My other right bank wine, from , is definitely one of the oldest I have had in a while, a 1995. As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve grown a bit weary of Bordeaux. All the high acid, low alcohol Cabernet based wines have started to run together. Being that this is the right bank I was looking forward to something that was likely to be primarily Merlot and/or Cabernet Franc.


The area has a Roman history, with vines first planted in the second century A.D. The actual town of St. Emillion has extensive cellars carved right into the bedrock, even the church has one!

There is, of course, a classification system in place. Unlike the system in the Médoc, which has remained unchanged for more than 150 years, the system here (originally done in 1955) is revamped every 10 years or so with some château being promoted and demoted. The different classes are: Premiers Grands Classés A and B, Grands Crus Classés and Grand Cru. My wine, the 1995 Château Larmande, is a Grand Cru Classé, one of 53 château. Or at least I think that’s how many there are. Of course, in 2006 when a few château were demoted they sued and it got all complicated. I’ve decided that since my wine was made more than a decade prior it's just not worth figuring out!

I have been waiting, however, to write about our recent second viewing of the movie Sideways. We decided that since we had spent time in Solvang and the area where the movie was filmed (and know a heck of a lot more about wine now than we did at our first viewing), it would be fun to watch the wine parts of the movie again. (We fast forwarded through the rest.) Anyway... the grumpy main character of the movie, Miles, is credited for single-handedly reducing sales of Merlot as he famously says “If anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving. I am NOT drinking any f---ing Merlot!”. Of course his most cherished wine is a 1961 Cheval Blanc. A bit of irony for wine geeks that recognize Château Cheval Blanc as one of only two Premier Grand Classés A in St. Emillion, which of course means there’s a good deal of merlot in the wine. The estate’s vines are 40% merlot.

My wine was dark brick in color with maroon edges. On the nose there was a bit of smoke, oak, licorice, spices and some blueberry. Not having had many aged wines, they all tend to have a similar “aged taste” to me, which always has a hint of smokey bacon to it, and this one wasn’t any different. It was mellow and smooth, not fruity, but woody with a lot of leather and earth.

The Score: ★★★

I have a confession to make: I’m getting tired of Bordeaux. While I’m enjoying each of the wines as I drink them, writing these posts is becoming a chore. While I know there are distinct differences in terroir, history, etc. within each of the 10 regions I’m sampling, they’re simply too small for me to distinguish. Especially considering that I’m not tasting the wines side by side, but rather drinking them no closer than a week or two apart. I’m probably still not really doing myself justice in this wine education. Try as I might! I’ll likely have to reevaluate my approach and strategy when I move onto Burgundy. At least it has fewer appellations!

There are however, some things to learn about . It is the northern most commune in the Haut Médoc, separated from Pauillac by a stream. It has heavier soil, more clay, and thus doesn’t drain as well. This allows grapes to withstand hotter summers and have higher acidity, but often results in wines with a weaker nose (which I did notice in the wine I tried).

What St. Estèphe is really known for are the Cru Bourgeois wines, which the wine I tried, the 2005 Cháteau De Pez, is. So what exactly does Cru Bourgeois mean? Well, since the classified growths were established in the 19th century and haven’t changed since, it was determined that there was considerable overlap in quality between some of the classified growths and other wines made on the Left Bank. So, in 1932 444 estates were chosen to be classified as Cru Bourgeois. In 2003 is was revamped so that it included 247 wines in three tiers: Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel (9 wines), Cru Bourgeois Supérieur (87 wines), and plain old Cru Bourgeois for the remaining 151. The 2005 Cháteau De Pez is a Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel.

Of course, in 2007 the 2003 classification was annulled, making Cru Burgeois illegal. In 2010 the term was reintroduced but there was only one tier, and it applied to the 2008 vintage. However, six out of the original nine Exceptionnel estates elected not to participate at all and formed their own group: Les Exceptionnels. Just to keep things interesting. And impossible to remember, I suppose.

