Grand Vin de Château Latour 1949

Château Latour 1949
by ©LeDomduVin 2020

Grand Vin de Château Latour 1949

While visiting the cellar I stumbled across many empty bottles of old and rare wines, consumed within the last few years, that I kept for Wine Quality Control purposes. 

Château Latour 1949 (2)
by ©LeDomduVin 2020

I like to keep the labels or even the bottles with the labels of these old ladies that I eventually use or refer to when in doubt during a wine inspection. 

Château Latour 1949 (3)
by ©LeDomduVin 2020

They are like pieces of history, (even if empty), and I treat them as such. With sometimes, the taste of these old ladies still in mind, as I have been lucky enough to (at least) taste these great wines... more than once for some of them. 

Château Latour 1949 (4)
by ©LeDomduVin 2020

Château Latour 1949 is a stunning wine from a  rare and historic vintage. It has been rated very highly by the critics (e.g. 100 points by Robert Parker Jr., 98 points by Neal Martin) and as per www.cellartracker.com reaches the average of 94.4 points in 41 community wine reviews. 

Château Latour 1949 (5)
by ©LeDomduVin 2020

It is so good, that Neal Martin rated it 98 points twice. 

First in his journal:

"Tasted blind at the chateau, my God, this is just one ethereal Latour that has the audacity to steal the limelight from the ’61. Given its age, it still looks youthful with a thin tawny rim. The bouquet is gradually mutating into a Burgundy with just heavenly precision, a veneer of red fruit over minerals and a hint of seaweed. The palate is medium-bodied with the balance of tightrope walker halfway across the Niagara Falls. It is just so sublime, not powerful and extraordinarily intense with amazing poise on the finish. Warning: this wine can bring tears to the eyes. Tasted June 2011." (05/2012) 98 points 

And the second time, more recently, for www.vinous.com 

The 1949 Latour has the best aromatics compared to the 1945 and 1947: stylish, classy, beautifully defined, regal and just very Pauillac: vestiges of black fruit intermingling with graphite, cedar and subtle tertiary scents. It is the epitome of postwar Pauillac. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, wonderful acidity, shimmering black fruit laced with graphite and smoke that fan out in statesmanlike fashion towards the irresistible finish. This is one of the best bottles of the 1949 that I have tasted: cool and sophisticated as Noel Coward in a smoking jacket. Tasted at the Latour dinner in Hong Kong (NM) » (7/2018)

Château Latour 1949 (6)
by ©LeDomduVin 2020

I had the chance to taste it a few times in the last 8 years, more especially this particular bottle on the pictures in this post, and couldn't agree more with Neal Martin. More especially, as it was a magnum, not a regular bottles, which is even better as the bigger the volume the less fast the wine aged in the bottle. 

Tasted a few years ago, prior and after decanting it and prior to serving it for dinner, back in 2017 (if i remember well). From memory, my personal tasting notes were:

Chateau Latour, 1er Grand Cru Classé, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France (Magnum - 1.5L)

Recommended retail price 75,000 to 90,000 HKD (or 8,260 to 9,920 Euros)

"Fairly youthful, light to medium intensity, garnet-brownish colour, with dark orange brick hue (little sediments), for 1949. Elegant, refined, subtle at first, yet quite complex and aromatic nose after a minute in the glass. Lovely bouquet where mingle secondary and hints of tertiary scents, yet, here again, rather youthful for 1949, (slower ageing in magnum format surely helped), an enticing mix of red and blackberries, figs, graphite, pencil shave, cedar and leather with a note of minerality. The palate is medium-bodied, harmonious and perfectly balanced, expanding nicely and gently from attack to finish with flavors reminiscent of those on the nose all along until the fairly long and juicy finish. What a blast, and still so youthful, it could easily go on for another 10+ years and remain as good. Such a great and memorable wine" - Dominique Noël (2017)

Château Latour 1949 (7)
by ©LeDomduVin 2020

#latour #chateaulatour @chateau__latour #pauillac #bordeaux #bordeauxclassic #grandcruclasse #france #oldandrareladies #oldandrarewines #oldandrarevintages #wine #vin #vino #wein #ledomduvin @ledomduvin #lesphotosadom @ Hong Kong

All the above including pictures, tasting notes and texts ©LeDomduVin 2020 

Yquem Collection - Revisiting some old vintages

Yquem Collection

Revisiting some old vintages 

Chateau d'Yquem 1825 and 1826 labels ©LeDomduVin 2019

A bit more than two years ago, back in August 2017, I wrote a post about the company's "Yquem Collection" (*), proudly displayed at the time in the display cellar of "Le Pan Apicius" the French restaurant of the company work for, located at the ground floor of the company headquarters building in Kowloon Bay. (If interested read the post here)  

In this previous post, I was introducing to you to this quite unique "Yquem Collection" encompassing a bottle of Chateau d'Yquem 1825 and a bottle of Chateau d'Yquem 1856, as well as, at least, 1 or 2 bottles of each vintage produced at Chateau d'Yquem from 1856 to 2007, roughly a bit more than 140 different vintages displayed in that cellar at Le Pan Apicius. 

If interested to see some nice shots I took of some of these bottles, go back to the post (here), I must admit, some of the pictures are really good (I'm proud of myself for that 😁)

However, due to their fragility and their eventual degradation under the bright lights and natural light of the display cellar, I decided, a few months after putting them there, to remove all the vintages prior 1960 from the display cellar, and put these bottles back into a proper cellar with appropriate level of humidity (70-75%) and constant temperatures (12-13°C), and especially less light and fewer disturbances for these old ladies to be able to, once again, rest in peace in a quiet and peaceful environment in the dark.  

