Nice to have a later start after getting to bed at 1am. For the Commanderie Dinner we had de Fieuzal 2000, Haut Marbuzet 2005, Giscours 2002, Kirwan 2002 and Doisy Vedrines 2003. My favourite of the clarets was the Haut Marbuzet 2005 as it had a bit more structure over the de Fieuzal.

We left at 8.15am, heading for St Julien. The plan was get to the UGC tasting at 9.30 at St Julien as I only got ½ way through yesterday for 20 minutes before heading to Leoville Barton for a 10am meeting but we got held up in traffic and had to go straight to Leoville Barton

We started with the Mauvesin Barton (Leoville Bartons new property) which showed much better than when I tasted it at the Vintex tasting on Sunday, which was charming with attractive cassis flavours before moving onto the Langoa and Leoville both of which were good.

From Leoville Barton we headed for Margaux and with 20 minutes to spare we popped into the Sauternes UGC tasting at Chateau Kirwan before swiftly heading to Chateau Margaux. 2 minutes late, we had to do a Starsky and Hutch arrival technique that took the staff on car parking by surprise. Margaux suffered from the hot weather at the end of June which resulted in the loss of 30-35%. The star of the tasting was the Pavillon Blanc but with only 1000 cases it is likely to be re-assuringly expensive.

From Margaux we popped next door to Palmer to taste the Alter Ego and Palmer which were both very good, however hail in June and high temperatures reduced to crop by almost half to 5000 cases (9000 cases in 2010). From Palmer we headed to the UGC Margaux tasting Marquis de Terme where we tasted 16 Margauxs before lunch. Rauzan Segla, Malescot and Giscours where all good. I was impressed by Kirwan (Big step up in quality) and also du Tertre.

After a 10 minute lunch we headed off to Lagrange to finish the UGC St Julien and St Estephe tasting and with 30 minutes to spare before our re-scheduled  Ducru Beaucaillou tasting we popped up to Chateau de Camensac for the Medoc and Listrac tastings as I need to taste Cantemerle, La Tour Carnet and La Lagune as well as Beaumont, Malescasse and Greysac.

Arriving at Ducru Beaucaillou with 2 minutes to spare we where welcomed by the glamour girls. We started with the Lalande Borie, La Croix de Beaucaillou and the Ducru itself which was impressive.

From Ducru we headed to the Cru Bourgeois tasting at D’Arsac which was hard work. Tasting over 40 wines with a lot of disappointment.   Many of the wines that showed good fruit unfortunately had dry tannins and often a slight burnt fruit character.

With over 400 wines tasted in 5 days I’m looking forward to a pint of cool, sophisticated, creamy Theakston’s tomorrow night. 

I will over the next week gather my thoughts and put my report together.  It is thought that this campaign may kick off quite quickly and there will be many decisions to be made.  In a vintage like this it has been extremely helpful to do the whole week of tastings, there are some good wines our there, some though have disappointed.  Pricing will be key to the success however on the other hand we have some wines that are down on yields some by 20-30%, this will no doubt play some part in the pricing.

Started at Pavie at 7.30 UK time. Where we tasted 6 wines. My favourite was Monbouquet and Bellevue Mondotte. Thought the Pavie Decasse although good, fell a bit short in the palate while the Pavie was a monster. Forget breakfast it was like breakfast followed by a big lunch.

From Pavie we went to Canon. Liked it but missing the extra dimension and finesse of the 2010 which we also retasted at the same time.

We then had 1/2 an hour to spare so we popped into the UGC St Emilion tasting at Soutard before heading to the very impressive newly built cellars at Cheval Blanc where we also got the chance to taste D’Yquem. So good I forgot to spit!!

From Cheval Blanc we popped around the corner to Evangile and the onto VCC before heading to the UGC Pomerol tastings at Beauregard where we also had lunch….

The weather has been much colder today.  No snow like forcast at home but its certainly got a bite to the air.

After Lunch I had no direct tasting at individual Chateaux so I went back to finish the UGC St Emilion tasting at Soutard where I tasted Troplong Mondot, Soutard itself, La Couspaude as well as re-tasting Pavie Macquin and Larcis Ducasse.

Deciding that I had enough Merlot I headed back to Bordeaux and round the Rocarde to the Pessac Leognan / Graves tasting at Chateau de Fieuzal. I refreshed my palate by doing the whites first which were very good, with my favourites being Smith Haut Lafitte and Domaine de Chevalier.