At any rate: this was an interesting wine. It was mahogany red, not as bright as I would have expected for a relatively young wine. As I discovered is somewhat characteristic, it had very little nose, only a slight spice with a hint of fruit. The wine had no distinctive fruit, but was a bit herbaceous (not in a bad way) and also tasted of tobacco. The tannins were soft and it had a pleasing medium body and acidity to it. I did not aerate this wine, it didn’t need it. As Myles had I cold, I drank the whole bottle on my own over the course of three nights. It was good the first night, excellent the second and fair the third.

The Score: ★★★½

Let’s start with pronunciation. is not pronounced in any way, shape or form how my inner voice has been saying it all this time. I don’t want anyone else to have this unfortunate situation follow them through the remainder of this post, so please listen to the pronunciation a few more times before proceeding.

Being part of the Médoc, there are Château here that were classified in 1855. And not just any Château, but three of the most famous in all of Bordeaux are here: Lafite, Latour and Mouton Rothschild (pictured above). You can add those to the list of wines I’m unlikely to ever try in my life. But fear not! The wine I did drink, the 2005 Cháteau Pedesclaux is a fifth growth! Doesn’t sound too impressive, I know, but according to my World Atlas of Wine, “even the lesser growths approach the enthusiasts’ ideal”. A quintessential Bordeaux, if you will, that while young, was oaky and dry, yet a bit fruity with a touch of sweetness.

Pauillac is, in itself, a sleepy place. And flat. The “hills” at their steepest are 100 feet at their summit. I climb higher than that on many of my neighborhood walks with the baby! But, the terroir of the commune is a favorable one. Sounds like it may be hard to go wrong with a wine with Pauillac on the label. (Did you say it right? )

I remembered to take tasting notes this time! The wine was very dark, but had fuchsia edges since it was still young. It smelled of dark berries but was also earthy. I could smell the oak.

Since my financial circumstances don’t allow me to try properly aged Bordeaux as I’d prefer (although forty bucks for a fifth growth ain’t bad!), this wine was once again a bit young. We aerated and swirled a lot. The tannins were a bit strong (but softened by day two), and the acid was noticeable. Like most French reds, I’m finding, it had a medium body. It was spicy, like black pepper, with just a hint of fruit, maybe blackberry. A good wine, though I likely would have enjoyed it more had it been January 2016 rather than January 2011.

The Score: ★★★

After the insanity of the holidays, I was ready to get back to my “learning wines”, even though our holidays were wine filled. (We spent several days winding up California’s Central Coast visiting wineries in Santa Barbara, Solvang, Los Olivos and Paso Robles. I was relieved to come home without any cabernet sauvignon, but lots of Rhone style wines and pinot noir! Biggest lesson learnt from the trip however is that you cannot take your children into the tasting rooms in Solvang-- not good news for our crew. Next time we’ll skip that town and its danishes- though yummy- and spend more time in Paso where our older son can run around outside and look at the grapevines).

At any rate, so out of practice am I with my Give Me Grapes routine, it was on day two of drinking this , the 2005 Cháteau Lafleur-Gazin, that I realized I had failed to take any tasting notes. Oops! But first, the facts.

Having finally moved to the right bank, this wine is primarily merlot. Pomerol is teeny, but this small area produces wines that are often reputed to be among the best in all of Bordeaux. Although there is no classification system in place, some of these wines fetch even higher prices that first growths from the Médoc. The land, like many other places in the larger region, is a big gravel bank, and is mostly flat.

One of the most famous Château in Pomerol is Château Petrus. Since I can’t afford the thousands of dollars needed to taste that, I opened this nice little bottle of Château Lafleur-Gazin. Since the wine is made mostly from merlot, it doesn’t typically need as much aging as left bank Bordeaux, and this wine was 5 years old. However, after my first small sip it was clear the wine was pretty tightly wound. I poured the rest through the aerator. After being exposed to air, however, it really opened up and became the opulent, softer and slightly fruity wine I would expect. We drank the second half of the bottle the next day and it was quite fantastic, better than day one. I think I’m going to be a right bank-er...

The Score: ★★★★