I enjoy St. Estephes.
Montrose is near the top of my personal pantheon of wines that if not elegant, are usually interesting, and quite reliable – heck, I even enjoy the rusticity often present in many, especially the older vintages. In good vintages, the wine stands, head up, with the best. I have 1970 that was excellent and 1990 that is and will be a top performer for decades.
I think that Meyney, hard little bastard that it can be, is a great value for a Cru Bourgeois I have a case of the 86 that I have only just opened.
In the middle rank, as a second growth is Calon Segur, the wine with the heart on its label – and that is what prompted the local Commanderie to hold a vertical tasting dinner of this wine at Valentines Day. The heart is said to come from Nicolas de Segur who at the time owned Latour and Lafite as well, but was recorded as saying "I make wine at Lafite and Latour, but my heart is at Calon." In the early days the present area of Calon was part of a much larger estate that included Montrose and Phelan-Segur, which were split of subsequently.
The blend is typical – cab heavy with 50% CS and 25% CF, as well as 25% Merlot.(it does vary from year to year). The wine went through a bit of a dip in the 60s and 70s, but has been doing quite well since 1982, and if it never hits the heights, it reliably reaches the level of dependable and enjoyable performer.
We started with a bubbly, the Roederer Brut Premier, which was young, fresh showed clean acidity and was pleasant but no more.
Then on to pan fried red snapper with:
2000 Ch. Carbonnieux blanc – corked. Drat!
With roast quail:
2003 – I hadn’t tasted this before and it was a pleasant surprise, much more forward than I’d expected. Good colour, decent nose, obviously very primary in nature, with a hint of ripeness and hints of smoked meat and vanilla, the wine showing reasonably on palate, narrowing a bit at the end. It needs time, but can be drunk now with some pleasure.
2002 – this was more the traditional Calon – more spice in the nose much more tannin, and harder. At first there was a rush of tannin, then it seemed to abate a little in mid-palate, enough to experience fruit before the tannin clamped down again. We’ll have to wait awhile to see what this will become.
With grilled lamb chop and lamb shoulder ragout;
1998 - decent fruit nose with hint of rose petals, good fruit, the tannins only medium force and softer – this drinks pretty well now as well. These (2003 and 1998) are not the Calons of old!
1996 – a wine that caused some controversy. Dark, with depth in the nose, but also a stalky green component, and it was maybe a little lacking in fruit intensity on palate, but was clean and fairly well focussed with good balance and a hint of iodine at the end. We pondered whether it had been overly chaptalised which resulted in some excess heat in the nose.
With Gruyere soufflé:
1990 – at last a nicely mature nose. There were cherries and vanilla and some spicy oak, and on palate it had excellent concentration, smooth and well balanced with a leather and spice thing reprising at the end. My favourite.
1989 – some people preferred this to the 1990, but for me the opposite choice had been clear. The 89 was also mature, but had less fruit and more acidity, and while it would be perfectly satisfying opened on its own, it suffered when shown in comparison with the bigger sweeter 1990.
Finally:
1997 Ch. Doisy Daene – this was very good! Sweet, but not cloying with some botrytis, coconut, smoke and honey in the nose, already becoming quite complex, it was well balanced and I have the impression it is just beginning to show what it has. It will be interesting to see what a few more years of age bring.
An unusually youthful tasting for me – I usually don’t get into wines like these under a decade old – but quite informative.