On the reds by favourites were Haut Bergey, Domaine de Chevalier and Haut Bailly while the Larrivet Haut Brion with its slightly unyielding nose had an interesting chocolate texture that I’m sure will give pleasure to many.

Finished tasting at 4.30pm. Thought about popping up to Margaux to decided my palate needed a rest after 8 hours and an early start as we need to be at Calon Segur for the start of day 4 at 7.30 am UK time……

Sunday 1st April 2012 – Bordeaux, James Goodhart

Felt a bit like an April fool was being played on me, having left Masham at 1am this morning. Tried to get a couple of hours sleep but as soon as I got into bed the biggest and loudest firework display kicked off but at least the children slept through it.

Numerous people trying to catch taxis in Masham as I drove through and 3 hours and 10 minutes later checked in at Luton Airport.   Even better no queue at check in and only 10 minutes through security. Bad news was I had to wait 15 Minutes for starbucks to open at 5am!

Plane was packed managed to get a little rest before we were landing, picked up the car and onto the first tasting of the week.  I am staying with Bill Blatch in Bordeaux which is just great.  He is little known outside the wine world, however ask anyone involved in buying Bordeaux wine and his name is top of the list. 

I arrived at my first tasting at 11am, feeling pretty good.  Decided to taste the Sauternes first as I needed the sugar for a bit of a lift.  Tasted 36 sauternes.  Plenty of marmalade.  Just the thing for breakfast,  Marmalade on toast without the toast!

The 2011 Bordeaux vintage is not going to be easy, it’s  a difficult vintage. I haven’t tasted any of the serious stuff yet but I have been trying to get my head around what happened. There were two really hot days at the end of June (26th / 27th June) when the temperatures rose to over 100 C. It’s fairly common now for defoliation to take place in the vineyard where they take the leaves off the vines that are covering the bunches of grapes to get optimum ripeness and riper tannins. Many vineyards had just done this just before the hot weather causing the vines a lot a stress / stock. In St Emilion I have been told that this resulted in a loss of 25% of the crop.

I have spent the day with Bill Blatch trying to work out a similar vintage but we cant find one. Closest in terms to similar weather would be 2006 and 1999 but the style of the wines are completely different which the exception of some of the dry tannins present in 2006 are in the 2011s. A lot of wines that I tasted had slightly burnt fruits which often led to a slightly bitter style, liquorice in some cases slightly sandy / dusty tannins

There are some good wines but it’s a roller coaster of a ride. I preferred some of the simple Medoc wines today over their bigger name Haut Medoc. Some of the Margaux’s today were good but the highest level we have tasted was the odd 5th Growth, like Cantemerle, Croizet Bages, Marquis de Terme and Rauzan Gassies. Most of the cask samples were prepared on the 28th / 29th so they weren’t the freshest.  Will try them again throughout the week.

Total of 72 red wines tasted this afternoon. Sauternes are my star buy to date,  impressed with Rabaud – Promis, de Malle, Nairac, du Veyras, Suduiraut and one of my old favourites Raymond Lafon.

Early to bed as up with the sparrows tomorrow for tomorrow tastings in Pomerol and St Emilion, mainly tasting the wines of the Petit Chateaux  and Petrus in the afternoon

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For more information on En Primeur wine please go to our website www.bcfw.co.uk/wineadvisor

Wine critic Robert Parker released his report on the Bordeaux 2009 vintage earlier this month.  Since then it has been reported that the market responded to the increase in value of US$100 million.  He called the 2009 Bordeaux Vintage “ The Greatest Vintage that I have ever tasted”.

Nineteen wines were awarded 100 points.  If you bought the following En Primeur they have all got 100 points from Parker, well done. The price in brackets is the En Primeur release price.

Chateau Clinet, Pomerol 2009 at £2200 (£1100), Chateau Leoville Poyferre 2009 at £1800 (£1000), Chateau Pontet Canet, Pauillac 2009 at £1800 (£990), Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, Pessac 2009 at £750 (£1600), Chateau Montrose, St Estephe 2009 at £1350 (£2550).

Unfortunately we don’t have any of the 100 point wines left.  However in 2009 where the quality was fantatic from the Crus Bourgeois all the way up to the top!  We still have some 2009s which are worth buying see our list on our website.

