A $50-$100 Value for Under $30Just a Stunningly Well Made Wine
If You Drink Bordeaux This is an Incredible, Incredible Value
If You Don't Drunk Much Bordeaux, This is The One You Should Drink This Year
I don't offer many Bordeaux because I'm generally not a fan. But when I sell Bordeaux, it is an exceptional value. At the high end, Bordeaux does a pretty good job of classifying wines. And we all know the big boys. But after that, the classification system in Bordeaux is pretty murky, allowing some fantastic producers to slip through the cracks. It's not like Burgundy where every vine has been tested by monks for centuries and classified inch by inch into vineyards. Most of us know which Burgundian AOCs and vineyards are the good ones. Today's producer is in Pessac-Leognan. It is a very serious appellation on the left bank. But it's still pretty big and there is $16 plonk, thousand dollar brilliance and everything in between. And there are hundreds of producers and no one can taste them all. So, sometimes a $50-$100 (in value) small producer slips through the cracks and arrives at my desk and oh boy do I make a lot of people really darned happy. And that day is today.
Today I am super exited to offer the 2012 Chateau Mirebeau for as little as $29.99 a 4-pack. Dollar for dollar this is the best Bordeaux I have ever sold. It is a ridiculous wine. Classic Pessac nose. Gravel, cassis, cherry, spice, menthol, green tea. Great stuff aromatically. Palate is soft and ripe with velvety tannins. Terrific structure and freshness. Very vibrant. It has all the classic Pessac character of bright and vivid red fruits, scorched earth, weedy tobacco and something I call "tweed jacket.." It is incredibly balanced, pure and deep. This is a rich wine, yet very juicy, but so amazingly fragrant and fresh and has a gout de terroir that only Pessac has. Terrific freshness over three days with so much complexity. This drinks way above its pedigree. Long and lingering finish. Chateau Le Puy is the most similar wine that I've offered to this except that is more Burgundian and lighter than this. This is Bordeaux from the left bank, so the wine has body and color. This is not a satellite appellation (Cotes de Francs, St. Foy de Bordeaux), this is a world-famous appellation that was ranked in 1855. You will see once you experience this wine it is something else and that terroir exists . . . .even in Bordeaux.
I've been following a bottle for 3 days now and it goes from strength to strength. It is a spectacular wine that is entering its window now but will last 10-15 more years. Countless Bordeaux I taste to no avail but when this came across my desk it was like time stopped. The wine is such a throwback to my early days drinking cheap Pessac when I could find it. All the "lesser" Haut Brions were my thing. I was all over them. Larrivet and Bahans were great values back in the day. Now Bahans is expensive and I'm not even sure if Larrivet exists, and if it did it would be expensive. As was Haut-Bailly (a great value back in the day) which is one of the most beautiful wines in all of Bordeaux when on. This Chateau Mirabeau brought back all of these memories. The estate is biodynamic (since 2005 and it shows as this wine is so pure you almost think it's a Burgundy). The wood is sweet and exquisitely integrated. It is 33% new oak each year. It is only four hectares (microscopic by Bordeaux standards) and all the grapes are hand picked. This is Bordeaux that is made in the vineyard. They also use minimal sulfur in the cellar., which is not common in Bordeaux. That explains the dazzling purity. It is so inviting and appealing like waking into an old wooden library at a British higher institution of learning. I love this wine and it does what great wine can do, at least this for me, is be evocative. Not only is this a delicious wine but it brings me back to a different time in my wine career. It evokes something in me besides being delicious. Truly a special wine. This will be limited.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment