Bordeaux 2012: Deux Mot

Hong Kong Portfolio Tasting 2013 Invitation

Justerini & Brooks is thrilled to be hosting its Spring Portfolio Tasting later this month at the summit of the LKF Hotel in Wyndham Street, Hong Kong. Taste 40 specially selected fine wines from our extensive portfolio.

Built through excellent relationships that go back many years and with over 3000 wines in stock the Justerini & Brooks fine wine portfolio is unrivalled, with a collection of greats from Burgundy, Rhône, Loire, Champagne as well as Barolo and German Riesling Estates, not forgetting the finest Bordeaux from the greatest vintages.

There will be a selection of these estates on show from across Burgundy, Italy and the Rhône valley, as well as a selection of clarets from the famed 2010 vintage that have just gone into bottle.

Amongst many famous names, we will be showing: Mugnier, Sauzet, Bruno Clair, Sylvain Cathiard, La Conseillante, Léoville Barton, Duhart Milon, Roberto Voerzio, Elio Altare and more.

We are delighted to extend this invitation to those who share our passion for fine wine in Hong Kong. Places are strictly limited so please contact William Chan to reserve your place. william.chan@justerinis.com

It is not often that an opportunity to taste such a wide range of exquisite and great value drinking wines arises so we hope to see you there. If you love good wine this will be an event too good to miss.

Date: Wednesday 15th May 2013, from 5.30pm till 8pm 

Location: Azure, Hotel LKF, 33 Wyndham Street, Hong Kong

RSVP by email to william.chan@justerinis.com

__________

Justerini & Brooks reserve the right to refuse entry for any reason
Over 18s only

Portfolio Tasting 2013: Three masters of their trade

It was a huge pleasure to taste my way through the three masterclasses at our Portfolio tasting in the stunning surroundings of Somerset House last week. We were honoured to have three great wines estates presenting their finest wines, young and old.

First up was Katharina Prüm of JJ Prüm presenting no fewer than 9 wines in an hour from 2011 back to 1997. A hard act was brilliantly followed by Davide Voerzio of Roberto Voerzio, who talked us through 4 different Barolo Cru across various vintages and the evening fittingly culminated with the gentleman of Cote Rotie, Rene Rostaing, with whom we tasted La Landonne and Cote Blonde across 07, 05, 2000 and 1995.

There were many thrilling and differing wines in the line ups, one recurring theme however seemed to be the ability of a great terroir to show its true colours after sufficient bottle age even in a year where the vintage characteristics are decidedly dominant. An example of this is 2003. I have been lucky enough to have had some wonderful examples recently of this atypical, heatwave vintage. Terte Roteboeuf being one in addition to a number of 1er Crus from Marquis d'Angerville (there will be more detail in another post soon.) The 2003s in question on this occasion were Cote Blonde from Rostaing and the Fossati Barolo Riserva from Voerzio. The Blonde was bold, opulent and full of violets and youthful fruit whilst offering a distinct stoniness.  The Fossati was the wine of the night. An outstanding mix of perfume, velvet texture, sweet fruit and earthiness with enormous length of flavour, it had more fragrance and finesse than I was expecting from a 2003, remarkable. The other less typical vintage was 1997 in the Mosel. An exciting vintage on release that was less austere than many of its predecessors, concentrated for sure but almost suspiciously easy, fruity and round. Well the Graacher Himmelreich 1997 JJ Prüm had all of these characteristics in spades together with a vivid streak of minerally slate, a beautiful lively and very precise wine that whilst delicious now, still tasted on the young side.

2012 Parker Scores

Last Friday the Wine Advocate #206 was released revealing the scores for the 2012s. Mr Parker has echoed many of our own thoughts on the vintage, identifying Pomerol and Pessac Leognan as the best performing appellations. 'My tastings clearly revealed the overall success of the Merlot crop, with the most successful appellation being Pomerol, followed closely by Pessac-Léognan... Because of its vast size, St.-Emilion offers virtually everything from top-flight wines that are not far off the mark of 2010 and 2009, to wines that are hollow, overly extracted, rustic and astringent.