   

* To be continued and finished soon *




Santé! Cheers!

LeDomduVin (a.k.a. Dominique Noël)








(*) by "the company" I mean "the company I work for", but to keep it short, I refer it as "the company"



#yquem #yquem Collection @ledomduvin #ledomduvin #sauternes #bordeaux #bordeauxclassic #sweetwines #oldandrareladies #oldandrarevintages #oldandrarewines #oldandrarebottles  #vin  #wine #vino  #wein  #lesphotosadom #lesvideosadom #wineeducation #wineknowledge

Liber Pater: A casual meeting with Loïc Pasquet

Liber Pater

A casual meeting with Loïc Pasquet

Libero Patri Roman Coin - Photo courtesy of www.indianwineacademy.com

Life, sometimes, is full surprises. Opportunities that shouldn't be missed. Luck and/or the odds are surely for something in this equation, but the best moments in life are usually very simple and often unplanned, happening somewhat by chance due to certain situations, circumstances and/or as consequences of certain actions. 

Recently, I wrote a nice post about my grandfather and my childhood in the vineyards with him. The post was very personal and sentimental to me. It was a way to remember my grandfather and what I miss about him and living in the countryside (read it here). It was the following of a previous post I wrote about him in 2010, about a year after he passed away (read it here). 

Like I do occasionally, I posted the article on my Facebook page and shared it on other Facebook pages. One of these FB pages is "Wine Business", where other wine bloggers, journalists, producers, and other professionals actively involved (directly or indirectly) in the wine world, post articles and pictures. 

Interestingly, the post about my grandfather had a huge success and many readers, which I was really pleased by. And surprisingly enough, one of these readers was Loïc Pasquet from Liber Pater. I read many of his posts and articles from him and about him, Liber Pater and other subjects regarding the wine world, but I was far from imagining that he would read one of mine... but, after all, why not?   

Loïc contacted me via Messenger to tell me that he will be in Hong Kong for a few days early November and wanted to meet with me. At first, I was a little bewildered, as I don't know him, the company I work for doesn't buy his wine (yet...) and I was just wondering what could have triggered such interest to meet with me. After all, I'm just a rather unknown Wine Quality Control Director, Sommelier and Independent Wine Blogger, and not even in charge of the wine purchasing for the company I work for, and therefore not necessarily someone of interest for a wine producer like him.   

My insecure-self told him at first that I was not necessarily the person he would want to meet to discuss business or marketing strategy. But he told me that he just wanted to meet and discuss, not necessarily about business, but more about my opinion and views about the Hong Kong and China Market. Once again, I replied him that I was not necessarily the right person to talk to about that and may not have all the answers he was probably seeking, but then again that I was willing to discuss if he really wanted to and if his schedule allowed it. 

I mean what were the odds that such a meeting would take place? ... and that's what I meant by "life is sometimes full of surprises" and about "opportunities that shouldn't be missed". I've heard a lot about Loïc Pasquet and read countless articles about him, but the pleasure to meet him in person was a great opportunity to meet and converse with the mastermind behind the myth of Liber Pater.     

Liber Pater Labels - 2007, 2009 and 2010 -
Picture courtesy of www.indianwineacademy.com 
© Gerard Puvis / Liber Pater / Loïc Pasquet

The Myth

If I say "Myth" it is because "Liber Pater", which was not even established 15 years ago, is an unconventional success story and the result of the hard work, passion, and perseverance of one man: Loïc Pasquet. A man with convictions and determinations who believed in his project and pursue his dreams despite all the barriers and pitfalls the competitions, journalists and other administrations have put on his tortuous path to succeeding with a goal no one else believed in or thought it was possible: Recreating the taste of pre-Phylloxera Bordeaux wine by growing ungrafted vines and autochthonous grape varieties that used to exist in Bordeaux back in the mid-19th century.

Loic said: "I replanted old pre-phylloxera grapes like Tarnais Coulant and Castet, as the idea is to rediscover the taste of Bordeaux wines that everyone was talking about, at the time of the 1855 classification, but that nobody knows nowadays."

The day of the meeting arrived and I was not sure how to handle the situation or how will it go? Will we shake hands? have a drink and talk a little? then that's it? done... I did not know... and, as always, I was probably anticipating too much, so I decided to adopt the Carpe Diem attitude and will see how it goes on the moment... It is true, sometimes, meeting such a public personality for the first time can be tricky, you may have heard and read endless articles about the man, you never know how he will be in person until you meet face to face...  

Loïc Pasquet of Liber Pater 
IFC Terrace (Hong Kong) with the ICC in the background
Photo taken and edited by Dominique Noel (a.k.a. LeDomduVin) 
November 3rd, 2018 ©LeDomduVin 2018

I was pacing the floor of his hotel's hall when he suddenly appeared. I recognized him easily having seen his portrait on many websites, posts and news articles. We shook hands and the conversation started immediately, naturally, almost like if we already knew each other. So, I relaxed a little, realizing that he was very approachable and talkative and that, after all, this meeting was totally informal and not subject to signing a business contract at the end.  

I offered him to have a drink, like a glass of wine, but he had 2 busy days lunching, dining and drinking, and did not want anything. We sat down at a table and I ordered a glass of Sauvignon Blanc for myself. My head was full of questions but at the same time I did not want to harass him with too many of them, so the conversation went on with basic questions from my part and detailed answers on his part. I immediately regretted not to have a voice recorder to record the whole conversation as it was so interesting, full of stories and anecdotes and references to historical moments and facts. It was quite fascinating to hear him talk. 

