Right Bank tasted at Jean Pierre Moueix / Monday 31 March

Posted on 6/10/2008 12:01 PM

The wines of the Moueix company in Libourne are world-famous and include the star of Pomerol, Petrus. Ultra-expensive, it can be just as ultra-delicious. But in some years, slightly lesser wines from this group excel – and the case was clear that Chateau Trotanoy excelled in 2007. Perhaps the red wine of the vintage, among those I tasted. Otherwise, the Moueix wines faced a difficult harvest like everyone else …

ASSORTED ST. EMILION and POMEROL / Wine of the tasting in the picture: Trotanoy 2007


Chateau La Serre Saint Emilion Grand Cru Classé: Polite, fresh impression. Balanced with decent fruit and tannin. Fluid. Not a long finish. 84-86

Chateau Magdelaine Saint Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé: A number of tasters – including Robert Parker – decried this wine heavily. No way, José! This is a success for the vintage. No, not a blockbuster big Merlot wine; rather, exuding fresh strawberry perfume like notes. The palate is certainly mid-weight, but very balanced with smooth tannin and a fresh finish. In the context of the vintage, not bad at all. 87-89

Chateau Belair Saint Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé: Less pronounced nose. In fact, I had a hard time getting a nose, but it finally showed some subtle floral and spice elements. Palate is decidedly closed here. ‘This sort of vintage suits Belair,’ said wine writer and author Stephen Brook. I am not so sure. I did not like the wine very much when tasted blind with the other premiers grands crus on Wednesday. And I normally like this estate.  85-87

Chateau Plince Pomerol: Spicy. The oak stands out a bit. Fine tannic feel however. Chewy tannins. Somewhat fresh finish. OK. 84-86

Chateau Lafleur Gazin Pomerol: Better integration of the oak. More balanced than the above. Slightly flower like profile. Good tonic, if somewhat bitter, finish. 85-86

Chateau La Grave a Pomerol: Nice plum and cherry notes. Good palate feel. Fresh with a pleasant tannic structure. Improvement to the above, though a different style. Overall, quite soft and somewhat lightweight – this is 2007 after all! A possible good price/quality match? 86-88+

Chateau Bourgneuf Pomerol: A bit alcoholic. Understated palate – some oak spice showing. Overall, disjointed feel and short finish. Pass. 83-85

Chateau Certan Marzelle Pomerol: Rather flower like. Nice body and a good tannic edge, though it lacks perhaps freshness and especially verve coming from better vintages. 85-88

Chateau Latour a Pomerol: Strawberry and plum on the nose. Nice body – a noticeable step up from the previous entries. Suave with mid weight palate showing substance and lingering, floral finish. I liked this more than Stephen Brook… who preferred La Fleur Petrus. 87-90+

Chateau La Fleur Petrus Pomerol: Very elegant nose – the best so far. Floral and cherry aspects. But the palate is quite tight! Good tannic feel, presence but I do not like the tightness. Stephen Brook is of the opinion that it is rather fine grip, and a superior wine to the Latour a Pomerol. Time will tell – give this some barrel age and … cross your fingers. 86-90?

Chateau Providence Pomerol: This is the most recent Moueix estate with rather young vine Merlot. In vintages like 2006 and 2005, it was very modern and sumptuous. But in 2007, merely a warm nose and even a bit alcoholic. In a word, flabby. Will barrel age firm it up? 85-87

Chateau Hosanna Pomerol: A truly fine wine from this estate – in a difficult vintage. Fresh nose, somewhat floral. The palate is Indian Tonic like, appealing. There is fine grip without the tightness a la Le Fleur Petrus… Rather substantive body, too. Fine job. 88-91+

Chateau Certan de May Pomerol: Nice smoky nose with cherry elements. Rather soft on the palate with even slight jam elements. Plum and spice flavors on the palate. Lacks perhaps the grip of the above, but not flabby in any way. A nice wine. 88-90

Chateau Trotanoy Pomerol: Wow, this should count among the wines of the vintage (I did not taste as many ‘big guns’ this vintage as I would have liked). Subtle nose and serious palate. Cherry and plum elements and voluminous feel – especially for the vintage. Impressive texture and grip. Indeed, combines the edginess of a La Fleur – without feeling too tight – with volume and richness. Also a fine finish. Very impressive. 91-94

Chateau Trotanoy Pomerol 1966. That’s right, I enjoyed a bottle of this fine vintage with Jean-Claude Berrouet, winemaker at Petrus and all Moueix properties since 1964. He just retired – leaving duties to his son – and shared with me this bottle to prove a point. That 10% new oak and moderate alcohol – in this case 12.5% – can result in a great wine. We dared to drink it with fish – and it worked. The wine, enjoyed over a two hour period after being poured into a carafe just before dinner, changed its flavor profile with each new glass: from aniseed and fine leather, to violet infused freshness with hints of chocolate, finally ending on rich espresso like notes. Simply amazing to see how the wine changed over time.

Chateau Petrus Pomerol: Shows incredible depth and – what I always get from this estate – impressive layers of flavor and nuance. A fine tannic grip, too, but feels just slightly austere at this stage – not as welcoming as the above for example. There is no tightness bordering on pinched feelings which I got with La Fleur Petrus, but this is tight. Time in glass reveals pleasing notes of chocolate, plum and cherry – very Pomerol. But, again, somewhat subdued compared to the Trotanoy. 90-93


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