Château Loudenne Dinner at Le Bistrot Parisien, Beijing
ASC invited Florence Lafragette of Château Loudenne to present her wines accompanied by a decent menu from Beijing's Le Bistrot Parisien. We chatted with Ms Lafragette about Loudenne and our visit there in 2004 when taking part in the Vingt sur vin competition organized by Jean-Michel Cazes of Château Lynch-Bages. Like Cazes, she is a strong ambassador for the region.
It was a fun evening and the food was well-prepared and well-presented (it was certainly all a good deal at 200RMB per head as there was copious wine). The only thing that didn’t work was the first red with the bream (in fact, the Loudenne White would have been much better!). It's certainly worth experimenting with reds with various fish - particularly meatier types of fish - but red Bordeaux with a vanilla sauce (see below) is not to be recommended:
Tartare de Thon et de Concombre à la Crème Ciboulette
2003 Château Loudenne Blanc, Médoc
Appearance: pleasant gold yellow colour.
Nose: citrus fruit with marked oak and some waxy aromas. Complex.
Palate: strong fruit, good oak, some fresh acidity (the wine does not actually go through malolactic) and lovely length.
Conclusion: this is 75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Semillon and was really well put together despite the problems of the 2003 vintage. Impressive dry white Bordeaux and refreshing to find this kind of thing in the Medoc rather than just in Graves or Pessac-Leognan.
Rating: 18/20
Filet de Dorade Rose Rotie, Sauce Vanille, Julienne de Légumes Croquantes
2003 Pavillon de Loudenne (the 2nd wine)
Appearance: medium purple-red, clear rim.
Nose: we both picked up green tints and possibly unripe notes on more than one of the bottles which suggests that the grapes had to be picked with the highish sugar levels that the 2003 heat would have created but without their being physiologically/phenolically ripe (hence the unripe green nose).
Palate: more 'green' notes, but with some red and black fruits underneath. Tannins are not so unripe here, so maybe this wine has a better future than the nose suggests. Quite good length.
Conclusion: this wine is 76% Cabernet and 24% Merlot. You cannot, therefore, say the green notes are traceable to Cabernet Franc (which can show that green pepper nose). But they may not be unripe Cabernet Sauvignon either. Other bottles would have to be tried.
Rating: 17/20
Medaillon de Fillet de Boeuf, Sauce Porto, Pommes Forestieres
2002 Château Loudenne Rouge, Cru Bourgeois Supérieur
Appearance: purple-red, clear rim.
Nose: pleasant nose of blackcurrant fruit and French oak (although the fruit has the restraint of the 2002 vintage).
Palate: has refreshing medium acidity on the palate which makes it very drinkable at this stage, medium slightly chewy tannins (although not that pronounced) and agreeable fruit. Pretty balanced and with promising length.
Conclusion: 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 48% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Malbec, this is a pleasant blend and was well assembled. We liked it, although the 2003 Château Loudenne Blanc carried the day.
Rating: 17.5/20
ASC invited Florence Lafragette of Château Loudenne to present her wines accompanied by a decent menu from Beijing's Le Bistrot Parisien. We chatted with Ms Lafragette about Loudenne and our visit there in 2004 when taking part in the Vingt sur vin competition organized by Jean-Michel Cazes of Château Lynch-Bages. Like Cazes, she is a strong ambassador for the region.
It was a fun evening and the food was well-prepared and well-presented (it was certainly all a good deal at 200RMB per head as there was copious wine). The only thing that didn’t work was the first red with the bream (in fact, the Loudenne White would have been much better!). It's certainly worth experimenting with reds with various fish - particularly meatier types of fish - but red Bordeaux with a vanilla sauce (see below) is not to be recommended:
Tartare de Thon et de Concombre à la Crème Ciboulette
2003 Château Loudenne Blanc, Médoc
Appearance: pleasant gold yellow colour.
Nose: citrus fruit with marked oak and some waxy aromas. Complex.
Palate: strong fruit, good oak, some fresh acidity (the wine does not actually go through malolactic) and lovely length.
Conclusion: this is 75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Semillon and was really well put together despite the problems of the 2003 vintage. Impressive dry white Bordeaux and refreshing to find this kind of thing in the Medoc rather than just in Graves or Pessac-Leognan.
Rating: 18/20
Filet de Dorade Rose Rotie, Sauce Vanille, Julienne de Légumes Croquantes
2003 Pavillon de Loudenne (the 2nd wine)
Appearance: medium purple-red, clear rim.
Nose: we both picked up green tints and possibly unripe notes on more than one of the bottles which suggests that the grapes had to be picked with the highish sugar levels that the 2003 heat would have created but without their being physiologically/phenolically ripe (hence the unripe green nose).
Palate: more 'green' notes, but with some red and black fruits underneath. Tannins are not so unripe here, so maybe this wine has a better future than the nose suggests. Quite good length.
Conclusion: this wine is 76% Cabernet and 24% Merlot. You cannot, therefore, say the green notes are traceable to Cabernet Franc (which can show that green pepper nose). But they may not be unripe Cabernet Sauvignon either. Other bottles would have to be tried.
Rating: 17/20
Medaillon de Fillet de Boeuf, Sauce Porto, Pommes Forestieres
2002 Château Loudenne Rouge, Cru Bourgeois Supérieur
Appearance: purple-red, clear rim.
Nose: pleasant nose of blackcurrant fruit and French oak (although the fruit has the restraint of the 2002 vintage).
Palate: has refreshing medium acidity on the palate which makes it very drinkable at this stage, medium slightly chewy tannins (although not that pronounced) and agreeable fruit. Pretty balanced and with promising length.
Conclusion: 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 48% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Malbec, this is a pleasant blend and was well assembled. We liked it, although the 2003 Château Loudenne Blanc carried the day.
Rating: 17.5/20
Labels: 2002, 2003, ASC, Bordeaux, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Featured Tastings, France, Jean-Michel Cazes, Loudenne, Malbec, Merlot, red, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Vingt sur vin, white
posted by Wine Dragon
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