"Franc de Pied" - Ungrafted Vines

Originally from Poitiers, Loïc was a mechanical and chemical engineer, who also worked for the car company Peugeot at some point. He loved wine and was a wine collector, and was always impressed by the quality, complexity, and taste of the old vintage wines. He actively started to research on the subject and tried to understand what could confer this great taste, complexity and more especially aging capability to the older vintage wines. He read and researched abundantly about wine history and geography of the 19th and early 20th century, and realized that "Franc de Pied" (ungrafted) pre-phylloxera vines that had been planted into specific soils with characteristics most suitable for certain grapes varieties, were the keys for the complexity, taste and aging potential of the wines.

Ungrafted or Grafted Vines: That is the Question? by ©LeDomduVin 2018

"Franc de Pied" is a French expression literally meaning "direct from the foot - or the roots if you prefer", or more commonly said in the wine world "ungrafted", meaning that the vine has been directly planted into the ground and it is whole from the roots to the branches (stems/shoots) and has not been grafted on American root. The French word "Pied" (meaning "Foot") consists of the base of the trunk and the roots of the vine (see picture above).

"Greffée" (meaning "Grafted") implies that a shoot or twig of European "Vitis Vinifera" vine has been inserted into a slit on the trunk or stem of a Phylloxera-resistant American rootstock vine (usually hybrid varieties created from the Vitis Berlandieri, Vitis Riparia and Vitis Rupestris species), from which it receives sap, so that it can grow and develop like if it was on his own natural roots.

Phylloxera Vastatrix

Illustration of Phylloxera Vastatrix smoking a cigar - Photo courtesy of Edward Linley Sambourne
Originally from an article in the www.dailysevenfifty.com 

Grafting Vitis Vinifera on American rootstock was the only successful solution to counter the Phylloxera Vastatrix, a small American louse introduced accidentally in Europe, which spread rapidly across the old continent and devastated most wine regions in Europe, roughly between the mid-1860s and the 1920s. France was largely affected and despite a few areas with sandy soils, where some pre-phylloxera vines can still be found nowadays, overall between two-thirds of the European vineyards were literally destroyed during that period.

The Phylloxera Vastatrix, originally native to eastern North America, cannot live on sandy soils and sub-soils, which is how some vineyards in some area survived the plague. Sandy soil types are quite effective at preventing the famous louse from attacking the roots, and thus also preventing it from living and reproducing. This small pale yellow sap-sucking insect, related to aphids, has two life cycles, the underground cycle, and the above ground cycle (see picture below).

Phylloxera Vastatrix Life Cycle - Picture courtesy of Cognac Expert.com

It feeds on the roots and/or leaves of grapevines. On Vitis vinifera, the resulting deformations on roots ("nodosities" and "tuberosities") and secondary fungal infections can girdle around the roots, gradually cutting off the flow of nutrients and water to the vine. Nymphs also form protective galls on the undersides of grapevine leaves of some Vitis species and overwinter under the bark or on the vine roots; these leaf galls are typically only found on the leaves of American vines. American vine species (such as Vitis labrusca) have evolved to have several natural defenses against phylloxera. (*)

A solution needed to be rapidly found and a few years of observation and trials by French and American scientists and producers concluded that uprooting the vineyards to replant more resistant American rootstocks seemed to be the best solution to counter the nearly unstoppable Aphid insect (I said "nearly" unstoppable because Phylloxera still exists to this day and it is still difficult to eradicate once established in the vines and the ground. And even currently, there is no cure for phylloxera and unlike other grape diseases such as powdery or downy mildew, there is no chemical control or response). (*)

Hence grafting became the European norm and most Vinifera vineyards in Europe were uprooted  (at great expenses and to the detriment of most producers), then grafted on American rootstocks replanted instead. It turned out to be a very effective decision, yet, contested and not appreciated by those who believed that American rootstocks may affect or even denature the taste of the wine, as acting as a sort of a « filter » between the soil, the native grafted vines, and the resulting grapes, which may not be as neutral as expected. 

Loic cited the owner of Chateau Margaux saying, back in 1904, that after he grafted his vines he lost the taste and complexity his wines had prior grafting. This is just one example among many others that made Loïc reflect on the subject, which in turn became an obsession and a goal for him: How to retrieve or recreate the taste of pre-Phylloxera Bordeaux wines?

The quest to find a vineyard

Landiras to Liber Pater - Map Courtesy of Google Map 

Loïc was convinced that ungrafted vines of specific autochthonous varieties planted on the most ideal and specific soils for these varieties are the keys to make the best wine possible and retrieve the taste and complexity of pre-Phylloxera Bordeaux wines (made prior 1860). So he went on a quest to find a parcel of wine to buy.

After a certain amount of time searching in different regions for the ideal "Terroir" and what his wallet (at the time) could afford him, his quest landed him in the village of Landiras, a small village of the Graves area, roughly about 40 kilometers southeast of Bordeaux, and less than 9 kilometers northwest of Sauternes.

In 2005, about 5 kilometers northwest of Landiras (see map above), he found and bought what looked like an abandoned parcel of old vines planted on gravel and sandy soils, atop a small mound at about 80 meters above sea level, which became Liber Pater.

Duality of origins of the sedimentary deposits in the Bassin Girondin Map by Becheler Conseils
Courtesy of Becheler Conseils, from their 2017 Report on Geological History 
(with the addition of Langon, Landiras and Liber Pater location by ©LeDomduVin) 

A unique type of soils

Loïc property encompasses about 7 hectares of vineyards planted on a spot with a very unique soil composed of old gravels, sand, and minerals. These are deposits of marine origins and continental origins accumulated there over the last 50 million years. The various layers of deposits were gradually created over time by the numerous marine transgression and regression of the sedimentary basin of the Gironde (Bassin Girondin/Aquitain), also influenced by the various mass movements that occurred between the sea and the continents, and the proximity with the "Anticlinal Villagrains-Landiras"  (see map above and below courtesy of Becheler Conseils (**) Map above revisited by ©LeDomduVin).