While 2012 is not a great vintage, it is an excellent one in Pomerol, Pessac-Léognan and for some St.-Emilions. In the Médoc, 2012 tends to be average to above average depending on the château. It was a disappointing year for the sweet whites of Sauternes and Barsac, which is evidenced by the fact that four well-known châteaux, Yquem, Rieussec, Raymond-Lafon and Suduiraut, all declassified their entire harvest. In contrast, the dry white wines of Graves are beautiful. 2012 is clearly a top vintage for these wines, which are rich, soft, intense and honeyed’. - Robert Parker, www.erobertparker.com

Please find a list of the top performing wines adjudged by The Wine Advocate below:

Year	Wine	WA
2012	Haut Brion Blanc	(98-100)
2012	L'Eglise Clinet	(96-100)
2012	La Mission Haut Brion Blanc	(96-98+)
2012	Trotanoy	(96-98)
2012	Petrus	(95-98+)
2012	Pape Clement Blanc	(95-98)
2012	Ausone	(95-97)
2012	Mouton-Rothschild	(95-97)
2012	Bellevue Mondotte	(94-97)
2012	La Mondotte	(94-97)
2012	Pavie	(94-96+)
2012	Angelus	(94-96)
2012	Cheval Blanc	(94-96)
2012	La Fleur Petrus	(94-96)
2012	Hosanna	(94-96)
2012	Troplong-Mondot	(94-96)
2012	Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse)	(93-95+)
2012	Gracia	(93-95+)
2012	Belair-Monange	(93-95)
2012	Domaine de Chevalier Blanc	(93-95)
2012	Clos Fourtet	(93-95)
2012	Feytit Clinet	(93-95)
2012	Gazin	(93-95)
2012	Haut Brion	(93-95)
2012	Larcis-Ducasse	(93-95)
2012	Leoville-Las Cases	(93-95)
2012	Le Pin	(93-95)
2012	Rauzan-Segla (Rausan-Segla)	(93-95)
2012	Smith-Haut-Lafitte Blanc	(93-95)
2012	Beau-Sejour-Becot	(92-95)
2012	Domaine de Chevalier	(92-95)
2012	Cos d'Estournel	(92-95)
2012	Lafite-Rothschild	(92-95)
2012	Palmer	(92-95)
2012	Pape Clement	(92-95)
2012	Pavie-Macquin	(92-95)
2012	Clinet	(92-94+)
2012	Clos de Sarpe	(92-94+)
2012	La Fleur Morange	(92-94+)
2012	Lafleur	(92-94+)
2012	Branon	(92-94)
2012	Canon la Gaffeliere	(92-94)
2012	La Clarte de Haut-Brion Blanc	(92-94)
2012	La Conseillante	(92-94)
2012	Le Dome	(92-94)
2012	De Fieuzal Blanc	(92-94)
2012	La Fleur de Bouard Le Plus	(92-94)
2012	Latour	(92-94)
2012	Chateau Margaux	(92-94)
2012	Montrose	(92-94)
2012	Pavie-Decesse	(92-94)
2012	Smith-Haut-Lafitte	(92-94)
2012	Canon	(91-94)
2012	Clos l'Eglise	(91-94)
2012	La Fleur de Gay	(91-94)
2012	Malartic-Lagraviere Blanc	(91-94)
2012	La Mission Haut Brion	(91-94)
2012	Pontet-Canet	(91-94)
2012	Bellevue	(91-93+)
2012	Le Gay	(91-93+)
2012	Chapelle d'Ausone	(91-93)
2012	Clos du Marquis	(91-93)
2012	La Fleur de Bouard	(91-93)
2012	Haut Bailly	(91-93)
2012	Malartic-Lagraviere	(91-93)
2012	Pavillon Blanc du Chateau Margaux Blanc	(91-93)
2012	Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande	(91-93)
2012	Rol Valentin	(91-93)
2012	Chateau Saint-Pierre	(91-93)
2012	L'Evangile	(90-94)
2012	Barde-Haut	(90-93)
2012	Cantenac Brown	(90-93)
2012	La Dominique	(90-93)
2012	Haut Bergey	(90-93)
2012	Pichon-Longueville Baron	(90-93)
2012	Rouget	(90-93)
2012	Trottevieille	(90-93)
2012	Chateau Valandraud	(90-93)
2012	Brane-Cantenac	(90-92)
2012	Calon Segur	(90-92)
2012	Ducru Beaucaillou	(90-92)
2012	Lafon Rochet	(90-92)
2012	Laforge	(90-92)
2012	La Lagune	(90-92)
2012	Larrivet Haut Brion Blanc	(90-92)
2012	Lascombes	(90-92)
2012	Leoville-Barton	(90-92)
2012	Monbousquet	(90-92)
2012	Le Petit Mouton	(90-92)
2012	Petit Village	(90-92)
2012	Talbot	(90-92)

