Winemaker's Series: Voyager Estate

It's actually quite amazing when you think of the tightrope that viticulturists around the world have to tread. It's an extremely fine balancing act with Mother nature on one side and the techniques of the vine grower on the other. Green harvesting, leaf pruning, canopy management, debudding, vine density, not to mention the uncontrollables such as the weather. It's an extensive list. Get it right and you can start to change the fundamental building blocks of the grapes you crush; ripe phenolics, low sugars, and correspondingly low alcohols....get it wrong and the grapes natural development can become badly skewed with ripeness, sugar levels and flavour developments all arriving at different times....

Steve James gives us the third installment on their Margaret River harvest, where it would seem Voyager's building blocks are falling into place.

"Thursday 4th March 2010

A lot has happened in the past week - due mainly to the consistently warm to hot weather that the Margaret River region has experienced. Temperatures in the low thirty degrees Celsius with mild evenings has seen the grapes ripen very quickly. As mentioned in the last report, the flavours have been coming in at low sugar levels, so it has been critical to spend a lot of time in the vineyard tasting fruit and, not worrying too much about the technical analysis.

The past week has seen the completion of our Chardonnay intake and, most of our Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon harvested. Our final pick of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon is tomorrow night and, that signals the end of the whites except for a small volume of Chenin Blanc and an even smaller component of Viognier which will be harvested to co-ferment with our first block of Shiraz.

Overall quality looks outstanding, with pristine clean fruit and bright vibrant flavours in the profiles we look for. Chardonnay looks exceptionally good and the barrel fermentations are ticking along beautifully.

We are currently enjoying a cooler spell of weather , however with warming conditions forecast from the weekend on, the reds will not be far away. Early indications are for a potentially exceptional red year with, early flavour development and tannin ripeness looking very impressive. I expect by late next week we will be thinking about our first harvest of Shiraz for the vintage. Hopefully the season will allow us to harvest some reds at lower sugar levels with ripe flavours and tannins - a goal we have been working towards with our viticulture for a few years now.

At this stage it is looking like a very compressed vintage with parallels to the 2001 and 2007 seasons, where vintage was mostly completed by the end of March. "

Working lunch...

It’s not every day that you are invited to lunch with Bernard Magrez at Joël Robuchon’s London restaurant... Monsieur Magrez rather modestly admits to owning a mere 35 wine estates and Monsieur Robuchon is in possession of a staggering 25 Michelin stars! So it was some lunch. The pre-lunch tasting included a flight of Bernard’s flagship Chateau, Pape Clement. It was extraordinary to see the progress that he has achieved here; the recent vintages are staggeringly good!

1986
Plumy, with hints of leather, sweet berries and herbs. On the palate, this possesses ample sweet fruit; it is still quite robust with noticeable tannins. 15/20

1988
More attractive aromatically. Ripe berries, sandalwood, and a hint of tobacco. On the palate this is fresh, beautifully pure and structured. V good. 16/20

1995
Like many 1995s, this is a little closed on the nose, hints of high toned berries, liqueur, menthol and herbs. Beautifully pure fruit on the pate. Very sophisticated, long, refined fruit. Layer upon layer of complexity. V good indeed. 17/20

2004
Very modern, punchy, flashy nose. Flamboyant stuff, packed with brooding cassisy notes. Big fruit core, suave, packed with plumy, soft fruits, multi-layered. Very impressive. Focused, pure, complex and long. V good indeed. 17+/20

2005
Dark, brooding, massive nose. Enormous depth. Deep, savoury, meaty notes are interspersed with high toned hedgerow fruits, minerals and crushed rocks. The palate is even more sumptuous and impressive. Multidimensional; a veritable smorgasbord of flavours. Pure, refined and extremely long. 45+ second finish. Although a wine of massive proportions, it is wonderfully balanced, with sweet, rounded tannins. A wonderful wine. 19/20.

2006
Sweet, high toned nose of cassis, blackcurrant fruit pastels, minerals and herbs. The palate is very sexy, with an abundance of sweet ripe fruit. Beautifully pure, refined Pessac. A wine of real elegance and finesse. Whilst not as massive of impressive as the 2005, the 2006 is a worthy successor. 18/20

This flight is easily split in two. The '86, '88 and '95, which have a Cabernet dominance, and the '04, 05, 06, where plantings in the vineyards are close to 50:50 (Cabernet/Merlot). I don't think the change to the cepage is that relevant to the vast improvement in quality in the last decade. This is more attributable to improved wine-making techniques and the massive investment in the vineyard and the chai. The recent vintages of Pape Clement Rouge really are of top super second quality and even rival the wines of La Mission Haut Brion and Haut Brion as the most impressive of the appellation.

With lunch, Bernard generously served his 2005 Pape Clement Blanc (100% new oak), which was mighty impressive, although, it could do with a little more time. Then he treated us to magnums of Pape Clement Rouge 2000 and an imperial of Pape Clement Rouge 2003; both were delightful.

It would be extremely remiss not to mention the food. Joël Robuchon’s (multiple) dishes were all exquisite. The presentation, subtle flavours and wonderful textures were a real treat to the senses! It’s well worth a trip to West Street...