2015 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru “Les Chalumaux”Comtesse de Chérisey
France | Burgundy
$120
Producers
On a wintry day in January, our group piled into Grégoire and Bénédicte Hubau’s farmhouse for a much-anticipated lunch and tasting. While Grégoire tended to a rack of glistening fat-capped duck breasts roasting over open flames, the rest of us tasted his boldly ripe and energetic 2015 vintage—a perfect pairing, it turns out, for smoky magret de canard. In a region of winemakers-cum-businessmen, Grégoire’s passion and perspective are a treat. When asked about the blend, he will tell you that this single-varietal Fronsac is 50% Mer and 50% Lot. Not your typical response, but typical doesn’t interest him. Regarding the typicity of Fronsac, Grégoire shrugs and says, “I don’t make wine based on an appellation; I make wine based on what the soils tell me.”
—Jane Berg
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2015 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Merlot |
Appellation: | Fronsac |
Country: | France |
Region: | Bordeaux |
Producer: | Château Haut-Lariveau |
Winemaker: | Bénédicte & Grégoire Hubau |
Vineyard: | 60 years avg., 7.92 ha |
Soil: | Clay, Limestone and Clay, Gravel |
Aging: | 12- to 18-month élevage in barriques, 25% new |
Farming: | Organic (practicing) |
Alcohol: | 13% |
Château Graville-Lacoste France | Bordeaux | Graves
Vieux Château Certan France | Bordeaux | Pomerol
Château Roûmieu-Lacoste France | Bordeaux | Sauternes
Château Moulin Pey-Labrie France | Bordeaux | Canon-Fronsac
Domaine de l’Alliance France | Bordeaux | Sauternes
Château Gombaude-Guillot France | Bordeaux | Pomerol
Often considered the wine capital of the world, Bordeaux and its wines have captured the minds, hearts, and wallets of wine drinkers for centuries. For many, the wines provide an inalienable benchmark against which all other wines are measured.
Bordeaux is divided into three winegrowing regions with the city that gives the region its name in the near geographical center. The “right bank,” or the area located east of the Dordogne River, produces wines that are predominantly Merlot with small amounts of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The “left bank” is located to the west of the Garonne River and produces wines dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, with Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot.
The third region, Entre-Deux-Mers, lies between both rivers and produces white wines from Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and Muscadelle. Though technically in the left bank, it is worth noting the appellation of Sauternes, which produces arguably the world’s most famous sweet wines from Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and Muscadelle as well.
Though many top Bordeaux wines are sold en primeur (in advance of their bottling) and often through a middleman known as a negoçiant, Kermit has always preferred to purchase directly from the winemaker. For more than three decades he has sought out small producers, who make classic Bordeaux wines and are willing to play outside the negoçiant system. This ethic has led to longstanding relationships, excellent prices, and perhaps most important—wines of great value and longevity.
Château de Bellevue France | Bordeaux | Lussac Saint Émilion
Château Graville-Lacoste France | Bordeaux | Graves
Château Batailley France | Bordeaux | Pauillac
Domaine de l’Alliance France | Bordeaux | Sauternes
Domaine de l’Alliance France | Bordeaux | IGP Atlantique
Château Roûmieu-Lacoste France | Bordeaux | Sauternes
Château Graville-Lacoste France | Bordeaux | Graves
Domaine de l’Alliance France | Bordeaux
Château Gombaude-Guillot France | Bordeaux | Pomerol
Domaine de l’Alliance France | Bordeaux | Vin de France
Château de Bellevue France | Bordeaux | Lussac Saint Émilion
Domaine de l’Alliance France | Bordeaux | IGP Atlantique
I want you to realize once and for all: Even the winemaker does not know what aging is going to do to a new vintage; Robert Parker does not know; I do not know. We all make educated (hopefully) guesses about what the future will bring, but guesses they are. And one of the pleasures of a wine cellar is the opportunity it provides for you to witness the evolution of your various selections. Living wines have ups and downs just as people do, periods of glory and dog days, too. If wine did not remind me of real life, I would not care about it so much.
Inspiring Thirst, page 171
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