$10 Tuesday: White Bordeaux

Fruity, clean, and crisp: That about sums up this Mouton Cadet Bordeaux 2007. Chateau Mouton Rothschild sells 15 million bottles of Mouton Cadet annually. Most of it is for export. Apparently, they commissioned a consumer survey in 2003 in which they learned that the consumer wanted a more fruit driven wine; and that is what they've delivered with this wine.

We found pear, honeydew, and lemon on the nose. There is also the most subtle hint of mushroom, or is it smoke... (smoked mushroom, perhaps) but, it's really subtle--hardly worth mentioning.

The palate is clean with a crisp attack, pleasant citrus notes, and a hint of mineral on the finish. A little more mineral would have been nice. This is an easy, versatile white wine that pairs well with a variety of foods. We had it with thai peanut spring rolls over the weekend. We also served it with lemon spaghetti with shrimp in a tomato, garlic, caper sauce. The acidity in this wine holds up nicely. There is really nothing to dislike in this wine. A solid performance.

Another Bodacious Bordeaux

Don't you love it when another taster validates one of your tasting notes? I do. That's why I am excited to tell you about tasting the Château La Rame 2005 Bordeaux.

On the nose, first thing to hit me was banana and pomegranate, as well as, the ubiquitous garrigue notes. By the way, sorry if my use of "garrigue" rubs anyone the wrong way: I know how charged the topic of aroma descriptors can be. For purists it's probably too broad, and for laid-back types, it's probably too pretentious sounding. Let me just say that there are times when aroma compounds come together to become a scent unto themselves--an amalgamation of individual odors. Even though I really haven't personally smelled the scrublands around the Med, I have smelled the scrublands outside Elko Nevada when the sage is blooming in early July. I have also smelled a fair number of wines from southern France that share a certain sharp herbal note that is common to the oily foliage of woody herbs such as lavender, rosemary, and sage but that isn't any of those in particular. I suppose one could also say "herbaceous" in place of the French "garrigue" but if it's a French wine, why not use the term that sprouts from the place?

With the first sip, I found the wine to be really quite chewy, with lots of plum and pomegranate. There was also a cool sensation on the tip of my tongue. I took another whiff, and got a picture in my mind of slicing a piece of bark off a green branch. It took me a minute to track back to the memory but, then I remembered sucking on a green birch shoot which tastes like a cross between wintergreen and sarsaparilla. The finish on this wine is mildly spicy and moderately long. Firm tannins and ripe fruit make this a pretty big wine which contains 13% ABV. The moderate acidity is ample for pairing with food. I think it will be interesting to taste this wine in another two or three years.

But, I promised a story: I'd started tasting ahead of Taster A who was finishing up something on the computer. When he came over I let him start, and after a couple minutes I said "I need to talk to you about this wine when you've gotten through your evaluation." When he was ready, I said "this is weird but, I'm thinking birch bark." He looked at me, and then he pointed to his tasting sheet where he'd written "Black Birch."

So, there you have it. Independently corroborated. If you ever sucked on a Black Birch shoot as a kid, definitely try this wine, and see if you don't find the same thing we did.

Unfortunately, I spent a lot of time trying to find out what the grapes are in this blend. I have sketchy information that suggests it is a Cab/Merlot blend but, I'm not convinced. I have contacted the Mad Rose info desk and if I get an answer, I'll post the blend as an addendum.

9/5/2008 Addendum: Haven't heard from Mad Rose but we're finishing the bottle tonight, and I gotta say--it's tasting pretty cab-like.

An Introduction to Bordeaux: Margaux

The other night we had the opportunity to taste Chateau Baury 2004, Margaux. As I was trying to find some information on this wine (unsuccessfully) I remembered our host from Salem Wine Imports commenting that he hadn’t had much luck pinpointing it either.

I’ve stated more than once that I’m not interested in writing “educational” pieces on wine yet, I find myself about to do just that. Actually, this is really for my own benefit: After all, I had to do a little research so I wouldn’t sound stupid, and I couldn’t leave it up to Taster A because he recently saddled me with the task of “figuring out France” (no small task).

The difficulty with this particular Chateau Baury bottling is the fact that it’s apparently a brand name produced by Chateau Brane-Catenac but, it is not listed as a “second” or “other” wine in any of the reference books. Going to the Domaine Lucien Lurton & Fils La Passion des Terroirs website, I discovered that besides distributing first and second labels from the families eleven estates, the company has become a wine merchant specializing the distribution of Classified Growth, second wines, Crus Bourgeois, etc from all over Bordeaux.

So, the one thing we know from the label is that the this wine is bottled at the second growth Brane-Cantenac estate, which is in Cantenac south of the commune of Margaux in the Margaux appellation and most likely contains the following:

Cabernet Sauvignon 70%
Cabernet Franc 15%
Merlot 13%
Petit Verdot 2%

Now for the tasting notes!
This was a very pleasant and evolving wine which started out with raspberry, smoked meat, blueberry, and a certain ‘roastiness’. The wine is well-balanced on the palate and has nice mildly spicy long finish.
Later I found cassis, cake, and a wisp of tobacco.

“Cake?” you ask?
I’m not sure that dissecting every flavor in a wine (or a dish) is necessarily complimentary. I still have Ratatouille fresh on my mind…Take French toast for example: What does French toast taste like? Does it taste like eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, bread and butter? Or, does it taste like French toast? I think it tastes like French toast and I’m glad. So, rather than saying “vanilla and sweet spice” for this wine, I’m going to call it cake.

A Good Introduction to Bordeaux
I’ve noticed a tendency among wine professionals to start Bordeaux newbies off with an “introductory” wine in the $10-$15 range as a good gradient for training the palate to pick up and appreciate the more subtle nuances of this Old World style. I think sometimes this approach can backfire if the bottle is unspectacular. The Chateau Baury 2004 is an interesting and accessible wine in the $25-$30 range and I think it makes an excellent introductory wine.