We will be in Bordeaux next month for the 2011 En Primeur tastings – if you would like to follow us please contact the office for a copy of our vintage report and follow us on twitter @boncoeurwine and we will also do a daily blog from the tastings.

Despite the cold winter days we have been tasting some fabulous roses including the new 2011 vintage from Chateau de Sours.  We are delighted to have been re-selected to do our annual ex cellars offer.   Martin Krajewski has maintained a great budget beating deal, and we are able to offer it at £8.49 (inc VAT) per bottle.   This is only on offer until Friday 9th March 2012.

2011 proved to be a vintage with challenging growing conditions which started with a Spring  heat wave and temperatures sawed to over 30 degrees.  In fact we were out in Bordeaux last April doing the Bordeaux En Primeur tastings and it was so hot you really needed sun screen, not that I had any!  This heat wave shocked the vines out of their dormant state and pushed them much further on than usual.  Flowering was therefore early though the flowering was even, which was good.  Through June and July to August the weather proved inconsistent with great fluctuations in heat, rain, drought and humidity.   However despite these challenging conditions the team has produced a great vintage.

Chateau de Sours broke all records of early picking and started harvesting on 17^th August for the sparkling wines and 25^th for the still wines.

Recently described by Matthew Jukes, wine writer for Money Week as “The most thrilling rose of the year” the team at Chateau de Sours have surpassed themselves for this fabulous 2011 vintage.

“Chateau de Sours Rose 2011 is a vibrant, light and strawberry pink in colour.  Summer fruits are in abundance on the nose, enhanced with strawberries and a bunch of red currants.  Pear drops on the front of the palate, strawberry and bubblegum with a well balanced citrus and grapefruit uplifting acidity that flows through into a refreshing smooth finish.  There’s a fantastic underlying steely minerality that adds extra depth and complexity.  A real must for the summer.”   Tasted January 2011 James Goodhart

The blend is predominantly Merlot with Cabernet Franc, 12.5% alcohol. 

If you would like to buy online go to our website Chateau de Sours Bordeaux Rose 2011 .

Our wine of the week is  a new feature to help us let you know what we think is drinking well, a best buy, on special offer or simply cannot be missed!!

All our staff in the office have tasted this wine so if you have any questions please call us we will be happy to give you some advice.

We found this wine whilst tasting in Bordeaux with Bill Blatch.  Bill is one of the wine worlds secret agents.  He is a leading authority on Bordeaux wine and has the ear of many a wine critic wanting to know what going on in Bordeaux.

Chateau Baby 2009

This wine is produced by Chateau Brisson in Cotes de Castillon.  Made from 100% Merlot grapes.  On the nose attractive aromas of ripe plums with a hint of violets.   Very pure, soft easy drinking Merlot (no oak at all).  Generous, warm dark cherry fruit and a hint of liquorice. Drink now until 2016.   ( SG Wine Tasting Note Jan 2012).

This wine is currently reduced in our wine sale from £7.99 to £6.99 a bottle, whilst stocks last.

Buy Chateau Baby on our website

Burgundy 2010 – Vintage Review by James Goodhart.

It is most definitely a vintage for ‘Burgundy lovers ‘ No hype’ like in 2009. On the whole the quality of the 2010s varies a lot more between producers and villages. Where the 2009’s were luscious, seductive more fruit driven, the best of 2010s are elegant, refined more precise in balance between the acidity and the fruit and we think have the potential to lay down for longer. Reminds me of a beautiful, well educated, classy, long legged filly with plenty of staying power!

It was a vintage with many problems, challenging growing conditions which started with temperatures of minus 20 degrees in December 09 which killed an average 5% of vines and weakened numerous more. Cold and wet conditions during the crucial flowering resulted in loss of crop due to coulure and millerendange. The Summer was very wet giving more problems of rot and disease. September was dry and cool which saved the vintage however this resulted in concentration of the grape must and very small grapes. Sorting tables to select the best bunches was essential.

Back at the winery the low yields meant a high ratio of skin to juice which can result in high tannins, body and colour unless monitored correctly. The 2009 vintage in comparison almost made itself whilst the 2010 vintage needed an expert hand and gentle guidance.

