Friday morning and we are nearing the end of the week. We are now staying at Cordeillan Bages in Pauillac which is owned by the Jean Michel Cazes. It seems that there is little rest here. I know, who will believe it is hard work tasting all of these wines and eating all of this good food, but there is, in reality, very little down time. So we are off to Chateau du Tertre again right after a light breakfast at Maison K which is the building in which our entire group is staying. If you are ever going to Bordeaux with a group, this is an ideal spot. Built, ostensibly as a home for Sylvie Cazes, Jean-Michels daughter, when she is in Bordeaux, it has a large kitchen, media room and 7 bedrooms. Perfect for a large group. It is right on the edge of the little town of Village Bages and within walking distance of Pauillac.
The town the Jean Michael Cazes built...or rebuilt. Here the butcher shop.
Chateau du Tertre is a truly beautiful 80 hectare (198 acres) estate at the highest point of the Margaux Appellation. It has 52 hectares (128 acres) of vines. It was classified as a fifth growth in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification. The estate has been owned since 1997 by a Dutch businessman Eric Jelgersma. There is also a strong relationship with Chateau Giscours (partial ownership I think?). The winemaking team from du Tetre makes all of the wine as Giscours. Prior to his purchase, it had fallen into disrepair and disrepute but he has since made major investments and turned it into an absolutely stunning place, making good wines and very worth a visit.
Chateau du Tertre
It is a stunning place that even includes 5 guest rooms. Staying there would be fabulous.
The winery is an interesting combination between traditional techniques and modern approaches as indicated in the photo below of traditional oak tanks and a single concrete egg shaped wine fermenter.
New meets old. An egg fermenter stands between old oak tanks.
We are starting to see egg fermenters all over the world now and they are beginning to make an appearance in Napa. In fact, a company called Sonoma Cast Stone, known for its fountains and countertops is now entering the business and, in talking to one of their reps, he told me they consider it a very strong and a real possibility for a growing market. The attraction of the concrete is that the fermentation temperature is arguably more stable and less subject to variation. The egg shape causes the cap, the collection of floating skins at the top of the wine, to be more submerged because the egg gets narrower at the top.
Our Hostess, Alaure Bastard (some name huh?) stands beside a concrete fermenter
One of things that I found interesting a du Tetrtre, and in fact all over Bordeaux, was that although they talked about systems that handled grapes gently and while many are using gravity rather than pumps to move the grapes and wine, all of the Chateau that we visited were doing pump-overs instead of punch downs. Both terms relate to the process by which the skins of the wine which float to the top of the tank during fermentation creating a firm "cap" of the must, are mixed with the wine in order to extract color and flavor from the skins. Many winemakers think it is advantageous to punch the cap down into the wine using a hand held tool or a hydraulic puncher on a track others pump the juice over the cap to wet it . Well, in Bordeaux no one seems to worry about punch downs and pump-overs are absolutely routine. One other interesting note about du Tertre's wine making and perhaps one of the reasons they are not right at the top of the quality heap is that they use only about 50% new oak at Giscours and 40% new oak at du Tertre.
The tasting after our tour included both a 2010 du Tetre (70% CS, 20% Merlot and 10% Petit Verdot) and a 2010 Giscours (71% Cabernet Sauvignon and 29% Merlot) . Both wines have a long way to go. I continue to remain to be surprised that everyone in Bordeaux sells these wines to the négociants so early and that the négociants are willing to buy the wine before they really get to see how it will age. We also tasted a 2004 du Tertre which I thought was respectable but not great. It had a bit of a thin, although somewhat long finish. It was made from 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 30% Cab Franc.
The Celler at du Tertre
A final note... Chateau du Tertre uses an underground cellar, shown above, which is very rare in the Medoc area of Bordeaux.It is unique because it is underground, most of the barrel storage areas are in Chai's, which again, are above ground storage areas. Again, if you are going it is worth seeing. The wines are good, the property extremely beautiful and the staff accommodating.
Off to Chateau Pontet-Canet for lunch.
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