The best of the Medoc

Our last category is the coveted ‘best of the Medoc’ title. There are few surprises with big names: Palmer, Ducru, Las Cases, Lynch and Pontet taking the top five places. A great showing from Xavier Borie’s Grand Puy Lacoste has propelled this 5^th growth into a very respectable 6^th place ahead of the gorgeous Montrose and Pichon Lalande. Clerc Milon is also flying high and at £340 per case looks like a great buy. Last and by no means least - the utterly charming Calon Segur. Never flashy, not really a ‘tasting wine’, but by its sheer allure, it forces its way into the list.

Perhaps it is also worth mentioning Leoville Poyferre, usually high on the list, but narrowly missing out this time. Another absentee is Pichon Baron which came well down the pecking order...

1	Palmer	***
2	Ducru Beaucaillou	*
3	Leoville Las Cases	***
4	Lynch Bages
5	Pontet Canet	*
6	Grand Puy Lacoste
7	Montrose
8	Pichon Lalande
9	Clerc Milon
10	Calon Segur

Vintage Port 2011

The 2011 Port growing season was, in the words of Paul Symington, "an extraordinary year". Starting off with copious rains in October and November 2010, it became extremely dry, before finishing with timely and refreshing rains in August.

"If you'd had a watering system in the vineyards, this is was exactly when you'd have turned it on" the Symingtons happily told us.

The extremely dry first 8 months of the year saw a mere 250 mm of rain fall in the Douro, against an annual average of almost 400mm. These dry conditions coupled with a burst of extreme heat in June gave rise to a final crop that is sadly 15% below average. I say sadly because at this early stage these look to be a seriously excellent range of ports. Perhaps because of the early concentrating drought, the levels of dry pungent schisty minerality in these wines is truly superb and they display plenty of powerful, concentrated, structured fruit. Long deep and powerful, yet also crucially fresh, this looks set to go down as an truly classic vintage port declaration.

Bordeaux 2012: Chateau Montrose Vintage Report

Bordeaux 2012: Exclusive Tasting with Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou

Top of the Right Bank and Graves

Who should be topping our chart of Pessac Leognan, Pomerol and St Emilion; well it's Monsieur Durantou of course. Fresh off the back of La Chenade's victory in the hotly contested 'Best Value' category, Denis is back on top of the charts with his legendary Eglise Clinet. On his heals is Francois Mitjavile with his excellent Tertre Roteboeuf, followed by Alexandre Thienpont's hugely impressive Vieux Chateau Certan.

Special mention should go to Florence and Daniel Cathiard's Smith Haut Lafitte and Olivier Bernard's Domaine de Chevalier. These two really caught our eye and should offer terrific value for money.

