My recent experiences with the La Chenade and Dalem got me to thinking re
cellaring the satellite appelations. For budgetary reasons, these make up a
good 30% or so of my Bordeaux purchases. From good vintages, I've consistently
done very well with some of the better wines from Fronsac (such as Fontenil, de
Carles, & La Vieille Curé), & to a slightly lesser extent Canon-Fronsac, over
10 year+ periods. I have trouble coming up with the equivalent successes from
Lalande de Pomerol or Côtes de Bourg (with the exception of Roc de Cambes &
maybe Tayac's Prestige) -most seem to peak within a couple years of release,
and slide fairly precipitously after. The best of the Côtes de Castillon and
Montagne/St. George St-Émilion wines seem somewhere in between.

Looking at my '98s and '00s, my inclination is to drink up the Lalande-Pomerols
(except Fleur du Bouard, which seems to have plenty of structure), drink the
CdC and Montagnes within a few years, and keep the Fronsacs tucked away (once
Roc de Cambes started costing as much as Poyferre, I stopped buying, so I have
no Bourgs). I realize that generalizing by vintage and appelation is fraught
with dangers, but one must start somewhere. Do these generalizations jibe with
others' experiences?
Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

Dale.
My local Wine Merchant recently bought in some satellite bordeaux wines from
the 2000 vintage.
I picked up the following for significantly under £10 per bottle.
Chateau Le Rey and Prieure de Saint Lorent (both Cotes de Castillon)
and Chateau Pleyssac-Tayac which is a Cotes de Francs.
I had the Chateau Le Rey last night and was suitably impressed. Whilst
straightforward and uncomplicated, I really enjoyed the balance of the wine
which in my opinion is at its peak.
I had a 1991 Opus One last tuesday for my 41st birthday and found it rather
tired and a little disappointing.
Finding little gems for under a tenner really restores the enthusiasm and
the try it and see mentality, not to mention the whole value for money
debate.
I'll post some notes on the remaining satellite wines when consumed. I hope
that they are as good.

Best Wishes

Alex Hayne



"Dale Williams" > wrote in message
...
> My recent experiences with the La Chenade and Dalem got me to thinking re
> cellaring the satellite appelations. For budgetary reasons, these make up
a
> good 30% or so of my Bordeaux purchases. From good vintages, I've
consistently
> done very well with some of the better wines from Fronsac (such as
Fontenil, de
> Carles, & La Vieille Curé), & to a slightly lesser extent Canon-Fronsac,
over
> 10 year+ periods. I have trouble coming up with the equivalent successes
from
> Lalande de Pomerol or Côtes de Bourg (with the exception of Roc de Cambes
&
> maybe Tayac's Prestige) -most seem to peak within a couple years of
release,
> and slide fairly precipitously after. The best of the Côtes de Castillon
and
> Montagne/St. George St-Émilion wines seem somewhere in between.
>
> Looking at my '98s and '00s, my inclination is to drink up the
Lalande-Pomerols
> (except Fleur du Bouard, which seems to have plenty of structure), drink
the
> CdC and Montagnes within a few years, and keep the Fronsacs tucked away
(once
> Roc de Cambes started costing as much as Poyferre, I stopped buying, so I
have
> no Bourgs). I realize that generalizing by vintage and appelation is
fraught
> with dangers, but one must start somewhere. Do these generalizations jibe
with
> others' experiences?
> Dale
>
> Dale Williams
> Drop "damnspam" to reply

Dale.
My local Wine Merchant recently bought in some satellite bordeaux wines from
the 2000 vintage.
I picked up the following for significantly under £10 per bottle.
Chateau Le Rey and Prieure de Saint Lorent (both Cotes de Castillon)
and Chateau Pleyssac-Tayac which is a Cotes de Francs.
I had the Chateau Le Rey last night and was suitably impressed. Whilst
straightforward and uncomplicated, I really enjoyed the balance of the wine
which in my opinion is at its peak.
I had a 1991 Opus One last tuesday for my 41st birthday and found it rather
tired and a little disappointing.
Finding little gems for under a tenner really restores the enthusiasm and
the try it and see mentality, not to mention the whole value for money
debate.
I'll post some notes on the remaining satellite wines when consumed. I hope
that they are as good.

