Life is too short to drink bad wine

En primeur tastings took place early June at cave Bourdin. Its a difficult year for Bordeaux but an excellent year for the southern of Rhone, Ch Neuf du Pape and Provence because it is not too hot. En primeur tastings are difficult because it is not the final product you taste, it is just something taken out of the oak barrel before it is ready for bottling. It is as such hard to appreciate the true quality of the wine. The prices are again very high and it seems like the producers are trying to profit from the highly rated 2005 still. Personally for Bordeaux wines I would buy the 2004 vintage which is more reasonable and probably of better quality than 2007. For the south it is difficult to resist wines from Bandol and  Chateauneuf du Pape with such prime quality wines expected to arrive in 2009.  Especially the Mourvedre grape in Bandol seems to have enjoyed 2007 and the prices of bandol are reasonable compared to other appelations.   

This is one of two second wines of the famous and expensive Ch. Pape Clement in Graves. Although young,  2004, this wine drinks really well already if you put it on carafe a couple of hours before consumption. Dark red colour, with a very attractive smell of blueberries and dark berries, its a full bodied wine with firm but nice tannins that goes best with some food. 2004 although not the best of vintages, keep surprising me with good drinkable wines at affordable prices, because from 2005 and onwards there is a big step up in prices.... Grapes; Cabernet Sauvignon 60% and Merlot 40% Price around 20€ P+

This is a very good Pomerol and one of the few reasonable Pomerol wines you can get. Its one of the largest domaine in Pomerol with 70% Merlot with the rest being Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon. The wine is elegant and feminine with earthy undertones and cherries on the nose and palate. We are drinking 1998 right now (2008) which is slightly too old for this wine. 2000 was great last year so it peaks at around 5 to 6 years old. You can get the 2003 vintage for 21€ which is a very good price and the 2005 is not much more expensive. A certain P+(+).

The great 2005 vintage is now coming to the shops. This is a very good vintage which means the wines need time before it is drinkable. Baron de Brane is the second wine of Brane Cantenac (2 Grand Cru Classee from Margaux) and the price has gone up no less than 10€ since the previous good vintageand now costs 24€ at Nicolas. Its a lovely wine with rdéd berries vanilla and smooth integrated tannins thanks to the high Merlot content (48%) but it is way to expensive dspite the charcteristics in french below.... Robe pourpre à l’intensité colorante soutenue, présence de reflets violacés  Forte intensité aromatique. Nez dominé par des arômes de fruits rouges, enrichi de notes fraîches  (menthol) florales et de réglisse.  Attaque souple et beaucoup de fraîcheur et de concentration en milieu de bouche.  Un vin très équilibré et à la longueur généreuse qui offrira un potentiel de garde important.    Brane Cantenac