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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 89.7 pts. and median of 89 pts. in 15 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by vinhonotte on 9/9/2020 & rated 89 points: Fine Wines SG - BYOB "The Best of Merlot" (The Communal Bistro Delicacy - CBD): Deep ruby, highly extracted. Aromas of underripe blackberry and cloves. Tannins tight, with underripe blackberry flavours, and somewhat leafy, and cloves spices. Moderate finish (1648 views) | | | Tasted by AGELVIS on 7/14/2018 & rated 93 points: 30 min decant. Deep dark ruby color. Boysenberry, ripe blueberry, sunflower seeds, pencil wood, radish and wildflowers on the deep and complex nose. Very smooth, tongue drying palate, with nice acidity and black tea notes. Firm, medium intensity tannins on the medium long finish. This wine is absolutely in its prime time. (2210 views) | | | Tasted by thunberg on 1/26/2016 & rated 88 points: @Grand Cercle des Vins de Bordeaux, Stockholm (2928 views) | | | Tasted by PanosKakaviatos on 9/6/2015 & rated 88 points: Blind tasting of Grand Cercle wines 2011 vintage: Part II (Château Bellefont-Belcier): Brambly red and blackberry fruit on the nose. The attack is brisk, mid palate has weight. The finish, though somewhat austere has lift as well. Bernard liked this very much, too. Consultant since 2014 is former Petrus director Jean Claude Berrouet, so expect greater freshness in coming years - good news! (3814 views) | | | Tasted by forceberry on 1/15/2015 & rated 89 points: Dark, intense and very slightly translucent cherry red color with a light purple hue. Fresh and savory nose with fragrant aromas of licorice, fresh blackcurrants, some perfumed floral character and a toasty hint of smoke. On the palate the wine feels medium-bodied and surprisingly fresh on the palate with quite complex, somewhat angular and very savory flavors of fresh blackcurrants, dark plums, somewhat pronounced herbal bitterness, a little bit of crunchy dark fruits, a little bit of smoky and earthy character and a hint of leather. Although not that tightly-knit, the wine still feels pretty structured with its moderately high acidity and firm medium tannins. The finish is quite bitter and savory with pronounced stony minerality, crunchy dark berries, somewhat sweeter plummy fruit and flavors of savory wood spice, pencil shavings, some earthy tones, a little bit of herbal bitterness and an astringent hint of wood.
This wine feels fairly classicist in style with more emphasis on savory and slightly bitter tones than on overtly ripe fruit character and sweet oak spice. Although quite balanced and somewhat muscular, the wine really doesn't feel like it is built for the really long haul. However, I can see it developing for good many years to come, feeling like it is a bit awkward and immature at this phase. A fairly good effort for a 2011, which has been a vintage producing very irregular and often underwhelming wines. I'd imagine this wine needs to be close to or over 10 years old before it starts to sing. (2261 views) | | | Tasted by Tao on 5/31/2014 & rated 89 points: Tasted at Vinexpo Asia 2014
Bright young ruby red, beautiful colour. Sweet candy nose, smooth and sweet red fruits palate, rather simple! (2335 views) | | | Tasted by Zweder on 1/19/2014 & rated 89 points: Not tasted blind and this 2011 doesn't disappoint. The wine is creamy and round, has cherries and red as well as dark forest fruits and also a touch of bell pepper. For the rest ok acidity, tannin and bitterness. Start drinking around 2016 or 2017. (2147 views) | | | Tasted by Jeff Leve on 4/21/2012 & rated 89 points: Earth, chocolate and dark cherry with supple textures and good concentration on ripe, sweet black plums in the finish. 89-90 Pts (3165 views) | | | Tasted by dcwino on 3/9/2012 & rated 92 points: Baronne Guichard wine dinner, Ruth's Chris DC (Ruth's Chris on Connecticut Ave, DC): It is interesting to compare this with Chateau le Prieure. This is more deeply toned and polished but perhaps not as bright and fruit driven. Black fruits, crèmes de cassis, truffle and bitter chocolate. The palate is lively and silky but also shows the structure with noticeable tannins. 91-93 pts. (3428 views) |
| Château Vray Croix de Gay Producer website
- Read about Chateau Vray Croix de GayRed Bordeaux BlendRed Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines. As of July 2019, Bordeaux wineries authorized the use of four new red grapes to combat temperature increases in Bordeaux. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.
Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.France Vins de France (Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins ) | Pages Vins, Directory of French Winegrowers | French Wine (Wikipedia)
Wine Scholar Guild vintage ratings
2018 vintage: "marked by a wet spring, a superb summer and a good harvest"
2019 vintage reports
2021: "From a general standpoint, whether for white, rosé or red wines, 2021 is a year marked by quality in the Rhône Valley Vineyards. Structured, elegant, fresh and fruity will be the main keywords for this new vintage."
