15th December 2007: ASC invited Pierre Lurton, General Manager of both St. Emilion's Château Cheval Blanc and Sauternes's Château Yquem to give a specialist tasting and dinner at the Shangri-La Hotel, Beijing.
Before his arrival, Bertrand Carles, Buying Manager and Director of Bordeaux negociant Ginestet, gave a short introduction to the two properties, speculating on their markets in China. Carles had been travelling with Lurton throughout their tour of the country and was optimistic about the wines’ reception (hardly surprising, given the prestige of these propertites and Chinese consumers’ receptivity to French wines in general). As Carles joked, his problem is not one of selling top wines, but one of securing allocations in the increasingly competitive Bordeaux market.
Pierre Lurton first spoke about the diversity of soil types that characterize Cheval Blanc’s terroir (a mixture of gravel, sand, and clay). About 60% of the vineyard is given over to Cabernet Franc with Merlot making up the remainder. Lurton explained that in cooler vintages the early-ripening Merlot takes centre stage, but in hotter years Cabernet Franc plays more of a role. As Lurton put it, in warmer years, ‘Cabernet Franc invites Merlot for the long trip’, helping to produce wines that should have great longevity.
Whatever the assemblage, Lurton is adamant that Cheval Blanc's terroir dictates the style of the wine and its overall expression. He referred to Cheval Blanc's often silky tannins (or ‘cashmere’ tannins as Lurton put it); although this quality is presumably also achieved by care in the vineyard and limited extraction in the cellar. Cheval Blanc itself is made up from 25 different plots, all of which are vinified separately and then blended according to the nature of the year. Regular racking and fining are practised and the wine is unfiltered.
Here are our notes on the Cheval Blanc wines first. The notes on the 2004 and 1998 Château Yquem follow.
2004 Le Petit Cheval, St. Emilion
Appearance: medium purple-red, clear rim.
Nose: light red and black fruits (mix of plum and blackberry), fair bit of oak here, leather.
Palate: medium-bodied at most, good acidity, soft on tannins but these are definitely there. Not bad length.
Conclusion: 53% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Franc, this wine has some of the delicacy of the 2004 vintage. Although it could be approached now, it would be better to wait five years.
Rating: 17/20
2001 Le Petit Cheval, St. Emilion
Appearance: medium purple-red, orange rim.
Nose: shows much more tobacco on the nose than the 2004 Le Petit Cheval with similar fruit underneath (blackberry, plum etc.). Oak is less prevalent, but this is because it has settled down; plus the tobacco and leathery smell is traceable to the use of oak here anyway. Complex.
Palate: more structure and tannic backbone here than on the 2004 Le Petit Cheval and better length too; also features good acidity and impressive fruit.
Conclusion: 53% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Franc, this wine was more impressive than the 2004 Le Petit Cheval and should age for much longer.
Rating: 17.5/20
2004 Château Cheval Blanc, 1er Grand Cru Classé A, St. Emilion
Appearance: medium to deep purple-red, clear rim.
Nose: crushed berry fruits (red and black), very perfumed with some fragrant green pepper notes from the Cabernet Franc. Oak comes in later.
Palate: strong fruit, ripe coating tannins – smooth in texture, not chewy – lovely acidity with good length. Slightly tight and clearly very young at present.
Conclusion: 55% Cabernet Franc, 45% Merlot, this wine needs time. It is clearly sophisticated St. Emilion.
Rating: 18/20
2001 Château Cheval Blanc, 1er Grand Cru Classé A, St. Emilion
Appearance: deep purple-red, slight orange rim.
Nose: metallic first nose (iron, sanguineous kind of smell) followed by strong red and black fruits (chiefly plum and blackberry) along with integrated oak and considerable complexity.
Palate: ripe, silky and fully integrated tannins with excellent fruit, considerable length and fine acidity.
Conclusion: 60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc, according to Robert Parker (but we’ve seen all sorts of different percentages for the assemblage on the same vintages of Cheval Blanc wines on the web!). This is clearly very fine St. Emilion which still has a long way to go to reach maturity.
Rating: 18.5/20
Pierre Lurton then talked in some detail about the production of Sauternes and the qualities of Château Yquem specifically. He described Yquem as ‘an icon of wine’, referring to the property as ‘the story of the Lur-Saluces family’ (rather than discussing the controversy of how Yquem ceased to be under Lur-Saluces control).
Like Cheval Blanc, Yquem is also typified by a varied terroir incorporating 130 hectares of gravel, sand, clay and chalk soils. These soils do not contribute directly to wine flavours (if at all), but do have different drainage and obviously different exposure in the vineyard itself.