1 L’Eglise Clinet

2 Tertre Roteboeuf *

3 Vieux Chateau Certan ****

4 La Mission Haut Brion **

5 Smith Haut Lafitte

6 Pensees de Lafleur

7 Evangile

8 Clos Fourtet

9 Domaine de Chevalier *

10 Conseillante

Bordeaux 2012 - Vieux Château Certan Report with Alexandre Thienpont

Bordeaux 2012 - Interview with Château Cheval Blanc

More J&B chart toppers

Denis Durantou at Eglise Clinet

Now it is the turn of the ‘best value’ picks. This is the most subjective of all our ‘top tens’. The same rules apply, 10 points for a win and a star all the way down to one point for 10^th place. Usually we get a disparate set of results for this section; in all 29 estates were selected. Rather surprisingly one wine shone out as a clear winner. Denis Durantou’s La Chenade from Lalande de Pomerol took five of the possible eight top spots. Guess what we’ll all be drinking in four or five years’ time... Those who narrowly missed out included: Montlandrie, Lalande Borie, Fonbel, Haut Batailley, Grande Maye, Cantemerle and Moulin StGeorges.

1	La Chenade	*****
2	Clos des Quatre Vents	*
3	Ormes de Pez
4	Valade
5	Petite Eglise
6	Capbern Gasqueton	*
7=	Teyssier
7=	Villa des Quatre Soeurs
9	Lacoste Borie
10	Gloria	*

Top of the pops time

Our straw poll of the 2012 vintage is in. We asked all eight members of the J&B team to rank the First Growths (and friends: Petrus, Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Lafleur and Le Pin) in order of their preference. Ten points for a first place and a star, nine points for a second place all the way down to one point for tenth place. We thus get a democratically elected list of our favourite wines.

First and Second places are taken by stars of the Right Bank, but there are strong showings from all of the Medoc’s First Growths. Unlike other years where there has been a stand out favourite, there were six different ‘top wines’.

1	Petrus	***
2	Cheval Blanc	*
3	Lafite	*
4	Latour
5	Margaux	*
6	Mouton	*
7	Le Pin
8	Lafleur	*
9	Ausone
10	Haut Brion

Bordeaux 2012 - Day 4

A green harvester at Ducru Beaucaillou...

Day four and there was still lots to cover, four UGCs (Sauternes, Moulis - Listrac and Haut Medoc, Margaux and Pauillac - St Julien and St Estephe) as well as a few last Chateau visits. First stop, the Pichons. We unanimously preferred Lalande to Baron and this was confirmed by re-tasting at the UGC. Pichon Lalande has real charm, grace and Pauillac character. It will be a lovely drink in eight years’ time.

The Pauillac, St Julien and St Estephe UGC was a little patchy, but there was much to admire. Re-tasting Lynch Bages and Grand Puy Lacoste confirmed their class, while Gloria looks like a great value from St Julien. Langoa and Leoville Barton both showed well, but we thought we’d pop in to see Lilian and taste at the Chateau on the way to Ducru. Both wines performed even better when tasted at the Chateau. There was also an opportunity to taste the 2011s a year on. Langoa is stunning, while Leoville is big, tannic and impressive. It is slightly awkward at the moment, but has good potential.

Our last tasting before lunch was with Bruno Borie at Ducru Beaucaillou. Toby wasted no time in his interrogation, quizzing Bruno on his choice of harvesters in the glossy brochure. Bruno was prepared, explaining that he prefers blondes for the green harvest and brunets for the vendage. That cleared up, we got on with the tasting; the results were spectacular. Lalande Borie is juicy, yummy and should be good value, Croix has real depth and class and the Grand Vin is serious, sexy and long-term. A cracking range.

Ulysse Cazabonne was our generous host for lunch. Once again their chef treated us to an extravagant lunch, including some delicious clarets from 2001 – a really friendly, attractive vintage. There was also an opportunity to taste and re-taste some wines in their cellars. John Kolasa’s Chateau Canon was exceptional. This is an estate on top form, showing well at Southwold and their 2012 rates amongst the top wines of the right bank.

