New "Légende" series of affordable négociant wines from Bordeaux's Domaines Barons de Rothschild

 

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Here's how the company describes this new line and what it is supposed to represent:

"Légende offers consumers a journey through the different terroirs and tastes of the heralded Bordeaux region through the eyes of one of the region’s most prestigious producers, Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite). “It all started in the nineties. We wanted to offer our consumers a discovery of the different terroirs and tastes of Bordeaux. A name had to be found. A name that could live up to the expectations. A hint to the Rothschild family and the rich history of Château Lafite. A légende was born.” Crafted by long-time Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) winemaker, Diane Flamand, Légende wines demonstrate a remarkable balance between tradition and modernity. With a product range that includes each of the five major appellations in Bordeaux: Bordeaux Rouge, Bordeaux Blanc, Médoc, Saint-Emilion and Pauillac, Légende wines have an approachable style, inspired by every day drinkability and enjoyment."

I think this is an impressive new series that might have good success in the American market if they can get younger consumers to bite. These wines are a nice step up from Mouton Cadet and a good example of the terrific Bordeaux wines you can buy these days at moderate prices.

Domaines Barons de Rothschild Légende 2016 Pauillac Bordeaux ($55) This blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Merlot from Pauillac is very approachable and fresh with bright, with vibrant violet and blueberry aromas, deep black currant and red currant fruit and a hint of tobacco leaf on the finish. Clean, balanced and agile, but with just enough muscle and structure. It was spectacular with braised lamb shanks, and could definitely be cellared for a few more years. (92 Points)

 Domaines Barons de Rothschild Légende 2016 St.-Emilion Bordeaux ($40) The St.-Emilion showcases the charms of Merlot with a velvety, plummy nose, generous raspberry, blueberry and plum fruit, baking spices, fruitcake, and a voluptuous finish that suggests easy early drinking. (90 Points)

Domaines Barons de Rothschild Légende 2016 Médoc ($  ) Ripe and toasty with a spicy nose and ripe plum, currant, cinnamon and tobacco flavors, it seems a little clumsy next to the Pauillac, but it's packed with flavor and well-made. I wonder if this bottle might have gotten a bit hot in transit. (86 Points)

Domaines Barons de Rothschild Légende 2017 Bordeaux Rouge ($19) I think this wine is just terrific for the price. What makes a texbook Bordeaux? Mostly black and a bit of red currant fruit, a little cinnamon, and delicate herb notes. There's not too much new oak on this wine and it's eminently drinkable. You could serve it with almost anything. It's really quite simple and inexpensive, but it shows the elegance and class that has made Bordeaux a renowned wine region for centuries. Definitely recommended. (89 Points)

Domaines Barons de Rothschild Légende 2019 Bordeaux Blanc ($19) A very nice white Bordeaux blend with clean, fresh melon, citrus and clover notes. A little more concentration would add a 'wow' factor, but as it stands, this is a versatile, very drinkable, lovely white. (88 Points)

 - Tim Teichgraeber

 

VIK: A Top Estate Emerges from Chile

In every emergent wine territory, there are always pioneers with big bags of money who figure they're going to go in early, and make THE BEST WINE IN THE WORLD and charge a lot of money for it, and make out like geniuses. This has happened all over the world, over and over again. And usually the really rich people aren't there first, they show up a little late, but with a bigger bag of money.

It happened in Napa Valley in the mid-1970's, when Napa Valley wines were just beginning to show their potential and capture the world's attention. It has happened in Argentina, in Australia, in Uraguay, in Roussilon, in Mendocino County, Tasmania, sheesh, it's happening in Southern England at this very moment.

Hey, I admire people who want to take a risk and get into the game early on. That's the spark, Their capital drives things forward in a very necessary way, and if the big investors guess right, they often win big. This sort of gold rush mentality attracts big money, just the way it attracted George Hearst to the 1849 California Gold Rush.

I find the Chilean wine industry fascinating on a couple of fronts. The notion that wine is an export product  is front and center, and Chile generally embraces a free trade, export-friendly model of trade. I think this is one of the greatest accomplishements of the Chilean wine trade. They have succeeded in taking on Asia, even the Carribbean in a way that the U.S. Wine trade has largely failed.