Diagram of the distribution and origin of the various deposits in the Girondine syncline
Courtesy of Becheler Conseils, from their 2017 Report on Geological History  

5.3 million years ago, the sea withdrew completely from the Aquitaine Basin (and the Department of the Gironde as a whole). This final marine regression dragged along parts of the continent due to the erosion of the soil and gradually deposited sand and clay and more especially gravel (pebbles) on its way on the emerged soils. Hence the name of the region "Graves", due to its significant amount of pebbles in the soils. 

For those of you who may not have a clue about what I'm talking about:

Marine Transgression: is a geologic event during which sea level rises relative to the land and the shoreline moves toward higher ground, resulting in flooding from the sea covering previously exposed land. Transgressions can be caused either by the land sinking or the ocean basins filling with water (or decreasing in capacity). (***)

Marine Regression: is a geological process occurring when sea level falls or progressively descends and areas of submerged seafloor are exposed above the sea level. (***)

Example of Soil Cut, Anticline and Syncline by ©LeDomduVin 2018

Syncline refers to a trough or fold of stratified rock in which the strata slope upwards from the axis and Anticline refers to the opposite, the strata slope downwards from the axis (see illustration above).

If I'm insisting on the type of soils, and more especially the layer of sand below the gravelly soil, it is because Loïc talked a lot about it during our meeting as a key factor preventing Phylloxera, thus enable him to plant and grow ungrafted vines.

I tried to search and find on the internet a clear map of the soils around Landiras showing that specific spot where Liber Pater vineyards are located, in order to show you why his terroir and soils particulars are so "unique" in this area, but I was not able to find one. So, I look into my book collection and found an interesting map in a book I bought and posted about back in October 2017 (read the post here), called "Le Vignoble Girondin" by Germain Lafforgue, 1st edition from 1947 (Louis Larmat editor).

"Le Vignoble Girondin" by Germain Lafforgue, 1st edition from 1947 (Louis Larmat editor)

Photo taken by ©LeDomduVin 2017

"Le Vignoble Girondin" (by Germain Lafforgue, 1947) has become my Wine Bible, not to be mistaken with THE "Wine Bible" from Karen MacNeil, (for whom I have much respect and always admire, and her book has always been a source of references and part of my personal selected wine book collection since its first release back in 2001).

"Le Vignoble Girondin" is a tremendous book and an invaluable source of references regarding the Gironde Department and Bordeaux vineyards, chateaux, and properties, with amazing details on the history, geology, topography, grape varieties, soils, terroir, climate, vinification, winemaking, aging and pretty much everything else in the world of Bordeaux wine. It is a must have and a must read for all Bordeaux wine lovers.

And, interestingly, it is, in my opinion, in direct correlation with Loïc Pasquet and Liber Pater, as the book describes in details exactly what Loïc has been inspired by. I will tell you more about it further below in the paragraph on the grape varieties.

So, in this book, I found these two old maps of the Gironde and the soil types within the Bordeaux Regions.

"Le Vignoble Girondin" de Germain Lafforgue 1947 - ©L. Larmat edition
Vineyards Map of the Gironde Region

Let's zoom into the map to locate the village of Landiras and thus Liber Pater

"Le Vignoble Girondin" de Germain Lafforgue 1947 - ©L. Larmat edition
Crop Vineyards Map of the Gironde Region 
with added location of Liber Pater by ©LeDomduVin 2018

Now let's have a look at this great map of the soils of the Gironde and thus Bordeaux vineyards. I tried to find a more recent map, but was enable to either in books or even online. One more reason to promote this book as an invaluable reference.

"Le Vignoble Girondin" de Germain Lafforgue 1947 - ©L. Larmat edition
Map of the soil types of the Gironde Region

Like for the previous map, let's zoom into the map to have a closer look at the type of soils on which Liber Pater is resting.

"Le Vignoble Girondin" de Germain Lafforgue 1947 - ©L. Larmat edition
Crop Map of the soil types of the Gironde Region 
with added location of Liber Pater by ©LeDomduVin 2018

In order to better understand the map above, let's have a look at the map legends below:

Legendes de la Map des types de sols la Gironde ©L. Larmat 1947
with Liber Pater soil pointed by ©LeDomduVin 2018

For you to understand the legends,

Geology (soil types) around Landiras -Liber Pater by ©leDomduVin 2018
based on Legendes de la Map des types de sols la Gironde ©L. Larmat 1947

As you can now understand by looking at the location of Liber Pater on the map and the map's legends, the uniqueness of Liber Pater's sub-soil comes from the fact that the vineyard rest on a patch of  calcareous sand and clay with oyster's debris dating from the "Aquitanian" stage (Miocene epoch - Tertiary Period) tipping a bigger patch of soil from the "Stampien" stage (Oligocene epoch - Tertiary Period) surrounded by low terraces of "Quaternaire Ancien" (Ancient Quaternary Period). A type of soil very similar to the one found around the village "Saucats" (a few kilometers up north of Landiras).


Here is a simplified Geological Timescale for you to better understand these different geological time periods and when the type of soil around Landiras and Liber Pater was formed.

Simplified Geological Timescale by ©LeDomduVin 2018
Source ICS 2017 (International Commission on Stratigraphy)

Underneath the upper layer of gravel soil, this type of sub-soil, somewhat unique (as it can only be found as patches throughout the whole Bassin Aquitain) and rich in sedimentary rocks containing fossilized skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, forams and molluscs (such as oysters), as well as minerals calcite and aragonite, forms a patch or an island around Landiras (see as indicated on the map above) and thus confers to Loïc's wines more complexity and depth than his neighbors with vines planted on the ground made of low terraces of "Quaternaire Ancien" (Ancient Quaternary Period - light green on the map above), which are less rich.

