Incredible Bordeaux from the Winemaker Behind Petrus - His Own Estate, Under $40

We've all heard of  the $1,000+ per bottle Chateau Petrus, the Grand Gru Bordeuax estate that is the stuff of legends.  Jean-Claude Berrouet is the winemaker who was the head winemaker at Petrus for 44

years. He retired in 2006 or 2007 and set up his own little estate called Chateau Samion in Lalande-de-Pomerol. Jean-Claude makes the wines the exact same way he made his 44 vintages of Petrus. He tends the vineyards the exact same way he did at Petrus and oh boy does his meticulous attention to detail show up in this absolutely brilliant bottle of Lalande-de-Pomerol.  

This isn't Petrus, but for $39.99 a bottle on the 4-pack the 2010 Chateau Samion is the finest satellite I have ever had. The wine is an astonishing value and crafted by a true master. I have no idea why this wine costs so little or why I was able to get my hands on it. The estate is only 1.2 ha and there isn't much wine. Maybe because Berrouet is well enough off that he doesn't care to market his wines and doesn't need the money.  Frankly, I've decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth.
 
The 2010 has a firmer backbone and higher acidity versus the fleshier and riper 2009. They are both equally good if a bit different from each other due to vintage conditions. This is a very juicy wine but with no lack of structure at all. This is everything that a great Merlot from Lalande-de-Pomerol should be. It is terroir reflective wine that comes from a place and does not reflect the same boring style of so many "flying winemakers." It has super earthy Merlot fruit. That is what Merlot should taste like.
 
Jean-Claude Berrouet is a unique guy. He is not a fan of biodynamic viticulture at all but more a man that is into into earth energies and the such. Picture him in a vineyard with a divining rod. He is a new age freak without you ever knowing it. He walks around in a suit all day talking about druids and inner earth energies. He is also like a wine professor in that if you ask him a question about wine he will answer you with a lecture. An interesting aside is that when he was flown out to California to set up Dominus (how the winery was going to flow) he insisted they fly out Druids from France to bring good energy to the site since it was right neat the San Andreas fault. Yup. But hey, whatever works as he is obviously doing something right. If it takes Druids and divining rods to make world class wine, bring them on. This is a limited. I will fulfill orders until it's all gone. First come, first served.
 
I know many of you have been patiently waiting for Samion 2009 to arrive and we have good news - it is in California and will arrive at our warehouse next week. Contact me if you want your Samion 2009 shipped.

The 2010 is very limited and subject to confirmation.

2010 Chateau Samion - $41.99 btl ($159.96 4-pack) (VERY LIMITED)