Yquem is typically a blend of 80% Semillon and 20% Sauvignon Blanc and Lurton explained the various risks inherent in Sauternes production, particularly given the need to wait for the right conditions over several trie (select harvests through the vineyard as noble rot develops). These separate pickings typically take place in the middle and end of September, the middle and end of October and conclude around the middle of November.
All in all, Lurton aims in Yquem to achieve a ‘clean, pure Sauternes with a good level of acidity’ to balance the natural residual sugar. It is certainly worth remembering that these are not particularly sweet wines (reaching about 130 g/l in sweeter years) - certainly alongside the likes of Ice Wine/Eiswein.
2004 Château Yquem, 1er Grand Cru Classé Exceptionnel, Sauternes
Appearance: medium-yellow gold.
Nose: very ‘fresh’ nose (with botrytis only suggested, really). Instead, there’s more evidence of fresh orange and other citrus aromas. Candied fruit with slight honey.
Palate: not super-concentrated. More of the delicate candied, citrus fruits with an excellent balance of medium residual sugar to high acidity. Good length.
Conclusion: a delicate vintage for Yquem (which is not a euphemism for ‘lacking concentration’ – this is just a different vintage). Will repay medium-term keeping.
Rating: 18/20
1998 Château Yquem, 1er Grand Cru Classé Exceptionnel, Sauternes
Appearance: distinct orange gold.
Nose: intense candied fruit, marked botrytis, spice and other complex aromas.
Palate: superb fruit, fantastic balance of robust residual sugar to delicate high acidity. The balance here really is very, very good! Excellent length.
Conclusion: this is a superb wine. Super-intense, but hardly cloying because of the fine acidity and amazing integration of the total wine. A brilliant Sauternes!
Rating: 19/20
There were limited opportunities for questions as Pierre Lurton and Bertrand Carles were coming to the end of a fairly arduous Chinese tour. But I did manage to ask Lurton if he uses different types of French oak when maturing Le Petit Cheval and Cheval Blanc respectively or whether the wines see similar oak treatment but for different periods. Lurton explained that he works with five different coopers, but didn’t divulge the types of oak used. Instead, he pointed out that Le Petit Cheval usually spends about 12 months in oak whereas Cheval Blanc would usually receive about 15-18 months.
Fongyee also managed to ask at what point the grapes for Yquem’s dry white (the ‘Y’) are generally picked each year. The blend for the ‘Y’ is quite different: 60% Sauvignon Blanc with 40% Semillon; and the grapes are usually harvested, we learnt, just before the end of the vintage.
Before his arrival, Bertrand Carles, Buying Manager and Director of Bordeaux negociant Ginestet, gave a short introduction to the two properties, speculating on their markets in China. Carles had been travelling with Lurton throughout their tour of the country and was optimistic about the wines’ reception (hardly surprising, given the prestige of these propertites and Chinese consumers’ receptivity to French wines in general). As Carles joked, his problem is not one of selling top wines, but one of securing allocations in the increasingly competitive Bordeaux market.
Pierre Lurton first spoke about the diversity of soil types that characterize Cheval Blanc’s terroir (a mixture of gravel, sand, and clay). About 60% of the vineyard is given over to Cabernet Franc with Merlot making up the remainder. Lurton explained that in cooler vintages the early-ripening Merlot takes centre stage, but in hotter years Cabernet Franc plays more of a role. As Lurton put it, in warmer years, ‘Cabernet Franc invites Merlot for the long trip’, helping to produce wines that should have great longevity.
Whatever the assemblage, Lurton is adamant that Cheval Blanc's terroir dictates the style of the wine and its overall expression. He referred to Cheval Blanc's often silky tannins (or ‘cashmere’ tannins as Lurton put it); although this quality is presumably also achieved by care in the vineyard and limited extraction in the cellar. Cheval Blanc itself is made up from 25 different plots, all of which are vinified separately and then blended according to the nature of the year. Regular racking and fining are practised and the wine is unfiltered.
Here are our notes on the Cheval Blanc wines first. The notes on the 2004 and 1998 Château Yquem follow.
2004 Le Petit Cheval, St. Emilion
Appearance: medium purple-red, clear rim.
Nose: light red and black fruits (mix of plum and blackberry), fair bit of oak here, leather.
Palate: medium-bodied at most, good acidity, soft on tannins but these are definitely there. Not bad length.
Conclusion: 53% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Franc, this wine has some of the delicacy of the 2004 vintage. Although it could be approached now, it would be better to wait five years.
Rating: 17/20
2001 Le Petit Cheval, St. Emilion
Appearance: medium purple-red, orange rim.
Nose: shows much more tobacco on the nose than the 2004 Le Petit Cheval with similar fruit underneath (blackberry, plum etc.). Oak is less prevalent, but this is because it has settled down; plus the tobacco and leathery smell is traceable to the use of oak here anyway. Complex.