The Pacific face of the Andes with the cool ocean currents presents a situation that is a bit like Northern California, but in a lot of places the land is more rugged. It's a part of the world that is almost ideally suited to growing top quality wine grapes, and I've tasted many superb wines from Chile, reds and whites, from the complex coastal and inland hillsides of central Chile.

In my humble opinion, the wines taste a bit more like what you might get from France compared to American wines in terms of their acidity, tannin, and body or fatness on the palate. One of the curious differences that makes them a little bit mor like California wines is that they often have more environmental flavors from the neighboring wilderness. Please read further if you are interested in that topic...

So, to me they aren't exactly new world wines, and not really old world wines either. Just as in Northern California, there is an exploration of cooler zones going on, and some brilliant wines emerging from those experiments. The wines taste as much like Old World wine as they do New World wines. Chile is completely intriguing in that regard. That's probably an entirely different discussion that warrants another post entirely.

Alexander Vik is a wheeler-dealer Norweigean buisinessman raised in Sweden and the Canary Islands, and was a golf champ during his tenure at Harvard. He has surfed a lot of economic bubbles, and made a mountain of money along the way. And he lost a lot of money for some frustrated creditors.

In the early 2000's  Alexander Vik added to his hotel and wine empire, buying a massive property in Chile encompassing several small valleys and hillsides, built a hotel, and started clearing land and planting vineyards. The estate encompasses some 4,300 hectares (a hectare is about 2.5 acres), with about 300 of those planted to grapes. That's an impressive investment by any stretch, but a large portion of that was probably unplantable, steep wilderness. From the pictures I have seen, it was relatively wild when purchased, and has gradually been developed in a methodical, thoughtful way.

These VIK wines are pretty brilliant, and the top wine, VIK, may be the best blend that I have ever had from Chile. And I would credit the staff, including the winemaker Christian Vallejo for achieving this feat in Chile's central Colchagua Valley. (cont'd below)

VIK winemaker Christian Vallejo

A Little More Background

Winemaker Christian Vallejo has been with this company almost from the beginning. A native Chilean, he also worked at Chateau Margaux in Bordeaux, and some other prestigious properties. Most of his professional life has been devoted to making excellent wines at this estate.

The Vik family bought the property in 2006, and Valleo was in on the ground level to help them plant the vineyards in 2007. They settled on a high-density 10,000 vines per hectare planting scheme that would assure that each vine would produce a low yield of around 1 kg of grapes, enough to produce about one bottle of wine per vine.  This is a mantra ratio in the international fine wine industry right now.

This estate makes three wines. VIK is the flagship wine. It's a $100-plus Bordeaux blend (Cab, Merlot, Cab Franc, etc...) that is very much aimed at the international market. And it's really good and has a stylistic flair, sense of place, and refinement that some other high end wines from Chile have a hard time matching. It's really, REALLY good. It's subtle, refined, and just a little bit wild. that just a little bit wild part of things mostly comes from environmental influences, namely the oils from the indigenous plants that surround the vineyards on the adjacent hillsides.  It is refined, balanced, and it has a great signature sense of place that makes it unique.

Milla Calla is the "second wine" the lower priced version of the headliner, a common Bordeaux strategy to introduce buyers to the estate at a lower cost. It's half the price and in many ways cut from the same cloth of the leading wine, it's just not quite as good as the top offering. And rich people always have to have the very best, even if it means an extra hundo or so. That's how you prove you're rich, so it all plays well for the upper crust, too.

Environmental Influences and Terroir

You taste that flavor in all of the wines from these vineyards. It's a common thread that runs through the VIK wines, and it's not dissimilar to the flavors that you see in mountain-grown Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley's Spring Mountain or Mount Veeder, except that the nuances are distinctly Chilean and reflective of the plants that grow on the hillsides there.

All of those local plants release aromatic oils that influence the ultimate flavors of the wines from that area. I think this is a really important subject that is not often discussed, but that very much applies to some of the world's great wines, including VIK.

These are the flavors that you get when you have a vineyard that is not surrounded by other vineyards, but by local forests. They change the flavor profile of the wines completely, and because the native plants vary from place to place, they are signature additions to the flavor profiles of the wines.