Here is again the example of a soil cut in the Graves area around Landiras for you to have a clearer understanding of the soil and sub-soil in mind.

Example of Soil Cut, Anticline and Syncline by ©LeDomduVin 2018

Moreover, the layer of sand prevents the Phylloxera from living, reproducing, spreading, and more importantly attacking the vine's roots and leaves, hence allowing for "Franc de Pied" vines to be planted and no need for grafting, and enabling Loïc to plant pre-Phylloxera grapes that used to exist in the region of Bordeaux back in 1955.

The comeback of the ungrated Pre-Phylloxera grape varieties in Bordeaux 

When Loïc bought Liber Pater's vineyard in 2005, it was already planted with the usual grape varieties allowed by the AOC in the Graves appellation, which nowadays represent about 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot for the reds and 80% Semillon and 20% Sauvignon Blanc for the whites. The white being made from vines about 80-85 years old in average, and about 40 years old vines in average for the reds. The first vintage of Liber Pater under his full control was 2006.

First Sketch of Liber Pater 2011 label: The Dream of Liber Pater
by the Talented Artist Gerard Puvis (Painter/Sculptor)
Photo courtesy of Loïc Pasquet ©GerardPuvis

In 2011, not deviating from his idea to recreate the taste of pre-Phylloxera Bordeaux wine by replanting and growing ungrafted vines of autochthonous grape varieties (that used to exist in Bordeaux back in the mid-19th century), and thus take part in the comeback of the ungrafted pre-Phylloxera grape varieties in Bordeaux; and also eager to put to the test his believe (that it is the only way to retrieve the  authentic taste, complexity and aging potential of the wine of Bordeaux as it used to be prior 1960s when vines started to be uprooted and grafted on American rootstocks due to the Phylloxera plague), Loïc concretized his project (his dream should I say) by planting old forgotten (and not allowed by the INAO in the AOC Graves) grapes varieties such as Castet, Mancin, Tarney Coulant and Marselan.


Interestingly, I went back to my Bordeaux wine bible, "Le Vignoble Girondin", to research about some of these grape varieties and when were they planted in Bordeaux. Flipping through the pages, I found very interesting things related to these above mentioned forgotten grape varieties on pages 145 to 150 (you have to know how to read french... sorry for the inconvenience):

"Le Vignoble Girondin" de Germain Lafforgue 1947 - ©L. Larmat edition "Page 144"

Photo taken by ©LeDomduVin 2018

 

"Le Vignoble Girondin" de Germain Lafforgue 1947 - ©L. Larmat edition "Page 145"
Photo taken by ©LeDomduVin 2018

"Le Vignoble Girondin" de Germain Lafforgue 1947 - ©L. Larmat edition "Page 146"
Photo taken by ©LeDomduVin 2018

"Le Vignoble Girondin" de Germain Lafforgue 1947 - ©L. Larmat edition "Page 147"
Photo taken by ©LeDomduVin 2018

"Le Vignoble Girondin" de Germain Lafforgue 1947 - ©L. Larmat edition "Page 148"
Photo taken by ©LeDomduVin 2018

"Le Vignoble Girondin" de Germain Lafforgue 1947 - ©L. Larmat edition "Page 149"
Photo taken by ©LeDomduVin 2018

"Le Vignoble Girondin" de Germain Lafforgue 1947 - ©L. Larmat edition "Page 150"
Photo taken by ©LeDomduVin 2018

Let me try to resume all these pages in a visual as I like to do them... (easier to understand).




    

  

Work still in Progress..... (quite a few more paragraphs to come).....

  

Loïc Pasquet of Liber Pater and Dominique Noel
IFC Terrace (Hong Kong) with the ICC in the background
Photo taken for LeDomduVin - November 3rd, 2018
©LeDomduVin 2018

Santé! Cheers!

Dominique Noel a.k.a. LeDomduVin

#liberpater #loicpasquet #graves #bordeaux #france #vin #wine #vino #wein #prephylloxeravines #storyofmylife #meetingwiththeproducer #winemaker #history #soils #ungraftedvines #ledomduvin #lesphotosadom #lesillustrationsadom #leshistoiresadom #dominiquenoel @liberpater @ledomduvin 

(*) Text taken or partly taken from and courtesy of Wikipedia Phylloxera article (read it here)

(**) Maps, data and info sourced from and courtesy of Becheler Conseils, from their 2017 report  partly on the Geology and History of the Bassin Aquitain. The report is in French, you can read it here  . For more details about Becheler Conseils, go to their website at http://becheler-conseils.com/ 

Fake and counterfeit wines - Investigation series: Chateau Barade

Fake and counterfeit wines 

Investigation series: Chateau Barade

As a Wine Quality Control Director, Sommelier and Wine Buyer, I feel that it is my job, my duty and my responsibility to denounce fake and counterfeit wines on the markets. As part of my job is to do the authentication of the bottles we buy for the company, I feel that it is also my job to point out fake and counterfeit wines present in the market, especially those you may not necessarily be aware of. 

So, for today's post, it all started last Sunday, when a friend of mine sent me a picture of a wine a friend of his just drank in the Canton province in China. 

