Globus Wines of Shanghai had winemaker extraordinaire Bertrand Sourdais up for a visit in Beijing on the back of a number of Shanghai events.
Sourdais, a former under-study at Château Mouton-Rothschild and Léoville-Las-Cases (who also gained hands-on experience with Chile’s Santa Rita and Priorat’s Álvaro Palacio), comes from a wine-making family in the Loire Valley and since 2003 has been responsible for the vintage at Domaine de Pallus, the family domaine in Chinon.
Sourdais sprung to fame, however, with his stunning Ribera del Duero wines, made at Dominio de Atauta in collaboration with Miguel Sanchez, a notable Madrid wine merchant and distributor who was instrumental in bringing the vineyards of the town of Atauta to public note.
Sanchez has 15 hectares of pre-phylloxera vines and sources fruit from some 600 further plots, many of which clearly contain the oldest vines in the region. Sourdais was explicit in insisting that the Tinto Fino is quite different in morphology and temperament from Tempranillo, at least as it is found in Rioja; and lamented the importation of Rioja Tempranillo into the Ribera region.
Accolades have justifiably followed the wines of Atauta. Nearly every major wine writer including not only Spanish critics but Robert Parker and Michel Bettane has hailed the quality here. But we found the Chinon to be among the best we have had too!
We’re very excited that these kind of wines are available in China and recommend checking out the Globus list. Along with Ruby Red Fine Wines in Shanghai, this is one of the more innovative and exciting companies; and it is no surprise that Globus recently teamed up with Bacchus Wines in Beijing to promote the wines of Alsatian producer Lorentz Klipfel (Bacchus is another supplier to watch).
2005 Les Pensées du Pallus, Chinon
Appearance: medium purple-red.
Nose: very bright red and black fruits (strawberry, blackberry, cherries) with distinctive green pepper and very slight oak.
Palate: excellent acidity here (what Loire Cabernet Franc should be like!), lovely structure with medium chewy tannins and very good length.
Conclusion: this is perhaps the best Chinon we’ve had, easily up there with the wines of Charles Joguet (perhaps even purer in expression). Certainly the best Cabernet Franc we’ve had to date and attractively priced at RMB188.
Rating: 18.5/20
2005 Atalayas de Golban, Ribera del Duero
Appearance: dark purple-red, pink rim.
Nose: very concentrated black fruits, with oak ‘just there’ (i.e. very well-integrated). The wine has a perfumed quality which is hard to describe – certainly not reminiscent of Nebbiolo or Pinot Noir. Complex.
Palate: marked acidity, very concentrated but elegant with superb fruit, ripe smooth medium tannins and lovely length.
Conclusion: an ‘atalaya’ is a watchtower and the Golban is a river in the Atauta valley. This is a separate project from the below Dominio de Atauta and the wine is intended for earlier drinking. Fermented in stainless steel with 80% of the wine then being aged in two to three year-old barrels (emanating from Château Haut-Brion), it is beautiful to drink now, but would also benefit from medium-term ageing if desired. Very, very good and quite a competitor to the below Dominio de Atauta, in fact. We prefer the Atalayas now, even although giving the Dominio de Atauta a higher overall rating. Retail RMB228.
Rating: 18.5/20
2005 Dominio de Atauta, Ribera del Duero
Appearance: very dark purple to black, pink rim.
Nose: beautiful dark fruits, even more concentrated than the Atalayas de Golban, more overt oak here too. Needs time to develop in the glass, but it is already fragrant.
Palate: marked acidity (the acidity on all of Sourdais’s wines is prominent but pure), integrated medium-high chewy tannins, lovely fruit and very good length.
Conclusion: a blend of Tinto Fino from significant plots with old vines such as La Mala, Punto Alta, Cuesta Moral, and La Solana, this is intense but sophisticated and really needs time right now. Usually aged in 100% new French oak, the fruit is certainly robust enough to warrant this treatment. Wait on this. It will be amazing to see how it ages. Retail RMB465.