These subtle herbaceous flavors are what have made the wines of the Languedoc region of France so famous, becuase so many of those vineyards are planted on not only high-quality, rocky soils, but also next to forests.

In Bordeaux, this is not so much the case. Bordeaux vineyards, and Napa Valley valley floor vineyards for that matter, are pretty much surrounded by other vinyeyards, so they don't get that interesting environmental seasoning of essential oils from surrounding forests that makes some of the world's best wines great. Again, that probably warrants another post.

The Wines

Vik  2014 "La Piu Belle" Red ($80) This is a 'new world' style Cabernet-based blend that is more or less oriented toward new world critics like Robert Parker and the Wine Spectator. It's rich and ripe and not really reflective of the greater VIK goal. It seems like compromise in a lot of ways, but it's a very well made wine. There's a bit more Carmenere at play, it's riper and more generous with jammier dark fruit flavors. The label is really cool, it's a complicated wrap print that makes the bottle look ceramic and features the work of a ceramic painter that the family had bought a while back. Very cool packaging.  (90 Points)

Vik 2014 "Milla Calle" Red ($50)  It smells great - a mix of red currant, black cherry, mountain scrub, cola, with a little bit of vanilla  and a hint of black olive. It finds a nice mix of fruity, bright notes and darker, earthier herb and earth notes. At the end of the day, it just comes across as super-drinkable and balanced, and genuinely complex. It's a lovely, elegant, dynamic wine. (92 Points)

Vik 2012 VIK Proprietary Red Blend ($120) I took some notes and ultimately wrote, "This is killer". It has lifted, bright red and black currant fruit aromas, toast, black olive, native scrub flavors, fine-grained tannins with just a bit of tarry bitterness, and great acid. This is the kind of acidity that you just don't get in super-ambitious expensive Cabernet-based wines, but here it is on full display. At the end of the day, this is a wine that wades into superstar waters and flat-out asks, "What do I have to offer that all of you do not," and delivers a completely different experience. That, to me, is special. The winemaking is impeccable, but the sense of place and unique fingerprint of this wine really stands apart. (97 Points)


 

Review: J. Lohr 2013 Cuvee POM Red Wine Paso Robles ($50)

This supple, Merlot-driven red blend gets some fresh blue fruit highlights from the addition of some Malbec and is generally artfully blended and developing quite nicely. It has aromas of blueberry, plum, raspberry and coffee, and is velvety on the palate, with the generosity and ripeness that you expect from Paso Robles fruit, but it's not as sweet and overripe as some reds from the region. I'm not surprised these Bordeaux-inspired reds from J. Lohr do very well in wine competitions. This is another great effort from a low-rainfall, very good vintage. (92 points)

Modern Wine's Preview of the 2014 Bordeaux Vintage

The Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux tasting only passes through San Francisco every other year (it goes through Los Angeles in the alternate years), and I think everyone in the Bay Area wine trade always looks forward to it. It is an exceptionally well-organized event (thank you Balzac Communications), and with the exception of some of the very biggest names of Bordeaux, many important chateaux make the trip to the United States for this important showcase.

We, in California, and I'm referring to the United States in general, have always looked to Bordeaux for inspiration. From the 18th Century, the French wine region of Bordeaux has sketched a template for branding prowess, creating a critical pecking order and global marketing. Numerous estates in Bordeaux produce hundreds of thousands of cases of wine from each vintage, which are then distributed to several continents.

While California wineries have taught Bordeaux a lot about contemporary marketing, California wineries still look to France for aesthetic inspiration, bearings and certainly chase them in terms of international brand status. Maybe at this point it is fair to say that both California and France regard each other as relevant and a source of inspiration.

I would say that the general rap regarding the 2014 vintage in Bordeaux seemed accurate to me. They always talk about these things as being 'Right Bank years' or 'Left Bank years,' and this is no exception.

2014 is a Left Bank Year, meaning that Cabernet Sauvignon flourished while Merlot struggled and some wines from the Right Bank were just ok, there's not much getting around that fact.