Chateau Barade 2014 Bordeaux bottled at Saint-Etienne des Oullieres, Rhone-Alpes, France
©LeDomduVin 2018 (Label 1 - Fake Label)

At first glance, nothing major, it is a bottle of a generic Bordeaux AOP (Appellation d'Origine Protégée), 2014 vintage, Chateau Barade, "Vignésime" (an interesting marketing stunt with this French play-on-words of the 2 words "Vigne" (vine) and "Millésime" (vintage) mingled together), which (supposedly) is a "Cuvée Prestige" and apparently received a medal of some sort at a tasting somewhere (looking at it closely, the medal looks really weird, isn't it?). 

Yet, suddenly something caught my eyes, do you see it? yes? no? Well, let me give you a hint... 

The label states that this wine was bottled in Saint-Etienne des Oullieres, with 69460 for zip code.... .....still don't know what I'm trying to point at? Well, let me tell you, anyone who has no clue about France and its zip codes, may fall into the trap, but not a Bordeaux winemaker's grandson like me (in fact, most French people should notice this inaccuracy right away...I hope...)...

Still not sure what I'm trying to say? Well, let's look at a map, should we?

Bordeaux to Saint-Etienne des Oullieres Map - Courtesy of Google Map

Yes, you read this map well, "Saint-Etienne des Ouillieres" is a commune of the "Rhone-Alpes" region, located north of the city of Lyon, about 5 hours and 30 minutes driving and roughly 570 kilometers far from Bordeaux.... Where they produce?.... Do you know what they produce in this region? They produce BEAUJOLAIS..... nothing whatsoever to do with Bordeaux.

Unbelievable, isn't it?

How a Bordeaux wine can be bottled in the Beaujolais region? Impossible as per the French rules of the INAO (The "Institut National de l'Origine et de la Qualité", the French organization in charge of regulating French agricultural products with Protected Designations of Origin - AOC, AOP, IGP, STG, etc...).

Therefore, yes, it must be a fake bottle of Bordeaux AOP  sold in the Chinese market (and probably elsewhere)... another one... (sigh)... and once again, (like if the bottling location was not already a good indication that there is something fishy with this bottle), I will go further and put my authentication skills and knowledge to the test and prove it to you... (as I usually like to do 😊)

Time to investigate once again...

Time to investigate once again.... ©LeDomduVin 2018

So, taken aback by the discovery of this plain sight fake bottle of a supposedly Bordeaux wine bottled in the Beaujolais region, I decided to pursue my investigation a little further on this so-called "Chateau Barade"..... (which actually exist in Bordeaux by the way, therefore the one above can only be an imitation...)

And what I discovered, digging up info and pictures on the internet,  triggered my interested even more.... Where to start? How about starting with "what and where is Chateau Barade?"

First, I could not find a website for "Chateau Barade", which does not mean anything as many small producers are not necessarily interested, nor do not have the time or even the money, to invest in a proper website (even if nowadays you can create a really good looking website for free on a multitude of platforms on the internet). However, I still found a few websites with some info and pictures.

For example, if we go to "Monsieur Touton Selection" website (here), a very reputable wine importer and distributor established in the New York area for the past 30 years (from which I used to buy a lot of wines during my New York years as a Wine Buyer and Wine Boutique store manager between 2002-2011 in NYC - "Hello" to Maxime Touton, if you ever read this post), we can learn the following:

The Chateau Barade vineyard was created in 1956 by Mr. Caillard. It covered then a total area of about 2 hectares, located at Bossugan, a little village of the "Entre-Deux-Mers" region, south-east of Bordeaux (about 7.5 kilometers south of Castillon-la-Bataille). Philippe Dard took over the family property and created in 1992 the farming company with Laurent Dard to produce generic Bordeaux AOP wines. (*)

Nowadays, the vineyard encompasses about 23 hectares of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc planted on predominantly clay and gravel soils, with a density of 3300 vines per hectare. The age of the vines is about 25 years old. Harvest is mechanical. The wine undergoes a fermentation at low temperature to preserve the fruit, followed by a traditional wine-making process.  It has a preservation time of 5 years prior showing more maturity (meaning losing its freshness and reaching its peak basically). (*)

So far, no problem... but it gets interesting from that point on...

Mr. Touton Selection apparently only sells the 3L Box Wine (a.k.a. bag-in-box wine) version of Chateau Barade, boasting these 2 labels on the box

Chateau Barade 3L Box Wine (Label 2)

Chateau Barade 3L Box Wine Label (Label 2)

Now, I would like you to take a closer look at these 2 labels above (as they are supposed to be the real labels), more especially the house in the vineyard, and remember them well to then, in turn, compare them with the other labels of Chateau Barade a bit further down in this post.

It is very important as you can already clearly see the differences between these 2 labels (Label 2 is supposedly the real thing) and the label at the beginning of this post (Label 1 is clearly a very nicely counterfeited fake bottle with a huge mistake on the label), as:

• The overall drawing is different

• The house is different (very important point, as, how come two wines from the same estate can boast a different house on their label.... unless it is the same house from various angles, but I do not think so.... fishy, isn't it? )

• The vineyard is different (...unless here again, it is viewed from a different angle...)

• The label color, font and design is different 

• Basically, the overall presentation is different

But let's not jump to conclusion too hastily, and let's go to another website, like "MTVins - Bordeaux" (here) for example (a company that apparently was established in 1982, but that I had no idea it existed until today). 