My overall view is that the 2010 is richer and riper than the 2008 and 2007 vintages and more in-line with the 2006 and 2002 vintage. Commenting on the 2010 vintage, Arnaud Mortet (Domaine Denis Moret) says “ A great vintage and one of the best for 10 years. I prefer 2005. There is not the same weight, but the balance is very nice. 2009 was fruity and flattering, but for me the 2010 has more freshness, elegance and is more Pinot Noir”.

For me it’s more about the acidity balance, more typical classic burgundy, that will offer more longevity than the 2009’s. We have tasted many wines over the last month and have selected the producers we feel have made the best wines of the vintage, our highlights include: Domaine Faiveley, Rossignol Trapet, Nicolas Potel at Maison Roche de Bellene and Bertrand Ambroise.

Investment Wine

The Grand Cru Red Burgundies are increasingly becoming more front line / first grade investments. With China showing more interest in the better Burgundy Domaines and more sophisticated, they are looking for investments outside of Bordeaux. Prices are starting to move, allocations are under more and more pressure with is a good sign.

The 2010 Grand Cru and 1er Cru are all down on allocations due to the lower yields and increase in international demand. Many of these have been sold on allocation.

See our full list of Burgundy 2010, or you can see the wines we have available from the producers we have bought from this year -

Domaine Faiveley

Domaine Faiveley with 115 hectares split between an estate of 78 hectares in Mercurey and 37 hectares in the Cote d’Or is one of the largest vineyard owners in Burgundy. Now under the guidance of Erwan Faiveley who took over in 2004 he mixes the principles of modern oenology with tradition maturation in French oak barrels, in their 19th C vaulted cellars. The vineyards are run with dramatic precision, nothing is left to chance, from selecting the vines, Faiveley replant around one/thirtieth of the vineyard each year, to ensuring low yields though guyot-pruning and strict ebourgeonnage and if necessary a green harvest further reduces the crop. The quality of the 2010’s is without doubt a vintage of classic excellence, the Domaine has achieved great consistency throughout each of the villages.

Maison Roche de Bellene – Nicolas Potel
It is always a pleasure to see Nicolas his passion for Burgundy wine is tremendous and very infectious. Maison Roche de Bellene’s philosophy is to select only the best grapes working with the vineyards to produce outstanding wines, to produce what he calls the “Haute Couture” of wine. Nicolas is a great believer in biodynamics and is working towards Organic status in the vineyards.

“Not the richness of the 2009, more the style of 2002 with good acidity and not too much tannin” Nicolas Potel

Nicolas has matured some of some of his wines in 600 litre demi cask to make sure the wines don’t get over oaked / dry out. The 2010 vintage, is a vintage of subtly.

We met Nicolas in London so we didn’t have the chance to taste all his wines but both Samantha and I walked away grinning ear to ear, In one word Nicolas’s 2010 are ‘stunning’ and he offers some of the best value in the Côte de Nuits. It is no surprise that he is now selling wines in 42 countries around the world.

Rossignol Trapet
Quality has soared since brothers Nicolas and David Rossignol converted the domaine to biodynamic viticulture. In particular, the wines display significantly more depth and concentration than when they took over from their father in the 1990s. In 2010, they picked late, starting on 29th September, in order to obtain the maximum ripeness and maturity. The yields are the lowest since the early 1990s and the wines have unusual richness and structure as a result. It’s getting harder and harder to get an allocation. They impressed me greatly.

Bertrand Ambroise
Bertrand and his son François own just over 16 hectares of vines in Nuits St George and Corton. In 2010 yields were low after poor weather during the crucial flowering period reduced the potential size of the crop. Harvesting, however, took place in good weather at the end of September and beginning of October. Ripeness was perfect and not a single wine required chaptalisation. Bertrand will bottle the 2010 reds a few months earlier than last year in order to preserve the maximum of fruit.

I was hugely impressed by Bertrand Ambroise 2010 and actually prefer them to the 2009’s which were glitzy and more fruit driven. His 2010 are more classy and elegant with a tremendous acidity / fruit balance. Both Bertrand and myself think they will cellar for longer. Bravo.

Bertrand described his wines as “almost perfect, great concentration, really good balance with ripe tannins and longevity”

For further informtion contact Bon Coeur Fine Wines Ltd – Tel: 01765 688200

Celebrate Laurent Perrier’s Garden winning gold at the Chelsea Flower Show with our special offer of £38.40inc VAT a bottle.  Minimum order 12 bottles see our website to buy online or call us on 01765 688200.

