Bordeaux Red, Red, Wine - Merlot and Cab Sauv - WSET Class 4 - Part 2

When I backpacked in France over thirty years ago, I really wasn't much of a wine drinker. Even back then, however, I knew that France was ground zero for wine. As mentioned before, I spent a couple days in Burgundy and had some record of my time there. I also spent time in the Bordeaux region, but I have no photos, no pamphlets, no information at all from that time. Perhaps I imbibed a bit too heavily on, what some people think are, the best wines in the world....

This week, we looked at some of the grape varietals in Bordeaux. We looked at both reds and white but the two main grapes that many people associate with Bordeaux are Cab Sauv and Merlot.

In Bordeaux there is the left bank - this is the the west side of the Gironde estuary and of the Dorgdogne  and Garonne Rivers. On the left bank they grow mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with some Merlot added in. I have really enjoyed the wines form the left bank as they have at least medium tannins and a lot of complexity.

On the right bank they grow mostly Merlot with some Cabernet Sauvignon. These are also good wines as they are a little more fruit forward and are ready to drink a little sooner.

The first tasting at my WSET course tonight was a comparison of two Merlot based wines. One was a Bordeaux right bank wine and the other was a New World Merlot.

I do have to admit I got a little side tracked. Dave, our instructor, talked about elegant and international styles and I think I mixed up the two in terms of Bordeaux and New World. Unfortunately, I chose that moment to announce to the group, boldly, what I thought - and was ultimately way off base. It was especially galling because I really like Bordeaux wines and I knew, deep down, which was which but got sidetracked by my own notes. Oh well!

The following tasting notes are a combination of what I thought that was actually correct and the group consensus which was much more correct that my evaluation.

The first wine was medium ruby and medium intensity on the nose. It was more of a red fruit wine with cranberry, raspberry and plum and had mint on the nose. On the palate there was black cherry, medium body, light tannins, medium acidity and a medium finish. It was rated as Good and was a Chilean Merlot by Torreon de Paredes that had 13.5% alcohol and cost $22. Maybe a wine to have with pasta on a Wednesday night.

The second wine was also a Merlot - a Bordeaux wine from the right bank. It was deep ruby - almost purple - in colour. It had medium plus intensity on the nose and had flavours of cherry, currants, tobacco, black fruit, wet clay, and jam. It was full bodied with medium plus tannins and medium plus acidity. It had a gloriously long finish! It was a 2010 Chateau Fleur Cardinale Grand Cru Classé from St Emilion which had a whopping 15% alcohol and cost $126! It was rated Very Good - almost Outstanding - and I would be happy to drink it with a variety of dishes, so long as I didn't have to pay....

That was the right bank - all Merlot. Finally, we did the left bank - Cabernet Sauvignon - where I did a lot better with my tasting notes....

The third wine was medium ruby - almost purple. It had medium intensity and had a variety of aromas including red currant, plum, mint, herbaceous notes, and some oak. On the palate, there was black fruit, black cherry, and tobacco. It had high acidity, medium tannins, medium body, and medium plus finish. It was rated as Very Good. I liked this one quite a lot and found it was from Graves (same place as Chateau de Callac). It was another Grand Cru Classé, this time from  Pessac-Leognan by Chateau Malartic made in 2013 and cost $90. Did I mention that I liked this one?

The fourth and final one was deep ruby in colour and was medium intensity on the nose with black currants and cassis and an almost earthy note. Tasting, there was black cherry, black pepper, cooked fruit and tobacco. It had full body, medium plus tannins and medium plus acidity. It had a medium plus finish and was rated at Very Good. It was a 2013 Darioush Caravan Cabernet Sauvignon for Napa valley which had 14.8% alcohol and cost $80. Another pricey wine that just may be worth it.....

I enjoyed the class a lot this week. I think Bordeaux wines are possibly my favourite French wines and it was great to taste them and compare to the New World wines.

Bordeaux Redux

Image of 1980 Bordeaux, France from images Stud Ouest

Many, many years ago, when I was just 23 years old, I went on a backpacking trip with a friend to Europe. We ended up staying close to eight months and had so many wonderful experiences, both together and apart. One of the times we split up for a while was when I wanted to go to France, and he, I believe, wanted to travel with some girl he had met.

I spent about three weeks in France, speaking my high school French and sampling wines, even though I was not a wine drinker at that time. I just knew that France was the kind of place where you drank wine.

I was eventually drawn to Bordeaux. I knew nothing about Bordeaux except the name and that it was famous for wine. I stayed there for a couple of days.

I remember wandering through the rather large city of Bordeaux looking for, well, something. Looking for a giant bottle of wine? For grape vines everywhere? I really didn't know. I was completely unprepared to actually order some wine because there was such a plethora of choices (By the time I got to the Burgundy region, however, I did find a way to taste many of the wines....more on that in a later blog).

I'm sure I saw some well manicured grounds and probably a couple of cathedrals but I didn't know where to look to find the wine.

Where I should have been looking was not in the bustling city of Bordeaux, but in the land around the city. What I have since found out (in the last few weeks, actually) is that there are two, distinct areas of Bordeaux. On the left side (called the Left Bank) of the Gironde River the vineyards grow mostly Cabernet Sauvignon - and arguably the best Cab Sauv there is. On the Right Bank of the Gironde River, Merlot is grown. There can definitely be a little mixing of Merlot into Cab Sauv and vice versa and there are a few other wines grown there but those are the main grapes of Bordeaux.