Best Wishes

Alex Hayne



"Dale Williams" > wrote in message
...
> My recent experiences with the La Chenade and Dalem got me to thinking re
> cellaring the satellite appelations. For budgetary reasons, these make up
a
> good 30% or so of my Bordeaux purchases. From good vintages, I've
consistently
> done very well with some of the better wines from Fronsac (such as
Fontenil, de
> Carles, & La Vieille Curé), & to a slightly lesser extent Canon-Fronsac,
over
> 10 year+ periods. I have trouble coming up with the equivalent successes
from
> Lalande de Pomerol or Côtes de Bourg (with the exception of Roc de Cambes
&
> maybe Tayac's Prestige) -most seem to peak within a couple years of
release,
> and slide fairly precipitously after. The best of the Côtes de Castillon
and
> Montagne/St. George St-Émilion wines seem somewhere in between.
>
> Looking at my '98s and '00s, my inclination is to drink up the
Lalande-Pomerols
> (except Fleur du Bouard, which seems to have plenty of structure), drink
the
> CdC and Montagnes within a few years, and keep the Fronsacs tucked away
(once
> Roc de Cambes started costing as much as Poyferre, I stopped buying, so I
have
> no Bourgs). I realize that generalizing by vintage and appelation is
fraught
> with dangers, but one must start somewhere. Do these generalizations jibe
with
> others' experiences?
> Dale
>
> Dale Williams
> Drop "damnspam" to reply

On 02 Sep 2004 13:50:49 GMT, amnspam (Dale Williams) said:

] My recent experiences with the La Chenade and Dalem got me to thinking re
] cellaring the satellite appelations. For budgetary reasons, these make up=
a
] good 30% or so of my Bordeaux purchases. From good vintages, I've consist=
ently=20
] done very well with some of the better wines from Fronsac (such as Fonten=
il, de
] Carles, & La Vieille Cur=E9), & to a slightly lesser extent Canon-Fronsac=
, over
] 10 year+ periods. I have trouble coming up with the equivalent successes =
from
] Lalande de Pomerol or C=F4tes de Bourg (with the exception of Roc de Camb=
es &
] maybe Tayac's Prestige) -most seem to peak within a couple years of relea=
se,
] and slide fairly precipitously after. The best of the C=F4tes de Castillo=
n and
] Montagne/St. George St-=C9milion wines seem somewhere in between. =20
]=20
] Looking at my '98s and '00s, my inclination is to drink up the Lalande-Po=
merols
] (except Fleur du Bouard, which seems to have plenty of structure), drink =
the
] CdC and Montagnes within a few years, and keep the Fronsacs tucked away (=
once
] Roc de Cambes started costing as much as Poyferre, I stopped buying, so I=
have
] no Bourgs). I realize that generalizing by vintage and appelation is frau=
ght
] with dangers, but one must start somewhere. Do these generalizations jibe=
with
] others' experiences?=20

Hi Dale,

My experience does jibe pretty well with yours, and I operate pretty much t=
he same way.
(I've never felt the need to have too much Bordeaux around, anyway.) I ten=
d to steer clear
of most of the Cotes de Bourg, just because I've had _so_ many mediocre one=
s, but oddly
I've had better success in the Blayais. Actually with Gillian's 7th birthd=
ay dinner last night
we had a '93 Haut Grelot "Methez" premieres cotes de blaye that I think you=
would have
really liked: big dark kirsch and chocolate nose, in the mouth very leathe=
ry, tar, more
black cherry and bramble. Great balance, maybe fading a bit though as the =
finish was
somewhat thin. Gillian liked it a lot, requesting a second taste, which is=
rare enough.
(She's not very into fruit forward styles, pronouncing them "too strong.")

I suspect there are some satellite St Ems that can go longer than you're ho=
lding, I had
some at a dinner party from '86 I think not too long ago, it was still goin=
g strong and
delicious actually. I agree on the Castillons though, I've not had any tha=
t I was inclined
to keep more than 5-7.

On Fronsac, have you tried Renard-Montdesir? Good stuff IMHO, finished the=
last
of the '89 about a year and a half ago.

-E

--=20
Emery Davis
You can reply to
by removing the well known companies

In article >, Emery Davis
> writes:

>On Fronsac, have you tried Renard-Montdesir

Emery, never even seen a Fronsac by that name here.

As to Bourg, I think most are forgettable, but Roc de Cambes and Tayac's
Prestige are generally very good wines (though the former is priced $25-40US),
and du Bousquet and Font Guilhem can be good in good vintages.

Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

In article >, Emery Davis
> writes:

>On Fronsac, have you tried Renard-Montdesir

Emery, never even seen a Fronsac by that name here.

As to Bourg, I think most are forgettable, but Roc de Cambes and Tayac's
Prestige are generally very good wines (though the former is priced $25-40US),
and du Bousquet and Font Guilhem can be good in good vintages.

Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

In article >, Emery Davis
> writes:

>On Fronsac, have you tried Renard-Montdesir

Emery, never even seen a Fronsac by that name here.

As to Bourg, I think most are forgettable, but Roc de Cambes and Tayac's
Prestige are generally very good wines (though the former is priced $25-40US),
and du Bousquet and Font Guilhem can be good in good vintages.

Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

I recently had the 2000 Chteau Larose Trintaudon. This has long been a
favorite of mine among the cru bourgeois, and at $15 US it's a very sound
wine - even worthy of cellaring. I consider this the BV Napa Valley of the
Medoc.

Tom S