The Laurent Perrier Garden was designed by Luciano Giubbilei.  Featuring the rare multi-stemmed Parrotia trees, the garden is understated using a restricted palate of plants which are repeated throughout.  The effect of this beautiful design is a flowing tapestry of colours that echo the tints in the Laurent Perrier Rose Champagne -

So why not celebrate their gold win and enjoy a glass of Laurent Perrier Rose at our special price.

For more special offers from Bon Coeur Fine Wines please go to http://www.bcfw.co.uk/store/offers/

Chateau de Sours Bordeaux Rose 2010 has been nominated wine of the week by Matthew Jukes writing in Money Week.  He is certainly a fan ”Beautifully balanced and incredibly mouth watering, 2010 de Sours Rose is a fabulous wine and it is certainly the finest vintage to date”.

We recently stayed at Chateau de Sours, the owner Martin Krajewski and his team have been doing some tremendous work at the Chateau – they are also doing their bit for the planet by using the underground cellars as a natural cooling system for the new cellars – a considerably effective and efficient air cooling system.  An extensive replanting programme has been underway for the last few years and the team are making better and better wines.  Bravo Martin its all coming together rather nicely.

If you would like to buy some Chateau de Sours Bordeaux Rose 2010 at our online wine shop.  Currently in stock at £9.95 a bottle whilst stocks last! 

Fancy trying the Chateau de Sours Sparkling Rose – lovely and refreshing, full of red berry and summer fruits – on offer now at £7.99 (was £9.99).

Great summer drinking – even Alan Titchmarsh on his ITV show called it “Probably the best Rose in the world” – well its in my fridge chilling for lunchtime!

Samantha Goodhart, Bon Coeur Fine Wines

After celebrating at Chateau de Sours the night before, Friday morning started a little fussy…  We were treated to some fabulous hospitality by Martin owner at CdS, involving a superb tasting of the 2010s Le Source Clos Cantenac and Petit Cantenac - well made and balanced I was impressed.

The first stop of the day was with being treated to VCC 86, Cos 90 and D’Yquem 98, luckily Bill was driving and pulled me away before it became to messy.

First stop was Haut Brion, which is inside the rocarde (Bordeaux ring road). Rupert Luxembourg talked us through La Mission and Haut Brion wines.

10 minutes around the corner and we were at Pape Clement where we taste a range of Bernard Magrez wines before going into the Chateau and tasted the Pape Clement wines with Bernard’s son. Modern styled wines but very impressive.

From Pape Clement we had an hours drive to Climens, where we taste cask sample of the 2010 – there were 17 lots in total and we tasted 8 different lots.

Very interesting insight into the important of botrytis and difference between picking dates. We ended at climens with a vertical tasting of the 09 down to 05 of which the 2005 was my personal favourite

Then it was a 10 minute journey to D’ Yquem where we tasted the 2010 again. (3rd time) really elegant with loads of apricot fruit. They are comparing the style of the 2010 to that of the 1988.

A quick dash down the road to Suduiraut where we tasted the 2010 where compared it to the 2007 whicj was slightly less sweet than the 2010 with a touch more lemon marmalade. Both very good. We then compared the 2009 vintage with the 2005 which surprisingly was my favourite again.

Back into the car for a hour journey to the north Medoc where we tasted the Nenin wines, Potensac, Petit Leon as well as Clos du Marquis and Leoville Lascases. I was a little disappointed with the Potensac, Petit Leon and Clos du Marquis.

From Lascases we went to Ducru Beaucaillou where I tasted Fourcas – Borie for the first time – This is a Listrac property, that Borie Family own was fairly impressive. Lalande Borie was good which is a St Julien based near Lagrange, and La Croix de Beaucaillou is no longer the second wine of Ducru but a single wine from some vineyards that borders Leoville Barton. Ducru was very impressive but I think the price will also be unfortunately impressive (2009 was at £2,000.)

Our Final Chateau visit of the day and the week was a well known Chateau called Lafite where we tasted Carruades, Duhart Milon and Lafite itself. All very good but the Duhart Milon was better than Carruades and likely to be released at half the price. Lafite was very impressive, mega structure with abundant, sweet dark berry fruit but married beautify with well integrated tannins and acidity.    What a way to Finish!