The afternoon was a big disappointment. Leaden skies and pouring rain added to our downbeat mood, but the wines were the main reason for our disenchantment. Sauternes seemed saccharine, lacking botrytis and complexity. Unless they are super cheap, there’s no point buying them; we recommend the excellent 2011s which are widely available at opening prices. Margaux UGC was if anything a bigger anti-climax. Some big names just really didn’t get it. The best performers were Rauzan Segla, Brane Cantenac and Malescot St Exupery. We should add that the Margaux UGC has been a bit of a challenge for the last few years, so the wines probably deserve the benefit of the doubt – they will no doubt work themselves out in time. So it was left for the Moulis, Listrac and Haut Medoc tasting to raise our spirits, and actually, there were quite a few very good, honest, well made wines here. Cantemerle continues its good form, Chasse Spleen and Poujeaux are both solid efforts and Beaumont is excellent value for money. Some tasters were left head scratching. Had this minor UGC trumped the somewhat grander Margaux UGC? Well expectations were somewhat lower, but we definitely left in a more upbeat mood.

So after four days of tastings, we have a picture of the 2012s. It is not an easy vintage to pigeonhole. Pomerol estates maybe had an easier time than the other communes, but they didn’t have it all their own way, and a lot of hard graft was required to produce high quality wines. The Medoc probably had the most challenging conditions, but here we have estates with incredible resources and resourcefulness and there have been some very smart wines produced. Sauternes is weak and the decision by Yquem and Rieussec not to release looks astute. The dry whites are delicious; 2012 must rank as an excellent vintage for this style.

To loosely paraphrase our Chairman, the highs are higher than in 2011, but there is less consistency. We like the purity and precision in the best wines and feel that they will be delightful wines to consume in 8-10 years’ time.

The Portfolio Masterclass Line-up

As the countdown begins to our portfolio tasting at Somerset House in less than two weeks time, on the 25th April, final preparations are excitedly being put in place. The list of wines on show is stellar and includes prestigious flights of 2010 Bordeaux, 2007 Barolo and 2008 Burgundy. We have strong relationships with the world’s greatest wine producers but something we are equally proud of is the huge effort we put into unearthing hidden winemaking talent, the next big stars of the wine world. They can hail from anywhere, the more traditional wine regions or a further-flung corner of the world, and be working with a myriad of different grape varieties but what they will share in common is their commitment to making unique, beautiful, artisan wines of balance and drinkability. Do not miss out on our discoveries room where many of these gems will be. Among them are wines from two of our newest producers, Baden’s Bernhard Huber and the Loire’s Thibaud Boudignon.

During the tasting we will be holding master classes given by three truly iconic wine estates: JJ Prüm from the Mosel, Piedmont’s Roberto Voerzio and Cote Rotie legend René Rostaing, see the line-up below.

6.00pm: Dr. Katharina Prüm from JJ Prüm

Prüm is without doubt one of the Mosel’s, if not the whole of Germany’s, most revered and respected Estates. It is also amongst the most enigmatic as no-one has yet made it down to his mysterious cellars - all the more reason to look forward to the bottles on offer in our Portfolio Masterclass. In the Sonnenuhr of Wehlen the Prüms own a portion of one of the Mittel Mosel’s top vineyards - its steep south-facing dark slate slopes tending to result in deeply flavoured, mineral yet rich and smoky wines. In addition, he manipulates some plots in the next door Himmelreich of Graacher which produces engaging wines with fresh acidities that are slightly softer and earlier maturing. Our Portfolio Masterclass aims to shine a spotlight on these two great terroirs while examining the various vintages from one of the great German Winemakers.



7.00pm: Davide Voerzio from Roberto Voerzio

This masterclass will be an exploration of the top vineyards in Barolo’s famous La Morra commune with Davide Voerzio from Roberto Voerzio, one of Piedmont’s pioneering and most highly-acclaimed wine estates.

8.00pm: René Rostaing

One of the great names of the Northern Rhone, René Rostaing believes in producing intense, refined Côte Rôtie that is as true to terroir and the Syrah grape variety as possible. Partial whole bunch fermentation is employed and the wines are reared in large demi-muid casks with very little new oak. René will be taking us through his single vineyard and blended Côte Rôties.

Unfortunately space is very limited for each of the masterclasses and we will have to allocate places on a first come first served basis during the evening, so please do not be too disappointed if you miss out.

