Comments on: Vanity Winemaking: Cranking Cahors to Eleven

By: Further thoughts about that whole Lagrézette challenge thing…

Further thoughts about that whole Lagrézette challenge thing… — Tue, 25 May 2010 23:13:34 +0000

[...] Last week, in conjunction with my participation in Malbec Days, I took part as planned in a blind tasting of eight malbec wines organized by Château Lagrézette, Cahors’ best known wine producer, internationally. The whole event, as I wrote before on this blog and on PalatePress, was a “rematch”, following my review of Le Pigeonnier 1999 as an example of vanity winemaking. [...]

By: Adventures Abroad: Malbec Days in Cahors, and Ontario Chardonnay in London

Adventures Abroad: Malbec Days in Cahors, and Ontario Chardonnay in London — Wed, 19 May 2010 21:02:11 +0000

[...] I’m just about to get on the plane that will take me across the Atlantic, as I head out to Cahors, in Southwest France, for the International Malbec Days and a particular tasting challenge at Château Lagrézette. The former provided the opportunity for the latter. Indeed, with Malbec Days inviting me to Cahors, I was able to take up the folks at Lagrézette, one of the most renowned producers in Malbec, when they challenged me to have a second taste of their 1999 Pigeonnier, a reserve bottling that I reviewed rather negatively in February. [...]

By: En route vers Cahors et le défi de Lagrézette « À chacun sa bouteille

En route vers Cahors et le défi de Lagrézette « À chacun sa bouteille — Wed, 19 May 2010 14:45:00 +0000

[...] du Château Lagrézette, un des plus célèbres domaines de Cahors, dans la foulée d’un article que j’ai publié sur Palate Press, un blog collectif/magazine en ligne américain auquel j’ai le plaisir de collaborer depuis [...]

By: devil's advocate

devil's advocate — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:26:46 +0000

This article is an excellent and thoughtful effort, whether others agree about your opinion or not. That’s what good blogging is about.
Playing Devil’s Advocate for a moment – although he may not be a real devil – it’s really hard to say something deep in a foreign language without some kind of ambiguity. When I read the French posts Vinternet on Twitter, I can’t help but cringe sometimes at the lack of sincerity. Give Courtois a point for trying. Ironic that Courtois means ‘courteous’ in French

By: Pamela @ Enobytes

Pamela @ Enobytes — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:46:50 +0000

Hey Remi, I love the honest and straight shooting-style review. I haven’t tried the Pigeonnier so I don’t have an opinion on the wine but I wanted to chime in on the food pairing. I recently had an oak tree in a glass tasting (highly tannic wine, I tell yeah!)) and it was really tricky to pair these rascals with food. The best pairings leaned towards grilled and blackened protein dishes. Strangely enough, you’d think a smoked brisket would work (smoky, yes, but the lack of fat in the protein did not) and even the grilled vegetable pairing sucked (IMHO vegetarian dishes seem to enhance the bitterness and accentuate the dryness).

Have a great time in France!

By: Remy

Remy — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:44:45 +0000

Well, I’ve taken a while to reply, and I apologize for that.

My short answer to Mr Courtois’ challenge is definitely yes, and it has been so from the start. However, along with other folks at Palate Press, we were looking to provide a definite plan, with the when and how of answering the challenge, something which is, for various reasons, taking a little longer than we expected.

Beyond working out calendar and availability issues, there are many questions that would need to be addressed, in a retasting of Le Pigeonnier 1999, with regards to Mr Courtois’ proposed formula. For instance, what other wines would be in the blind tasting? Who would control the blind tasting to ensure that everything is done clearly, in a verifiable and mutually satisfying matter? And also, doesn’t the fact that Lagrézette offers to pick up the bill only if I still don’t like Le Pigeonnier create an incentive for me to hate it again?

I’m sure those details can be worked out properly, and hopefully we can do that soon, so that the retasting can happen in the best conditions possible. I’ll keep everyone posted about what happens next.

Now, as to the points made by Mr Courtois, I would first like to say that I have little doubt about the condition of the bottle we tasted. First of all because I’ve been tasting wines from that particular cellar for about 10 years, and it has proved very reliable. Also, the bottle’s owner told us, well after everyone had made their comments, that he had tasted another bottle and that his impression was the same.

Mr Courtois also states that: “Your condemnation of our wine and the people involved is so intransigent ! It looks like a settling of old scores with Lagrezette, Mr Perrin, Mr Rolland and Mr Parker.” I am very surprised by this. Maybe he missed the paragraph where I stated that this opinion on one wine was “by no means a blanket condemnation of Mr. Rolland or Mr. Perrin.” And also the one that said: “I’ve tasted Lagrézette a couple of times and thought it was very good, as well as the lower-priced Moulin de Lagrézettte, a very drinkable wine at a decent price. I’ve tasted a number of wines made at wineries where Michel Rolland consults (or has consulted), and I’ve liked some of them and disliked others.”

I’ll admit that I have lost a certain amount of respect for Mr Parker over the last couple of years, because of ethical issues and insulting blanket statements directed at wine bloggers. But he did not make the wine, which is the essential point, here.