The 'right bank' of the Gironde, Merlot-dominated regions of Saint Emilion and Pomerol were overall pretty lackluster, though there were a few good showings in Pomerol, and maybe a couple in Saint Emilion. There are always some wineries that make great wines in average circumstances, and those are always the wineries to pay attention to, because it just goes to show how high their standards are. Those are always the Chateaux to keep an eye on, because they're doing great work in the most difficult years.

The Cabernet Sauvignon-based left bank of the Gironde River wineries were more solid, no doubt about it. In fact, I think there were some really good values and the wines were remarkably consistent from winery to winery compared to recent vintages going back to 2000.

There are great values to be had in the $40 to $60 price range, but most of these are just offered as 'en primeur' advance purchases, which does present some wait, and some risk, in terms of cash advances and fraud potential. All in all, I'm relatively impressed with the quality-to-price ratio compared to American - let's say Napa Valley -  wines in the same price range.

It will be a while before you see these Bordeaux wines on store shelves in the United States unless you order them in advance, and you probably won't. You should still know that they will be out there and part of the general relevant discussion of where the best wines come from.

I usually start by checking out the white wines from Graves and Pessac-Leognan. This sub-zone is located in the southern, left part of Bordeaux and it produces a lot of premium white and red wine. Both the reds and whites can be killer. It is essentially a drained swamp, but the remaining soils are gravelly and rocky. These are 18th century engineered wines. There are some pretty spectacular estates in this region. I think in 2014 I would rate the wines as fairly average, and in some cases probably not worth the price, but there are always exceptions. I did not review every wine I tasted. I did not taste every wine. These were the highlights and a couple of lowlights.

Graves and Pessac-Leognan
I usually start by checking out the white wines from Graves and Pessac-Leognan. Then I go back to re-visit the reds. This sub-zone is located in the southern, left part of Bordeaux and it produces a lot of premium white and red wine. Both the reds and whites can be killer. It is essentially a drained swamp, but the remaining soils are gravelly and rocky. There are some pretty spectacular estates in this region. I think in 2014 I would rate the whites as fairly average, and in some cases probably not worth the price, but there are always exceptions. The reds, I thought were a bit better, but not killer.

Chateau Marlarctic-Lagraviere
Blanc - Well made with white peach, grapefruit notes, very aromatic and a bit exotic. 91
Rouge - For me this was a real standout of the area with fresh blackberry and black cherry fruit and a great underlying minerality and freshness. One of the bargains of the vintage. 95

Chateau Smith Haut-Lafitte
Blanc - Always exceptional, predictably leesy and concentrated, but also showing great acid with smoky, minerally flint, citrus and stone fruit flavors. 93-94
Rouge - Smoky, spicy nose, fragrant with nice fresh fruit and underlying minerality. 92-93

Chateau Latour Martillac
Blanc - I like this one very much. Rounded, with fig, grapefruit notes and good body, a bit of oak and rather leesy. Deep and complex. 92

Chateau Pape Clement
Rouge - A very nice wine with dark fruit notes, licorice and tobacco hints. 91

Chateau L'Arrivet Haut-Brion
Blanc - Finds a comfortable moderate style between modern citrusy and retro plush with pretty pear, citrus flavors and good intensity of flavor. 91
Rouge - Plush, but almost tired already. drink it young. 88

Chateau Olivier
Blanc - I've often been surprised by this Chateau recently, but I'm not sure this is one of those years. racy, fresh  and lively with lime zest, white grapefruit notes, and good length. 91
Rouge - Just not that interesting. A bit earthy and simple. 87

Chateau Haut Bailly
Blanc - a solid effort, rounded and relatively deep with good acidity. 90

Domaine de Chevalier
Blanc - Zesty, grassy kaffir lime leaf and grapefruit notes. Nice contemporary Bdx blanc. 90

Chateau Bouscaut
Blanc - kind of exotic fig and quince flavors, full-bodied, solid. 89
Rouge - decent, nice fruit, well-made. 88

Chateau Carbonnieux
Blanc - I was a bit disappointed by this wine, usually a really good one. A bit thin with bright grapefruit and lemon notes. Well made, but not special. 89
Rouge - Good, not great, a fragrant simple red. 89

Chateau de Chantegrive
Blanc - Toasty with stone fruit and lemon zest notes. One of the first wines I tasted, and might have marked it a bit low as a result. 88
Rouge - spicy and a bit barnyardy with black pepper notes. Just ok. 87

Chateau de France
Blanc- A bit shrill and thin, mineraly  with lemon-lime and peach notes, but not deep. 88

Chateau La Louviere
Blanc - Solid effort. Deep quince, toast, lemon zest flavors, but not terribly long in the finish. 89-90

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St. Emilion
I will cut to the chase and only review my favorites here, these wines were hit and miss and some of the misses were ragged swings.

