2007 Château Picau-Perna

RJonWine.com

• By Richard Jennings
  4/21/2010, (See more on RJonWine.com...) 87 points

  (Château Picau-Perna) Dark red violet color; tart cassis, red fruit nose; solid, tart cassis, red fruit palate with sweet tannins and good acidity; medium finish (could use a couple of years of age)

Garagiste

• By Jon Rimmerman
  1/22/2010, (See more on Garagiste...)

  (Picau-Perna St. Emilion) Bordeaux Deal Dear Friends, This one brings a heartwarming smile to me face. Regardless of what you've jumped into lately, this is an offer I hope everyone considers as it epitomizes why we spend so much time pounding the wine-world's pavement - exemplary quality, reflection and value without pomp and circumstance. It gives us a wine of breed and nobility for a pittance of a price. I've been working on a deal to bring this wine to you at an everyday, Sunday picnic tariff and it's finally on the way - set to land in 2-3 weeks. It's not the norm to discover an inexpensive wine you can serve with fine dining or frozen pizza (and have equal success) but today's wine performs both duties flawlessly. This has been a special wine for me as it proves that claret is still alive and well in Bordeaux regardless of technology, awards, vintage or other - real Bordeaux can be sniffed out (no pun intended or was that wit?) and it doesn't take a hedonist to recognize it. This wine represents the type of high-quality Right Bank expression that is a beacon for the general Bordeaux market (and California) to follow. It represents the best of their estate grapes, the best of their effort and the best of their pride - all wrapped up in a bottle of wine for less than $15. While this may sound trite, if you consistently pay large sums of money (only to chase the top names in Bordeaux), you are paying too much. While Picau-Perna may not be a small artisanal producer, they still treat each vintage and harvest like it's their last - in other words, they have to prove their worth every year and, in 2007, boy did they ever. From naturally grown and vinified Merlot (with small amounts of Cabernet and Franc), this mini-marvel of a wine is just what the downtrodden economy ordered - purity, focus, medium weight and total abstinence from pretention while delivering a razor-true, elegant Right Bank experience (before that notion was re-defined by Perse or Pavie and turned into a black hole). Now the interesting news. Out of nowhere (literally) Picau-Perna has become one of the most sought after properties on the Right Bank and it's not for their 2005 or 2009 - it's for their 2007. Yes, their 2007. Maybe 2007 is a vintage to avoid among the first or second growths (that's not actually true - there are many delicious, real clarets from 2007) but at the lower price-levels, where an estate fashioned their top grand vin for under $15, it's a vintage to relish (many of the best 2007's are turning out not be smaller versions of 2001 - a tremendous terroir year). Why is Picau-Perna's 2007 making such a fuss? Eric Asimov and crew just ordained it as the best Bordeaux they tasted in an article on chasing terroir among Bordeaux's unknown entrants. Considering the NY Times has a circulation and on-line readership in the tens of millions, Picau-Perna is unknown no longer. Reviews such as this do not always work in our favor but there are rare moments when the stars align just perfectly, where we secure a parcel of a wine at its first tranche price only days before a game-changing accolade such as the NY Times review - this is one of those moments (as of today, the wholesale price on this wine is already over $15 so you can do the math - it won't be long before it's at retail for $20-25): http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/dining/reviews/20wine.html?scp=2&sq=wines&st=cse <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/dining/reviews/20wine.html?scp=2&sq=wines&st=cse> FIRST COME FIRST SERVED up to 240/person until we run out - we cannot offer more than 20 cases to a single entity. This parcel is set to arrive in a few weeks with impeccable provenance: 2007 Chateau Picau-Perna St. Emilion (NY Times #1) Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA Bord8213