Palate: more structure and tannic backbone here than on the 2004 Le Petit Cheval and better length too; also features good acidity and impressive fruit.
Conclusion: 53% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Franc, this wine was more impressive than the 2004 Le Petit Cheval and should age for much longer.
Rating: 17.5/20
2004 Château Cheval Blanc, 1er Grand Cru Classé A, St. Emilion
Appearance: medium to deep purple-red, clear rim.
Nose: crushed berry fruits (red and black), very perfumed with some fragrant green pepper notes from the Cabernet Franc. Oak comes in later.
Palate: strong fruit, ripe coating tannins – smooth in texture, not chewy – lovely acidity with good length. Slightly tight and clearly very young at present.
Conclusion: 55% Cabernet Franc, 45% Merlot, this wine needs time. It is clearly sophisticated St. Emilion.
Rating: 18/20
2001 Château Cheval Blanc, 1er Grand Cru Classé A, St. Emilion
Appearance: deep purple-red, slight orange rim.
Nose: metallic first nose (iron, sanguineous kind of smell) followed by strong red and black fruits (chiefly plum and blackberry) along with integrated oak and considerable complexity.
Palate: ripe, silky and fully integrated tannins with excellent fruit, considerable length and fine acidity.
Conclusion: 60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc, according to Robert Parker (but we’ve seen all sorts of different percentages for the assemblage on the same vintages of Cheval Blanc wines on the web!). This is clearly very fine St. Emilion which still has a long way to go to reach maturity.
Rating: 18.5/20
Pierre Lurton then talked in some detail about the production of Sauternes and the qualities of Château Yquem specifically. He described Yquem as ‘an icon of wine’, referring to the property as ‘the story of the Lur-Saluces family’ (rather than discussing the controversy of how Yquem ceased to be under Lur-Saluces control).
Like Cheval Blanc, Yquem is also typified by a varied terroir incorporating 130 hectares of gravel, sand, clay and chalk soils. These soils do not contribute directly to wine flavours (if at all), but do have different drainage and obviously different exposure in the vineyard itself.
Yquem is typically a blend of 80% Semillon and 20% Sauvignon Blanc and Lurton explained the various risks inherent in Sauternes production, particularly given the need to wait for the right conditions over several trie (select harvests through the vineyard as noble rot develops). These separate pickings typically take place in the middle and end of September, the middle and end of October and conclude around the middle of November.
All in all, Lurton aims in Yquem to achieve a ‘clean, pure Sauternes with a good level of acidity’ to balance the natural residual sugar. It is certainly worth remembering that these are not particularly sweet wines (reaching about 130 g/l in sweeter years) - certainly alongside the likes of Ice Wine/Eiswein.
2004 Château Yquem, 1er Grand Cru Classé Exceptionnel, Sauternes
Appearance: medium-yellow gold.
Nose: very ‘fresh’ nose (with botrytis only suggested, really). Instead, there’s more evidence of fresh orange and other citrus aromas. Candied fruit with slight honey.
Palate: not super-concentrated. More of the delicate candied, citrus fruits with an excellent balance of medium residual sugar to high acidity. Good length.
Conclusion: a delicate vintage for Yquem (which is not a euphemism for ‘lacking concentration’ – this is just a different vintage). Will repay medium-term keeping.
Rating: 18/20
1998 Château Yquem, 1er Grand Cru Classé Exceptionnel, Sauternes
Appearance: distinct orange gold.
Nose: intense candied fruit, marked botrytis, spice and other complex aromas.
Palate: superb fruit, fantastic balance of robust residual sugar to delicate high acidity. The balance here really is very, very good! Excellent length.
Conclusion: this is a superb wine. Super-intense, but hardly cloying because of the fine acidity and amazing integration of the total wine. A brilliant Sauternes!
Rating: 19/20
There were limited opportunities for questions as Pierre Lurton and Bertrand Carles were coming to the end of a fairly arduous Chinese tour. But I did manage to ask Lurton if he uses different types of French oak when maturing Le Petit Cheval and Cheval Blanc respectively or whether the wines see similar oak treatment but for different periods. Lurton explained that he works with five different coopers, but didn’t divulge the types of oak used. Instead, he pointed out that Le Petit Cheval usually spends about 12 months in oak whereas Cheval Blanc would usually receive about 15-18 months.
Fongyee also managed to ask at what point the grapes for Yquem’s dry white (the ‘Y’) are generally picked each year. The blend for the ‘Y’ is quite different: 60% Sauvignon Blanc with 40% Semillon; and the grapes are usually harvested, we learnt, just before the end of the vintage.
Labels: 1998, 2001, 2004, ASC, Cabernet Franc, Cheval Blanc, Featured Tastings, Ginestet, Le Petit Cheval, Merlot, Pierre Lurton, Sauternes, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, St. Emilion, Yquem
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