Bordeaux shines - French Wine Day 2019, Grand Hotel, Stockholm, (16-12-2019 by Robert Jonasson and Nenad Jelisic)

 

During the annual event French Wine Day, there was an opportunity to taste around 400 wines. The number of wines available to taste was about the same as at the corresponding tasting last year. However, there were only 14 exhibitors at place, which is the smallest number that has been at any French Wine Day where NJ Wines has participated. Despite that, it was impossible to taste all wines during the five hours that the tasting was open. Therefore, it was decided to taste primarily wines that were considered as the most interesting, as well as those that are represented at Systembolaget (a government owned chain of all liquor stores in Sweden). In total, 206 wines were tasted, of which 58 wines (28%) got more than 2,5 NJP in rating. This is a good rating and comparable to the corresponding tastings; in 2017 (29%) and 2018 (32%).  Something that was fun to see was that a relatively large proportion of the wines got more than 3,0 NJP in rating. A contributing reason for this was that relatively many wines, which were tasted, had been aged for 5 to 10 years. These wines had come into their last stage of maturation and were, in many cases, very nice to taste. Unfortunately, no wine got more than 4,0 NJP in rating. The biggest positive surprise of this year's tasting was the wine region of Bordeaux. Many of the wines from Bordeaux came from great vintages (such as 2009 and 2015), which made it so that the wines had both good fruitiness and good tannin structure.

 

The following wines got more than 3,0 NJP (in alphabetical order): 1. Cave de Tain, Gambert de Loche, Hermitage, 2011, red dry wine, Rhône, 4,0 NJP, 2. Chassagne-Montrachet, Vieilles Vignes, Domaine Guy Amiot et Fils, 2016, white dry wine, Burgundy, 3,5 NJP, 3. Château d’Ampuis, E Guigal, 2015, red dry wine, Rhône, 4,0 NJP, 4. Château La Louvière, Blanc, 2010, white dry blend wine, Bordeaux, 3,5 NJP, 5. Château La Louvière, Rouge, 2009, red dry blend wine, Bordeaux, 3,5 NJP, 6. Château Laroque, 2014, red dry blend wine, Bordeaux, 3,5 NJP, 7. Château Tour Baladoz, 2015, red dry blend wine, Bordeaux, 3,5 NJP, 8. Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill, Pol Roger, 2006, white dry sparkling blend wine, Champagne, 4,0 NJP, 9. Domaine Christophe Semaska, Côte Rôtie, Château de Montlys, 2015, red dry wine, Rhône, 3,5 NJP, 10. Domaine de la Rectorie, Banyuls Cuvée Léon Parcé, 2015, red sweet wine, Languedoc-Roussillon, 3,5 NJP, 11. Domaine Garon, Côte-Rôtie, Les Triotes, 2015, red dry wine, Rhône, 3,5 NJP, 12. Ferraton Père et Fils, Ermitage les Dionneres, 2015, red dry wine, Rhône, 4,0 NJP, 13. Gérard Bertrand, Cigalus, Rouge, 2017, red dry blend wine, Languedoc-Roussillon, 3,5 NJP, 14. La Bergerie Du Camps de Nyils, Domaine du Mas Becha, 2015, red dry blend wine, Languedoc-Roussillon, 3,5 NJP, 15. Les Tourelles de Longueville, 2013, red dry blend wine, Bordeaux, 3,5 NJP, 16. Pol Roger, Brut Vintage, 2012, white dry blend sparkling wine, Champagne, 3,5 NJP, 17. Roc de Cambes, 2016, red dry blend wine, Bordeaux, 3,5 NJP, 18. Xavier Vignon, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Cuvee Anonyme, 2015, red dry blend wine, Rhône, 3,5 NJP and 19. Xavier Vignon, La Réserve, X XI XII, NV, red dry blend wine, Rhône 3,5 NJP.

 

The best wine producer at the tasting: Xavier Vignon. The producer Xavier Vignon was the producer who impressed most during the tasting. 7 wines were tasted, of which 2 wines got 3,5 NJP (Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Cuvee Anonyme, 2015 and La Réserve, X XI XII NV). The average rating of the wines from Xavier was 2,9 NJP of 5,0 NJP, which is a high average. The producer Xavier Vignon is situated in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. He has been active in the Rhône Valley since 1995. Before that he had been active in other French wine regions, including Champagne, and also in Australia. The company was founded as late as 1999. Something that distinguishes Xavier Vignon from many other producers from Châteauneuf-du-Pape is that several of his wines are made of only one grape. Examples of this are the wines Arcane V Le Pape (100% Grenache) and Arcane XV Le Diable (100% Mourverde). Since 2011, Xavier also produces a small amount of wine from the northern part of Rhône. In addition to produce his own wines, Xavier works as a consultant for almost 300 producers. The large contact network he has created himself through the consulting role gives him the opportunity to buy good wines from many growers and then make his own unique cuvées. Xavier's aim is that all wines should reflect terroir where the grapes were grown and the local grape varieties, but in a modern way.