Garagiste

• By Jon Rimmerman
  10/18/2007 (link)

  (BEHERE Pauillac) Bordeaux Cru Artisan Dear Friends, Turnabout is fair play and last week one of my oldest customers stumped me on a producer we’ve sold in the past but I don’t believe we’ve ever offered this vintage. We’ve profiled the “Cru Artisan” wines from Chateau Behere before, one of Pauillac’s undiscovered treasures and more forward producers with respect to the environment and expression of vintage and terroir. I believe we offered the 2002 and 2003 Behere a few years ago but it was with great anticipation that my long-time customer (and friend) Jim blind tasted me on this wine as he was fairly sure it would stump me. When first opened I guessed it was a Left Bank Bordeaux from 1994 or maybe 1996 (1998 didn’t enter the equation as I often forget about this vintage that was actually quite successful across the board, especially in Graves - sort of like a 2004 or 2001, although neither of those vintages had even remotely the same success in Graves). I wondered why my guess was 1994 or maybe 1996 and it dawned on me that this wine had a classic trait that I haven’t tasted in years with young Bordeaux - really since the 1994 vintage or even earlier. This wine made me think of how much has changed in Bordeaux over the last few decades and it made me nostalgic for the classic flavors of 1988 or even 1978 in some cases. Winemaking has changed in Bordeaux (probably forever) and the nasty little habits of many top Napa producers have crept into the Bordelaise cellars and it’s not for the better. Isn’t vintage variation a good thing? (see this month’s Decanter article on artificial color enhancers in the most expensive Napa wines - it seems that the most decorated wines, with the most to lose if they are even slightly less than perfect are the biggest offenders of enhancement, adjustment and manipulation) I felt a diatribe emerging and an editorial that many would not be happy to read but I decided to just enjoy the evening instead. Ok, daydream over.... I guessed the blind wine as an advanced bottle of 1994 Montrose or maybe even 1994 Pontet-Canet that had been stored in the high 60’s (as the wine seemed to be close to peak, which neither of those are and both of those wines have far more austere extract than this bottle). I was pretty stumped and when it was revealed I wasn’t surprised at all - the 1998 Chateau Behere (Cru Artisan) purchased directly from the cellar five years ago. This is what it’s all about folks and if you consider yourself a lover of terroir and traditional, classic Bordeaux (or, if your not sure you’ve ever tasted actual “real” Bordeaux before the spinning cone technology entered the game), this is a tribute to all things Left Bank and to an era gone by - think of this as the 1970 Montrose in 1998 Behere clothing - tannic, old-style, awkward and angular with fantastic, alluring aromatics of dried tobacco and that mysterious element of a floaty secondary nuance that great examples of Pauillac possess. This wine isn’t a massive wine, it isn’t even a fleshy wine - it’s just a top example of a genre that used to be highly desireable but has been pushed so far to the side that few remember what it was like (unless you possess a cellar with old treasures). This wine was made without any manipulation, added yeasts or enzymes and it is at peak now but it should continue to offer its graces for another 3-4 years - it is a real wine that is still priced right and within reason for most consumers of top-end Bordeaux. As I usually do when I try something that is important from an educational standpoint, I immediately try to find a stash for you and, in this case, I was just lucky - only 25 cases are left of this vintage and I was able to secure all of them (save for a 6 bottle library lot). Sometimes it doesn’t work out but here you go...at basically the same price as the cellar door: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for eye-opening experience and a reminder why some of the more memorable wines in the world never get reviewed - keep in mind, these bottles have perfect provenance from the winery and will probably show better than bottles purchased off the street. EXTREMELY LIMITED - one shipment only (as noted above) 1998 Chateau Behere (Cru Artisan/Pauillac) Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA Bord7970