Numbers have to be capped for this event and only the last few tickets now remain, so if you wish to attend we would urge you to get in touch with us as soon as possible. Please contact our main office on +44 (0) 207 484 6400, or email events@justerinis.com to secure yours.

Date: Thursday 25th April 2013, from 5pm till 9pm
Location: The Portico & Navy Board Rooms, Somerset House, London
Tickets: £40 per person or £70 for a pair

Bordeaux 2012 - Day 3

By now we were well and truly in the groove and in the familiar surroundings of the northern Medoc, so it was time to unveil fifty shades of red cord (picture courtesy of Peter Richards MW). Appointments were booked thick and fast, so pace and concentration were the order of the day.

Our first stop was Cos d'Estournel to taste with Aymeric de Gironde, ironically from the Loire region of France, but clearly destined to succeed in Aquitaine. Aymeric, formally of Pichon Baron has jumped into Jean Guillaume's loafers and he is a charming and capable substitute; we wish him all the best. He joined after the harvest and vinifications, so 2012 is not his baby, but you can sense his passion for the wine as he hosted our tasting. Views varied from good, bad and indifferent. There's certainly some charm and precision, but we were not wholly convinced - maybe we give it the benefit of the doubt...

Next stop Calon Segur; the first vintage since the death of Madame Gasqueton. Thankfully Toby didn't ask how she was and the tasting passed without incident. We were charmed by the Grand Vin, which is typically graceful and elegant and will no doubt be very yummy in a few years’ time.

Hervé Beland welcomed us to Montrose and there was not a crane or workman in sight. Years of construction appear to be coming to completion. Hervé kindly gave us a tour of the new barrel cellar and we all agreed it would be an incredible venue for a party. The room is spectacular. As for the wine, it is not a classic brooding Montrose; it is somewhat more exuberant and friendly than normal, which we thought suited the vintage. The flavour profile is very correct and linear, but there is an uncharacteristic prettiness and joyousness that we don't normally see from barrel. We like.

Now to Hervé's old haunt, Mouton Rothschild. I'm afraid that the novelty of Golf buggy rides has worn off, but we like Clerc, Petit Mouton and the big Mouton - smart wines with real purity and length.

Back in the wagon for the short trip to Lafite Rothschild and probably the busiest tasting room of the week. Lafite's star is still burning bright. We didn't go for Carruades, but that probably ain't gonna concern DBR much. Duhart is a closed book, but after much coaxing one gets a glimpse at the brooding dark fruit core. Lafite is at first impenetrable, but again with aeration one begins to see what this wine is all about. Real breed and nobility here - a really handsome wine.

A little sojourn to St Julien to taste Leoville Las Cases before lunch. The less said about the Nenin and Potensac wines the better, but the Las Cases stable is looking good. There’s no lack of concentration here – big, impressive, brooding, serious wines.

Alfred Tesseron was our host for lunch, and delicious it was too, much like his Pontet Canet 2012. The Technical Director, Jean-Michel Comme spoke eloquently about a wine which evokes emotion – it certainly hits the right notes with us...

The afternoon started with a visit to Chateau Latour. No longer part of the primeur system we are delighted that we will still be able to taste from barrel and compare with their peer group. The 2012 range is a spectacular display of precision wine-making, with the Forts and Grand Vin both displaying laser guided accuracy and purity – wonderful wines.

The rest of the afternoon we yo-yoed from Pauillac to St Julien tasting Leoville Poyferre, Grand Puy Lacoste, Beychevelle and Lynch Bages. Poyferre was good, but the two Pauillacs stole the show. GPL is classic, charming and definitely one for the cellar. Lots of noble Pauillac flavours delight the senses and with any luck, this should be good value. Jean-Charles Cazes’ Lynch Bages is another Fifth Growth on top of its game. The 2012 has plenty of depth, ripe fruit, lovely precise flavours, complexity and charm; what more does one want?

As we supped a 1664 after a long day’s tasting, we were somewhat perplexed by the mixed reports we had heard from fellow tasters. Granted, not everything was good, but there are plenty of desirable wines from the Northern Medoc, usually hailing from the grandest terroirs and from the most quality conscious estates.