Rating: 19/20
Sourdais, a former under-study at Château Mouton-Rothschild and Léoville-Las-Cases (who also gained hands-on experience with Chile’s Santa Rita and Priorat’s Álvaro Palacio), comes from a wine-making family in the Loire Valley and since 2003 has been responsible for the vintage at Domaine de Pallus, the family domaine in Chinon.
Sourdais sprung to fame, however, with his stunning Ribera del Duero wines, made at Dominio de Atauta in collaboration with Miguel Sanchez, a notable Madrid wine merchant and distributor who was instrumental in bringing the vineyards of the town of Atauta to public note.
Sanchez has 15 hectares of pre-phylloxera vines and sources fruit from some 600 further plots, many of which clearly contain the oldest vines in the region. Sourdais was explicit in insisting that the Tinto Fino is quite different in morphology and temperament from Tempranillo, at least as it is found in Rioja; and lamented the importation of Rioja Tempranillo into the Ribera region.
Accolades have justifiably followed the wines of Atauta. Nearly every major wine writer including not only Spanish critics but Robert Parker and Michel Bettane has hailed the quality here. But we found the Chinon to be among the best we have had too!
We’re very excited that these kind of wines are available in China and recommend checking out the Globus list. Along with Ruby Red Fine Wines in Shanghai, this is one of the more innovative and exciting companies; and it is no surprise that Globus recently teamed up with Bacchus Wines in Beijing to promote the wines of Alsatian producer Lorentz Klipfel (Bacchus is another supplier to watch).
2005 Les Pensées du Pallus, Chinon
Appearance: medium purple-red.
Nose: very bright red and black fruits (strawberry, blackberry, cherries) with distinctive green pepper and very slight oak.
Palate: excellent acidity here (what Loire Cabernet Franc should be like!), lovely structure with medium chewy tannins and very good length.
Conclusion: this is perhaps the best Chinon we’ve had, easily up there with the wines of Charles Joguet (perhaps even purer in expression). Certainly the best Cabernet Franc we’ve had to date and attractively priced at RMB188.
Rating: 18.5/20
2005 Atalayas de Golban, Ribera del Duero
Appearance: dark purple-red, pink rim.
Nose: very concentrated black fruits, with oak ‘just there’ (i.e. very well-integrated). The wine has a perfumed quality which is hard to describe – certainly not reminiscent of Nebbiolo or Pinot Noir. Complex.
Palate: marked acidity, very concentrated but elegant with superb fruit, ripe smooth medium tannins and lovely length.
Conclusion: an ‘atalaya’ is a watchtower and the Golban is a river in the Atauta valley. This is a separate project from the below Dominio de Atauta and the wine is intended for earlier drinking. Fermented in stainless steel with 80% of the wine then being aged in two to three year-old barrels (emanating from Château Haut-Brion), it is beautiful to drink now, but would also benefit from medium-term ageing if desired. Very, very good and quite a competitor to the below Dominio de Atauta, in fact. We prefer the Atalayas now, even although giving the Dominio de Atauta a higher overall rating. Retail RMB228.
Rating: 18.5/20
2005 Dominio de Atauta, Ribera del Duero
Appearance: very dark purple to black, pink rim.
Nose: beautiful dark fruits, even more concentrated than the Atalayas de Golban, more overt oak here too. Needs time to develop in the glass, but it is already fragrant.
Palate: marked acidity (the acidity on all of Sourdais’s wines is prominent but pure), integrated medium-high chewy tannins, lovely fruit and very good length.
Conclusion: a blend of Tinto Fino from significant plots with old vines such as La Mala, Punto Alta, Cuesta Moral, and La Solana, this is intense but sophisticated and really needs time right now. Usually aged in 100% new French oak, the fruit is certainly robust enough to warrant this treatment. Wait on this. It will be amazing to see how it ages. Retail RMB465.
Rating: 19/20
Labels: Bacchus Wines, Bertrand Sourdais, Cabernet Franc, Chinon, Domaine de Pallus, Dominio de Atauta, France, Globus Wines, red, Ribera del Duero, Ruby Red Fine Wines, Spain, Tempranillo, Tinto Fino
posted by Wine Dragon
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