries and blueberries.
From time to time, I also got a little hint of clove, but it’s very subtle.

I really like the nose, and I guess the wine will be very drinkable.

Taste
My description of the nose is actually pretty spot on.
Imagine you had a bite of this toast with jam.
What happens:

• first of all you notice the dry bread that crumbles and dries out your mouth a bit
• before you can start complaining, the butter is there to smoothen things out again
• now you start chewing, and because you picked a nice jam from the shelves in the supermarket, you bite in small pieces of fruit and you get some nice fresh fruit juice flowing in your mouth.
• you bite again to start over.

This wine is in balance just because of this experience. The different components make the wine interesting, and they all work together very well.

Finish
And now, it even gets better.
On the finish I get the same fruits as in the mouth, but at the same time a lot of almonds, even going towards marzipan.

This is another wine that keeps me busy and makes me fill my glass over and over again. Now that I look at the bottle, I notice it’s almost empty. Woops.
What I like about this wine is that everyone will enjoy it, from the untrained wine lover to the wine professional. At every stage something interesting is happening and the wines does not become boring or heavy.
I like.