I’d like to thank Kathy, Lenn and Tim for their comments – as well as Mr Courtois, as I am glad that he took the time to respond.

Kathy, I like your point about terroir, and the fact that low acidity may be less of a struggle in Cahors than, say, at the bottom of interior valleys in California. Indeed, I do think that highly restricted yields would not work the same as naturally low yields. In that, as in other matters in winegrowing and winemaking, you have to find a balance, and that doesn’t seem to be what is happening here, for that particular wine.

Lenn, I do agree that low acidity is indeed not favorable to aging, from my experience, but that doesn’t mean that “typical winemaker hyperbolic discourse” should be tolerated or approved. At a very basic level, it’s bad customer service to sell someone a very expensive wine, telling him it will be great in 20 years, only to create a hyperbolic disappointment.

Tim, I was particularly interested in the idea that since the Fess Parker wine was highly rated, you would have had to like it, according to the winemaker. Why would one person’s taste, publicized or not, create an obligation to like the wine for everyone else? As I’ve said in a previous comment, there isn’t a single model to winemaking, and there isn’t a single model to wine tasting.

This means that others may well like Le Pigeonnier 1999, even though I didn’t. I believe my opinion is justified, and it is based not only on a sensory impression, but also on years of trying to understand how wine “works”, how it evolves, etc. However, it is still one man’s opinion.

Who knows, I may yet have a different opinion on my next tasting of the 1999, in which case I’ll be happy to state this, and make amends if necessary. But I’m fairly confident that what I will taste will not be so different the second time around.

I am looking forward to the next tasting, and to see how the next chapter unfolds.

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:55:13 +0000

Remy,
I’ve only just recently started reading your various posts and I must say you are both eloquent (I’m an English teacher by day) and meticulous (I’m a wine taster/writer by night). You are exceedingly fair as I have also recently tasted blind a 1999 Balmoral Shiraz and it was terrible, unanimously so around the table of 8 that evening. If this Cahors was worse, well that speaks volumes for me. I have been bemoaning the “big, monster” wines for a decade now and only recently have I seemed to find any agreement. Your story reminds me of an encounter I had a couple of years ago at a wine festival.
I was tasting a California Pinot Noir from Fess Parker that had received 95 points from WE or WA, I can’t remember which. I swirled, tasted, spit, retasted, spit and then poured the remainder of my glass into the spit bucket. I must have had a less-than-pleased look on my face because the woman who poured the sample immediately asked what I thought. I should say now that I am opinionated and honest, but I don’t relish confrontation. I politely said that the wine was “not my style” and checked the alcohol level on the bottle. It said 15.1% (I think, but it was above 15%). She stated unequivocally that it was one of the highest rated wines in the show (over 1000 wines) and that I needed to retaste it because my first impression was obviously wrong. I should have politely declined and moved on, but I decided to give it another chance. The second taste was worse. She demanded to know how I could dislike a wine that they could not supply enough of to satisfy demand. I blurted out, “because it is a poorly made wine, although I suspect it was made this way intentionally”. I stated much of what I have read from some of your posts, Remy, “It is an unbalanced wine and I am not interested in these types of wine”. Unfortunately, the person who was pouring the wine that afternoon was one of the winemakers, a relative of Fess Parker. She was insulted and I was embarrassed. Nobody won the encounter. But I think that if you have to make Pinot Noir at 15+% because of hot growing seasons, maybe you shouldn’t be growing this varietal in that location.
Sorry about the long post but please keep up the great writing and I look forward to future posts. BTW, take M. Courtois up on his offer. I suspect you’ll be able to pick out his “vanity” wines immediately and you’ll get a free trip to France.
All the best,

By: Lenn Thompson

Lenn Thompson — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:38:34 +0000

Remy: You know that my stylistic preference is most definitely away from wines such as this. “More everything” just isn’t my style, but I have to ask — knowing that the acidity was low at the beginning, which would make one expect that it wouldn’t age well, is it fair to write as you have here?

Now sure, if they are saying it will age 25 years or more in typical winemaker hyperbolic discourse, yes, they open themselves up to this. But, don’t most agree that these pornographic, steroid-juiced wines are better younger? Again, this isn’t my favored style so I honestly don’t know.

Love the honesty here. There needs to be more honesty and less rhetoric in wine writing.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:26:59 +0000

PS… M Perrin needs a wine social media manager.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:12:40 +0000

Rémy, a great piece of journalism and, perhaps, a polémique in old French.
“But a vine that produces low yields because of vintage conditions or natural setting is not the same as low yields obtained through drastic intervention.” Is this a definition of terroir?
I agree with Ward, low acidity means, to me, the “California Circle” of the late ’90s and early ’00s. M Rolland, and, even les Napkins (as they call themselves) are moving away from (or back) to balanced wine. It is a struggle due to high temperatures, something Cahors has to deal with but Cahors has the benefit of cold winters, even summer rain.
What is particularly helpful is that others at the table (who seemed to know wine) tasted the same.
If you take up the mitigated offer from M Courtois – they only pay if you find the same taste again – perhaps he should extend the invite to the entire table.
Bon travail.