On the map, you may notice lots of names of places like Medoc, Haut Medoc, Saint Estephe and Margaux on the Left Bank, for example. Those are some of the top areas of Bordeaux wine. Those are such good growing areas that they are given their own Appellation - their own official wine making region. For example, wine from Medoc is "Appellation Medoc Controlee"  because it is better quality wine that is just from Bordeaux ("Appellation Bordeaux Controlee"), for example. There are even higher levels (Premiere Cru, Grand Cru) but those are wines that I'm not sure I can afford.

Anyways, 30 odd years after I came up empty with a proper wine, I finally had a Bordeaux wine to try, thanks to that Dundrave wine merchant!

The Chateau de Callac ($32) was the wine I bought last weekend in Dundrave in West Vancouver. This wine is from Graves region and is the regions is named that because of the gravel soil. Interestingly, terrible soil is the best for growing wonderful wine grapes. Graves is its own appellation ("Appellation Graves Controlee") so you know it's got to be a good quality wine.

Following the wine merchant's instructions, I decanted the wine 30 minutes before having it with a nice, rare, rib eye steak.

When I poured my first glass, I looked at the colour which seemed fairly ruby purply although there looked like some garnet on the edges of the wine. I had asked the merchant to suggest a wine that I could drink know so  I was worried that this was too young.

When I nosed the wine, I smelled blackberry, black cherry and possibly a bit of vanilla. When I tasted it I tasted tannins - but not overpowering at all - and a little bit of white pepper (which, apparently, indicates a young wine).  As I drank a few more sips, I tasted a wonderful roundness or smoothness which told me that this wine was a good wine to drink.

Overall, I really liked this wine. It had a complexity that kept me swishing and slurping throughout the meal.  The tannins were just the right amount and there was a richness that paired the wine perfectly with the steak. I would definitely buy this wine again.

Why am I doing a wine blog?

So, I've decided to take the plunge.

In a little less than two weeks, I will beginning to take a wine course - one, I hope, that is going to be a serious exposure to all things wine.

Despite the title, I won't become a sommelier, though, although this would probably be a step onto that path.

I will be taking a course called WSET 2 - Wine and Spirit Education Trust Level 2.

Why?

I've progressed a long way in my wine appreciation over the years.

Wayyyy back during the late 70s, drinking wine meant high alcohol, high sweetness local wines like Calona White and sweet, bubbly Fuddle Duck, wines that were closer to Kool Aid than Cabernet.

After pretty much avoiding wine in the 80s and 90s, I started making my own wine in the basement, sometimes from kits, sometimes from juice, and once, from juice and skins from a winery in the Okanagan. I did learn a lot about making wine, probably the most important thing being, I don't really like making wine. Then I 'made' wine at u-brew places, the best being a one called Once Upon a Vine where I convinced myself that I was making a pretty fine wine.

I was kidding myself. The wine was really still plonk.

Over the past 10 years I have become more and more interested in wine and have definitely become intently interested in learning about wine.

What is WSET and why am I taking level 2?

Well, it is an international organization that oversees a number of levels (4, actually) of wine knowledge, service and tasting. Becoming an actual sommelier is beyond level 4. But that's OK - I am not interested in becoming an actual sommelier - I just want to be a wine nerd. Also, I really enjoy drinking wine. And this course will help me enjoy drinking wine even more!

Level 1 is pretty basic so, after talking to a few people in the know, I felt that level 2 was a better starting level for me.

The purpose of this blog is to hopefully give you some insight on what it's like to take the WSET and to give you my opinion about some different wines that I will try during the WSET course.

So....onto the wines.

I was at a good friend's house for dinner last night and had a couple of interesting wines....

The first was an Adega and 45th Cabernet Franc ($26). We bought this at the winery a couple months ago and it was one of the few wineries open during the winter. When we were at the wintery, the grand-daughter of the founder served us. Grandpa came over from Portugal to farm in the Okanagan and switched to wine in 2005 with the winery opening in 2011.

The Cabernet Franc was a very nice drinking wine. It had some great fruit aromas - some berry and some plum - and left a nice taste in my mouth.

The second was an Australian red wine blend made in Port Misery (!) called Hope's End ($14.99). It was more had more tannins than the Adega and had a stronger taste but was also a bit jammy. According to the website, it is a blend of Shiraz, Malbec and Grenache and is quite drinkable. We had it with a beef and rice dish and it seemed to compliment it well.

Two to try for later:

My wife and I went for a great walk along the seawall in West Vancouver yesterday. While in Dundrave, we went to the Dundrave Wine Cellar to look at their wine. I spoke to the gentleman in the store and explained that I was going to be starting my WSET 2 and was interested in trying either a Burgundy or Bordeaux that was ready to drink now. He gave me several options and I found that I was able to follow around 75% of what he said - six months ago, it would have be 25%!

We settled on a Chateau de Callac from Graves ($32).

This is a Bordeaux wine from a winery on the left bank of the Bordeaux region. As you can see in the map below, it is in the lower left bank of the region.

The left bank of Bordeaux is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon and the right bank is predominantly Merlot. According to Wikipedia, the Graves region is the birthplace of Claret. Interestingly, a website I saw talked about how Claret was a name the English used for Bordeaux. Why? Well, during one of the umpteen wars against France, the English decided that, although they wanted to drink French wines, they didn't want to actually have French names for them. Claret was what the Portuguese called Bordeaux so the English starting using that non-French name for French wine from Bordeaux! 

The other wine is a Paso Creek Zinfandel ($15.99) that my friend is into at this point. It is a red Zinfandel which is curious as I have only drunk while Zinfandel before. Will have to try that one in the future!