MTVins is telling us that Château Barade belongs to Laurent Dard, and it has been in the family since 1956 when his grandfather bought the first vines. He started off with just 5 hectares (slightly different from Mr. Touton stating 2 hectares), but now 35 hectares of vines are planted (here again, different from the 23 hectares on Mr. Touton website, but this could just be a question of not updating the info on their website for a while) and some 250,000 bottles of wine are produced each year. Today Laurent is helped in the running of the estate by his son, Florian. (**)

MTVins is also adding that the vineyard is situated in the foothills of Bossugan (hills is a lot to say, Bossugan is a tiny village in between 2 rather small bumps...) in the heart of the Entre-Deux-Mers region. The vines are on average twenty years old (20? not 25 like on Mr. Touton website? they probably uprooted some when they bought it in 1992 and replanted new ones since...) and the clay-limestone soil (I thought it was clay and gravel, maybe some limestone underneath in parts of the vineyard so then...) is great for producing a wine that typifies the red Bordeaux appellation. (**)

The additional details on MTVins website (compared to Mr. Touton) are: 

• Chateau Barade 2014 vintage is made with 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon
• It has a cellaring potential of 5 years
• It received a Silver Medal in Paris

So, despite a few details, both sites are roughly saying the same things, but, surprisingly the label presented on MTVins is completely different from the 3 labels above, yet, same wine and same 2014 vintage... see for yourself... 

Chateau Barade 2014 Bordeaux - Orange Label  (Label 3)

Chateau Barade 2014 Bordeaux - Orange Label (2) (Label 3)

Once again a lot of differences when compared with the other labels, which makes me think that it could be (or maybe, and it is a far-fetched "maybe"...) the label for the US market as: 

• different label color (orange to get better visibility on the shelves amongst all the other Bordeaux classic labels and more modern style maybe also to draw millennial drinkers attention... maybe..?)

• different letter font and color (a question of style depending on the targeted type of markets and drinkers... maybe...?)

• different type of label: compared to the other ones above, this orange label appear to be embossed (for those of you who may not know, embossing is the process of pressing an image onto the label paper, to make the image (or parts of the image) rise above the rest of the label, to give the customers a more tactile experience...maybe...?)

• grape varieties on the label (more usually seen on bottles produced in or sold for the so-called "New World" markets like the US, Australia, South-America, etc...)

• the Silver Medal supposedly received in Paris is nowhere to be found on the label (strange as it is usually the pride the producer/winemaker to put it on the label (front or back does not matter)) 

• the drawing of the house and vineyards completely disappeared

• a "fancy" logo with the initials "CB" (for Chateau Barade, I guess...) surmounted by a crown has been added to the label and the capsule...   

However, let's admit that this distinctive orange label is (as the 3L Box Wine label above) also legit and let's move on to another website, like Wine-Searcher for example.

Oh, what a surprise, Wine-Searcher is showing us a different label (again?). Both labels below are roughly the same, except that one mentions "Cuvée Vieilles Vignes" ("Old Vines", strange for a vineyard of only averaging 20 years of age...), which is not mentioned on the one from Wine-Searcher, representing the regular wine.

That means that there should be (at least) two Chateau Barade labels and (strangely enough) both with a proper Medal (not like this fake imitation bottled in Beaujolais above at the beginning of this post with its weird looking medal wannabe...)

1. the regular one like on Wine-Searcher

Chateau Barade bottle picture courtesy of Wine-Searcher.com

(please note that Wine-Searcher states that it is a "Bordeaux Superieur", while the label only states "Bordeaux", not "Bordeaux Superieur".... go figure...)


2. and the "Cuvée Vieilles Vignes" (probably from a parcel selection amongst the oldest vines...)

Chateau Barade 2014 Cuvée Vieilles Vignes (Label 4)

The label above has been slightly modified for the latest vintages ("modernized" somehow...?) and is now looking like the label below. That is a lot of different labels for the same wine or same producer so far....  (unless they are different cuvées or different labels for different markets... maybe... yet, for a Bordeaux AOP sold in the market between 12-15 Euros, which is kind of expensive for a generic Bordeaux AOP wine, as they normally sell for maximum 8-10 Euros a bottle, it is a doable marketing stunt that would not even surprise me....)

Chateau Barade 2015 Vintage (label 5)

And here again, did you notice all the changes and differences compared to all the previous labels above?

• The house has completely disappeared from the drawing on the label (again...?), only the vineyard remained (view from another angle, again..?) and a tiny windmill has been added in the background... (no comments...)  

• The drawing now is encircled with Golden rings (why not...)

• And, out of nowhere, a new logo or "Coat of Arms" should I say (or "Blason" in French) has been added and embossed on the bottle (which is normally reserved for families with Royal or Noble roots in France, are they?...) and added to the capsule too 

• The medal is not part of the main label (at the bottom) anymore, just a golden sticker at the top right-hand side of the label (which is normal and pretty common nowadays.. nothing wrong with that)  

Here is the back label, if you want to have a look at it as well

Chateau Barade Label 4 (back label) 

Strange, but not impossible, the back label is stating that the wine was bottled in Landiras (zip code 33720), let's look at the map again, which is a commune located about 47 kilometers or 50 minutes driving away to the south-west from Bossugan 

Bossugan to Landiras courtesy of Google Map

I don't know about you, but I personally think that it is a lot of changes for a label of a small producer producing Bordeaux AOP wines... moreover, it must be terribly costly to constantly change the label  from one vintage to the next to begin with... but imagine how costly and time consuming it must be to change the entire label design, as well as the logo and emboss the label and more especially the bottle, 3 or 4 times for the same wine and more especially for the same 2014 vintage... just saying...