2022 harvest: idealwine.info | wine-searcher.comBordeaux Bordeaux Wine Guide
Vins Bordeaux (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux)
History of Bordeaux
History of 1855 Bordeaux Classification
"2009 is all about ripeness, with wines impressively packed with ripe fruit and high alcohol levels. They are showy, in-your-face, and full of pleasure. The 2010s have the fruit and alcohol levels of the 2009s, but with a compelling freshness on the finish that balances the fruit and provides a perfect sense of structure." - Ben Nelson
"2016 is a landmark vintage in certain spots of Bordeaux and it should be remembered as one of the most inspired campaigns of the last 40-50+ years." -Jon Rimmerman
"The quality of red Bordeaux in 2016 was universally lauded – although the response to the en primeur campaign was muted. Quantity was high too, with the equivalent of 770 million bottles of wine produced. An exceptionally dry summer with cool nights eventually, thanks to mid September rain, resulted in small, thick-skinned, ripe grapes, and the wines are marked by high tannin and acidity, with superb aromatic fragrance." - Jancis Robinson
"2017 was complicated, but there are some excellent wines. Expect plenty of freshness and drinkability from wines that will offer excellent value, and others that will rival 2016 in terms of ripeness and ageability. But they are likely to be the exception not the rule, making careful selection key." - Jane Anson
"In the past, a vintage such as 2022 may have been overripe, raisined and low in acidity but 2022 had a sneaky little reservoir in its back pocket - a near perfect marriage of cool/cold/rain the previous winter and the previous vintage that literally soaked the soils (a key to why 2022 is not 2003...or 1893)." - Jon RimmermanLibournais Libournais (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux) - Read more about St. Emilion and its wines - Read more about Pomerol and its wines
Saint Emilion Grat Classified Growth, Classified Growths, Grands Crus Classes, GCC
In 1954, while the "Graves" growths had just published their own classification, the wine syndicate of Saint-Emilion, composed by wine growers, brokers and wine traders with the approval of the INAO - Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (A.O.C), decided to work on a classification for the wines of Saint Emilion. Initially, four grades were defined. These were reduced to two - First Great Classified Growth (A and B) and Great Classified Growth - in 1984.
As of Medoc's 1855 historical grading, the Saint-Emilion Great Classified Growth classification is not only based on qualitative criteria by tasting the wines on a ten years period previous to the assessment, but also on commercial considerations such as:
- sales price levels
- national and international commercial distribution
- the estate's reputation on the market
Properties who don't manage to join the club of about sixty Classified Growths are given the denomination of Great Growth ("Grand Cru"), while the remaining wineries of the A.O.C are simply reported as "Saint-Emilion". It is to be noted that the owners must officially apply to appear in the official classification. Thus for example the famous Chateau Tertre-Roteboeuf, whose quality and reputation would easily justify to be listed among the First Great Classified Growths, does not appear here by the will of its owner, François Mitjaville.
The Saint-Emilion Great Growth classification was revised in 1969, 1985, 1996 and 2006. The only two guaranteed vintage (A.O.C) who can apply to the classification are the "Saint-Emilion Grand Cru" and "Saint-Emilion" areas.
By grading 61 properties, the 2006 revision confirmed many growths from the former classification, but also caused a number of surprises and a few inevitable disappointments. Many observers thought that the impressive progression of Perse's Chateau Pavie since 1998 would be rewarded by an upgrade into the First Great Classified Growths (A) category, but finally such was not the case.
Among the estates promoted to the First Great Classified Growths B category are Chateau Troplong-Mondot and Pavie-Macquin, whose efforts made since the Nineties fully justify their new grade. It should be noted that no First Great Classified Growth was relegated to the lower Great Classified Growth class.
Promoted growths from the status of Great Growth ("Grand Cru") to Great Classified Growth ("Grand Cru Classe") are: Chateaux Bellefont-Belcier, Destieux, Fleur Cardinale, Grand Corbin, Grand Corbin-Despagne and Monbousquet.
The demoted growths from the status of Great Classified Growth to Great Growth are: Chateaux Bellevue, Cadet Bon, Faurie de Souchard, Guadet Saint-Julien, La Tour du Pin-Figeac (Belivier), La Tour du Pin-Figeac (Moueix), Lamarzelle, Petite Faurie de Soutard, Tertre Daugay, Villemaurine and Yon-Figeac. If the recent samples of some of the above mentioned properties may justify their current downgrade, there are great chances that estates like Bellevue, Tertre Daugay or Yon-Figeac will be upgraded to their previous rankings by the next revision in 2016 as the progresses noted after 2000, but not entering in the range of vintages (1993 - 2002) appointed for the criteria of selection for the 2006 classification, are noticable.
The two following estates have completely disappeared from the Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classification: Curé-Bon-la-Madeleine (integrated meanwhile to Chateau Canon) and La Clusière (integrated meanwhile to Chateau Pavie).
Finally, no estate considered as "garagiste" has integrated the classification. Valandraud, Mondotte, Le Dome, Bellevue-Mondotte or Magrez-Fombrauge have, for the least, the potential to be ranked as Great Classified Growths. In sight of the very fine quality reached by the above mentioned estates in recent vintages as well as all the innovative wine making methods used by the "garagistes", it remains to be seen whether the authorities will dare to cross the line in 2016..?Pomerol Wikipedia | French wine guide - Read about Pomerol |
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