Drinks on Helen

Helen was recently interviewed by the Daily Telegraph in Sydney! 

The ship has come in for white Bordeaux fanciers.

We have literally cleared the decks for the arrival of the first shipment of 2014 Grand Bateau Blanc from Chateau Beychevelle. And right on cue, this wine has received the highest score (94.5 points) in trade magazine National Liquor News' tasting of sauvignon blanc.

Emblazoned with the famous Beychevelle long boat on the label, the 2014 vintage is billed as one of the best white's recent years from this prominent producer.

The same team that produces the prestigious Chateau Beychevelle red wine makes Grand Bateau which is 100% sauvignon blanc. Beycheville is one of a handful of medoc producers who also make a white wine

Philippe Blanc, Chateau Beychevelle’s chief winemaker, guides the assemblage of wines based on a selection of the best wines from the Beychevelle estates.  Chateau Beychevelle follows “terra vitis” and “sustainable viticulture” practices, to produce high quality grapes using environmentally friendly methods.

Chateau Beychevelle is a classified Saint-Julien cru classé producer with a tradition of growing vines on the Garonne gravel of the Médoc dating back to the Middle Ages.

Our previous vintages of Grand Bateau have been increasingly well received by our trade and online customers. We hope that with this brilliant example there will be a lot of delighted, light bulb moments from discerning Australian wine drinkers when they try it.  

And at $32 for this classy, well made white it’s even easier to swallow! 

2014 Grand Bateau Blanc

Grapes: Sauvignon Blanc 100%

Alcohol: 12.5 % VOL

Wine making:  Pre-fermentation maceration results in a wonderful aromatic structure. 70% of the juice is fermented in new oak barrels for four months, with accompanying batonnage (stirring of the lees or yeast to give some creaminess and richness to the wine)

Our Tasting notes:  Aromatic nose with buttery-vanillin oak notes and exotic fruit.  On the palate the wine is round, fleshy with wonderful minerality and delightful exotic fruit flavours. Lovely balance between the oak, fruit and acidity.  Excellent finish.

RRP $32.00 (trade price on application info@discovervin.com.au )

This was a standout wine at the Vinexpo 2015 wine exhibition in Bordeaux.   It offers value for money and exquisite drinking. Just drink on its own, enjoy with a pre-dinner platter or seafood and white meats.

This wine is available in Australia exclusively to DiscoverVin.

Click here to order online.

We enjoyed it with a beetroot, blood orange and feta salad. Perfect match! 

Beetroot, blood orange and feta salad with classy sav blanc from Chateau Beychevelle in Bordeaux http://www.discovervin.com.au/shop/item/grand-bateau-copy #wine #medoc #bordeaux #bordeauxblanc

A photo posted by discovervinwines (@discovervinwines) on Sep 13, 2015 at 2:24am PDT

If you would like to know more about this famous Bordeaux producer, watch this video from Bordeaux wine distributor Millesima..

The Black Wines of Cahors

This week our guest blogger is wine guru and National Chair of Judges for The Hostplus Restaurant and Catering Awards and Wine List Stewart White. He recently reviewed our malbecs from Cahors and showed them to Natascha Hoy on Sydney Radio show Food in Focus which is on FM89.7 on Saturdays at 4pm. Here's what he wrote about them...

"For thems-what-knew, (which I am almost sure is not English) World Malbec Day occurred on 17 April . But Food in Focus being the savvy broadcast source of all things food and wine pre-empted that day with a good hard look at where Malbec had its origins. (We paid him to write that!)

Rather than breaking out the empanadas and gaucho boots – and going all Argentinean, we lifted a glass (well several actually) to those who did it first, the French  – and who are in a class of their own. Malbec’s traditional heartland is in the south west of France in Cahors where it is known as the Black Wine of Cahors.

Although historically one of the six grapes allowed for blending red Bordeaux, further south west, Malbec reigns supreme. It is the dominant red varietal where the region’s appellation controlée calls for a minimum of 70% Malbec in its reds. Says The Guardian (UK): “Cahors is that rarest of all wines: both a rising star and a timeless classic.”

It was French agronomist Miguel Pouquet who bought French grape vine cuttings to

Argentina in the mid 19^th century. But it was its champion, Seur Malbek in France for whom the grape was named in the late 17^th century, who was the forefather of this ‘timeless classic’.

Cahors Malbec draws on the legendary Dordogne soils to display complexity and structure with a full bodied, tannin backbone that unashamedly points to longevity. In its modern form its gorgeous, brooding colour belies its sensual elegance.

In recent years, as the world-wide interest in Malbec wines has increased, the Cahors producers have prominently displayed Malbec on the front labels. They have become one of the first French wine regions to label by variety not just by region.

Australian boutique French wine importer DiscoverVin www.discovervin.com.au specialises in the wines of South West France as well as Bordeaux.  Their wines are available to everyone on the internet. “We have found a steadily growing following for our Cahors Malbecs,” says director, Craig Underhill. “The Argentinean Malbecs made in their sunny Australian style have opened people’s eyes to the variety.  But those looking for something more complex and definitive have been discovering the ‘black wine of Cahors’. And once you go black – there’s no going back.”

The current available vintages of the  Malbec wines we sampled were:

Chateau Lagrezette 2005  (Malbec 87%, Merlot 12%, Tannat 1%)

Our Tasting Notes : From the exceptional vintage of 2005, this is textbook Cahors Malbec. Inky purple colour. On the nose blackcurrant, truffles, violets. On the palate lovely blackcurrant and plum fruit, spice and minerals.Beautifully balanced, mid-weight, with fine chalky tannins, great structure and balance, long and satisfying. Could be cellared for several years but enjoy now with red meats, white meats, cheese and indeed a range of dishes.

http://www.discovervin.com.au/shop/item/chateau-lagrzette/regions-of-sw-france-cahors

RRP through www.discovervin.com.au $49.40 NOW SOLD-OUT

Chateau Haut Monplaisir Prestige-AOC Cahors-Rouge 2006

(100% Malbec, Certified Organic )

Our Tasting notes:  Garnet red colour. The nose is intense, with notes of red fruit, spices and blackberry jam.  Crisp and even, this wine presents aromas of blackcurrant and blackberry on the palate, along with a mineral note.  The finish is lengthy and complex, with notes of chocolate and spices, and with just a hint of woody aromas.

RRP through www.discovervin.com.au $34.90

Chateau Haut Monplaisir-Pur Plaisir-AOC Cahors-Rouge 2006

(100% certified organic,  unfined & unfiltered)

Our Tasting notes:  This wine showcases classic Malbec from Cahors. The nose is lifted, powerful and complex with typical plum and berry aromas.  A profoundly rich, complex, layered palate that blends fruit with mineral and tobacco notes.  Strong but well integrated fine chalky tannins.  Great length and balance.

RRP through www.discovervin.com.au $59.90

We had the chance to immerse ourselves in a brace of these stunning and sophisticated ‘black wine of Cahors’ – which while astonishingly good now, will and hunker down for the long term."

These wines are also available to trade customers. Please contact us at info@discovervin.com.au for further information.