Chateau Canon La-Gaffeliere
Pick of the St. Emilion litter easily, with a hint of tar, licorice, cassis and blueberry, some real compexity, structure and a very nice wine. 93

Chateau Grand Mayne
A fragrant red with red currant, blackberry fruit, high acidity, better than average. 90

Chateau Canon
Nice sweet fruit, kiss of new oak, above average. 90

Clos Fourtet
Decent effort, but not sure I would recommend it, disjointed with sweet fruit, toasty oak and a very tarry finish. 88

Chateau La Gaffeliere
Nice fresh raspberry and cherry fruit, but the finish is short and simple. 88
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Pomerol

Chateau Beauregard
Pretty plum, raspberry, mint notes, well made. 91

Chateau Le Bon Pasteur
Very classic  in style with graphite, cedar and red fruit flavors. Well done. 91

Chateau Gazin
This one might not age forever, but in the short term it has pretty framboise flavors and is very fresh. I like this wine a lot right now, and maybe for the next 7-10 years.  91
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Margaux
This was a good year for the Cabernet-focused Right Bank of Bordeaux and a good year for Margaux, arguably the most elegant sub-region of that zone.

Chateau Prieure-Lichine
A real highlight of the region. Complex mix of black and red fruit flavors, great mid-palate seriousness and a nice long finish. The real deal 94-95

Chateau Cantenac Brown
This wine used to frustrate me to no end, but now I am LOVING it. Beautiful nose with fresh, floral aromas, spicy black and red currant flavors, elegant wine with great length. 94

Chateau Giscours
A great bargain, frankly. Bold and well-constructed with a spicy nose, black fruit, great structure and flow. I just plain like it, and I think it will age for a while. Very well made and a great value. 93

Chateau Marquis de Terme
I liked this one, very modern with good structure, fresh fruit, and might need some time to come around. 92-93

Chateau Dauzac
Sweet Blackberry fruit and a bit of new oak. Nice and fresh, but a bit short on the finish. 92

Chateau Ferriere
This Chateau often surprises. Juicy, fresh berry fruit, an elegant wine, bright and fresh. 91

Chateau Kirwan
A decent effort. Fresh red currant fruit with a bit of cedar. well-made. 90

Chateau Brane Cantenac
Herb aromas, sturdy structure with blackberry fruit and a little bit blocky in terms of structure. 88

Chateau Lascombes
Funky, bretty, not my style

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St. Julien
The consistency of this region impressed me more than in many other years that I have attended this tasting. And even if the wines aren't cheap, they look to be long-lived and well-made.

Ch. Leoville Barton
I really dug this one. Incense, cassis, cigar box aromas, good focus and finesse, great balance. 96

Ch. Gruaud Larose
A very sexy wine with lush cassis, blackberry fruit, lots of new oak and good acid. This one will last. 94

Ch. Beychevelle
Been an up-and-comer for a while and has clearly hit its stride. Heavy duty, hearty, solidly-built all around with black and red fruit, a beginning, a middle and an end. well-blended and built to last. This winery is clawing its way up the ladder. 93-94

Ch. Leoville Poyferre
Intense, with deep color, almost new world style. Blackberry, graphite, licorice notes and solid structure. 93-94

Ch. Langoa Barton
Another really good one. Clean, fragrant, spicy with a nice mix of black and red fruit, great acidity. Damn good. 93

Ch. Talbot
Big, mouth-filling and spicy with black and red currant flavors, graphite notes. A serious wine that should age well. 93

Ch. Lagrange
A very nice wine, sturdy with blackcurrant fruit, blocky structure, tar and cherry torte notes. Very young yet. 92-93

Chateau Gloria
I was disappointed. Rather herbaceous, tight and green with a pleasing graphite note. I don't see a lot of future potential. 86

Chateau Saint-Pierre
Bretty and messy. The fruit is lost. Pass.