Because, if we recap, so far, and looking closely at the 4 different labels of Chateau Barade 2014 (above and in the photo collage below), basically for the same wine, (but maybe, and once again, it is a far-fetched "maybe"... maybe they are "maybe" different wines after all), I found all the following differences, which are way too many variations for my taste for not being fishy (somewhere, somehow....) and hard for me to believe that all these 4 labels are genuine... (at least 1 of them isn't, the "Beaujolais" one for sure is not genuine..... and if someone dares telling me that it is  not a mistake, I will probably laugh out loud for a while, then call the INAO right away.. seriously 😊) 

Chateau Barade 2014 - 4 different labels (at least one is fake) © LeDomduVin2018

Label 1. The supposedly fake Bordeaux bottled in the Beaujolais region "Vignésime" (label with vineyards upfront and a small house in the background with dependencies surrounding it, stating that it is a "Prestige Cuvée")

Label 2. The regular wine in 3L Wine Box (label with a big house that has nothing to do with the first label and vineyards viewed at a different angle)

Label 3. The regular wine in a 750 ml bottle with an embossed orange label (label with no more house or vineyards, but a new logo and stating the grape varieties)

Label 4. The regular wine in a 750ml bottle with the golden circles around the drawing (label with no house but the vineyard remained, maybe a view from a different angle again, and a coat of arms has been added, and it is totally different from the logo on the bottle with the orange label)

Label 5. The "Cuvée Vieilles Vignes" which is the same as number 4 with the additional "old vines" statement

I can hear you say:  ..." but what are you talking about, maybe he just has a different labels for all of his wines/cuvées "...  and I would agree with you if it was a fact, but searching around the internet, it was impossible for me to find out on any of the various websites I visited, if this producer (Chateau Barade) either produces 5 different Labels or Cuvées under the Chateau Barade name or not...


And frankly, I could have stopped there my investigation and moved on to other projects, but I couldn't as I also found the following labels for Chateau Barade 2014... (sigh)

Chateau Barade 2014 - Another label (Label 6)

Chateau Barade 2014 - Another label (Label 6)

As you can see on this label above (Label or Cuvée number 6 now?...), once again, everything as changed

• The label colors, font, design and details are completely different 

• The house look is (once again) completely different and there are no more vineyards around it

• The logo and/or Coat of Arms is also completely different (only 1 initials instead of two compared to the logo, the lions on the side, etc...) and does not appear on the capsule this time (I mean WTF... what is going on?  no consistency whatsoever with this producer....)

• And, this time, (definitely more and more strange), it has not been bottled in Saint-Etienne des Ouillieres (69460) in the Beaujolais region (😊), or even in Landiras (33720) as stated on the other labels, it has been bottled at the "Chateau"...   ...at the Chateau? which Chateau? I'm counting 3 different ones so far on all these labels... so which one of these houses is supposed to be the so-called "Chateau"? (I wonder...) 

Label or Cuvée number 6 could have been the last one, but no.... (sigh)...
Look what I found... yes, it is another completely different label...
Aaaarrgghh.... it never ends.... (sigh)...
This producer must be constantly changing his mind on label design (or some of those labels are the fruits of a really good counterfeiter... not possible otherwise)...

Chateau Barade (Label 7) 

Chateau Barade (Label 7) 

Look at this label, once again so many variations and differences (Label number 7).....

• Smaller label (could it be the old label? ok, maybe... but why this embossment on the bottle looks so peculiar)
• Different color, font, design
• Different house (again?...pffff)
• Different vineyard view... 
• Etc.... 
• And the cherry on the cake, the bottle is embossed with a crown and the name "CRUSE" (I mean, again, WTF? What is going on here?)

Moreover, this label number 7 is really strange compared to this label below of the Cuvée Vieilles Vignes 2012. 

Chateau Barade 2012 Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

Why will a producer in his right mind will go to the trouble of changing the design of the label and embossing the bottle for the "Cuvée Vieilles Vignes" 2012 and not doing it for the regular wine 2012 vintage? (money reason? maybe... he changed his mind, maybe...) you never know, but obviously, he decided to do it starting from the 2013 vintage, as both bottles and labels (regular and Vieilles Vignes) are the same... (as far as I can see...) 

But the "CRUSE" embossment on the bottle of that label 7, that can't be right? Can it? Fishy, I'm telling you, there is something fishy about all these labels.....  

And to finish this lengthy investigation, yes he did it again..... look what he did to the label of the "Cuvée Vieilles Vignes" 2016 (label 8), he changed it again.....

Chateau Barade Cuvée Vieilles Vignes 2016 (label 8)

Unbelievable isn't it? Is there something fishy here or what?

Chateau Barade various Labels (at least 1 is fake...) © LeDomduVin 2018

So in conclusion, I will say that, unless someone can prove me that Chateau Barade is really  producing at least 3 or 4 different wines, yet all called "Chateau Barade" and all in the 2014 vintage with 3 or 4 completely different labels (refer to label 2, 3, 4 and 6); I, personally, will continue to think that part of this whole story smells and feels like a scam in my opinion.

Let's be serious, what I mean is that

• either the producer knows about it and is maybe the one who took the initiative to make 3-4 different labels for the same wine in the same vintage (which could be weird, but not unseen before in Bordeaux, as some producers may have totally different labels for the same wine depending on the targeted markets and customers - even if will make it difficult for people for brand recognition and thus to associate the same brand name and same vintage with the various labels), 

• or he does not know anything, and is simply victim of a huge parallel market on his brand..... (which seems to good to be true in my opinion...)

Whatever is the answer, the reality is that there are definitely copies of his wines on the black and/or grey market (***) in China for sure (and elsewhere maybe). And the label number 1 is a far cry statement of it.
An undeniable fact that is (unless proved wrong). 

That's all folks for today...

Cheers! Santé! and stay tuned for more post like this one coming soon.....

Dominique Noel a.k.a. LeDomduVin     

  

(*) Info partly taken and edited from Monsieur Touton Selection website (here)

(**) Info partly taken and edited from MTVins website (here)

(***) Black Market = illegal  and Grey Market = more or less legal until caught