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Ste. Estephe
There were relatively few wineries from Ste. Estephe represented, partly because some of them reside in the elite reaches that are not represented in this tasting, but a few very good wines made an appearance.

Ch. Phelan Segur
Really nice wine with great layers and complexity. Tarragon, cassis, licorice and incense notes, still very young with tons of potential.  94-95

Ch. Cos Labory
Pretty blue fruit on the nose, juicy and fresh and fragrant with black fruit in mid-palate and a spicy finish. Color me impressed! 93

Ch. Lafon-Rochet
Clean and toasty with fresh currant flavors and a nice long finish. 90-91

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Pauillac
Again, a number of high-tier wineries are not represented but this region showed its class in this vintage.

Ch. Pichon Baron
This estate does not make the most flashy wines, but they are consistently classy and reward attention. This is a balanced, subtle wine with black and red fruit, coriander spice, graphite and mineral notes and a great, long finish. This is great stuff.. Subtle, nuanced and age-worthy. 96

Ch. Grand-Puy-Lacoste
Fragrant, floral and very elegant. This is a very pretty, romantic, minerally Pauillac that I appreciate very much. It is almost more like a Margaux in style. 94

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Moulis-en-Medoc

Chateau Poujeaux
I really like this wine from a value zone of the Medoc. Great acid, clean lines and a long finish. Textbook Bordeaux. 91
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Haut-Medoc

Chateau Cantemerle
Nice, sweet, dark fruit. Not super deep, but a flexible food wine with good structure. 89

Chateau Coufran
Not bad. A bit musky with red fruit, cedar and graphite notes. 87

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Sauternes and Barsac
Then there comes that point of the show where people have been drinking savory wines for hours and suddenly it is dessert time. Thirty minutes left. Everyone converges on the dessert wine tables of Sauternes and Barsac and a drunken traffic jam of jockeying coalesces. Everyone at the tasting is sliding through shoulders and extending their arms for a slight ounce of precious, sweet, late-harvest wine. It's one of those one of the rare occasions that most of us feel the need to taste these rare dessert wines, but it's also one of the scarce chances that we have to taste them for free.

Nonetheless, it's a clusterfuck, every. single. fucking. time. And that's how you know that all is right in the world, and that everything is exactly as it should be. And then you leave, you take a deep breath and wonder that you have tasted a lot of amazing wines in a few hours and try to figure out what you want to say about it, all while that sappy sweet aftertaste of Sauternes lingers in your mouth.

This was an interesting year for me for this region. I thought there were some surprising favorites and maybe a couple of let-downs in a year that seemed fairly average for these superb dessert wine regions.

Ch. Coutet
Really impressed by this winery that favors a less sweet, more savory style. I think this vintage played right into Coutet's hands. The wine is marvellously balanced with deep lavender, musk, mango notes and not overly sweet. A really nice effort. 95

Ch. La Tour Blanche 
Often this one floors me, often because it has better acid than some of the others. I always look forward to it. I'd rate this vintage as pretty damned good with the wine showing lavish pineapple, mango, white pepper, saline mineral notes and great acidity. 95

Ch. Guiraud
Solid and impressive, delivering the expected, desired style of honeyed, stone fruit and creme bruleee that you would expect. 93

Ch. Suduiraut
As it always is, a little bit less flashy than some of the spotlight names, sweet as all get out, and full of wildflower honey and green tea notes. It is always so good, but sometimes you just wish it had more of some kind of edge or angle or some flash of spirit. But it is always good. Well, you could say the same of Guiraud. 93

Ch. Doisy Daene
Nice wine with pretty, moderately sweet pineapple, candied pear flavors. 92

Ch. Doisy-Verdrines
Good, delicious with rich pineapple, peach, floral and honey notes. Maybe wants a bit of acid. 90


Ch. Lafaurie-Peyraguey
I dig the fresh papaya, melon and honey notes. Largely well-balanced. This one impressed me and might be a good value if this is your jam.