John Foy, a New Jersey writer on nj.com posted this article on the New Jersey drinks and cocktails website describing a recent New York wine tasting featuring Chateau Rollan de By 2006. Rollan de By is one of our favourite Médoc producers.
In an blind tasting, 2 vintages of Rollan de By out scored wines usually selling for far more in price including the famous Chateau Margaux and Chateau Chevel Blanc.
Enjoy reading the article below and follow his concluding advice:
"So, at your next dinner pour the Chateaux Rollan de By or Haut Condissas and keep the change."
DiscoverVin has limited stock remaining of Chateaux Rollan de By 2006. We have the Chateau Rollan de By 2008 which has recently arrived and is drinking well. We think its a steal as well!
Blind tasting of 2004 Bordeaux wines
(courtsey of Bethany Scherline)
Domaines Rollan de By is a collection of eight Bordeaux chateaux in the broad Medoc appellation owned by Jean Guyon.
In September, Guyon’s son Matthieu orchestrated a blind tasting of their Chateaux Rollan de By and Haut Condissas, with the First Growth Bordeaux Chateau Margaux; Chateaux Cheval Blanc and Canon (both Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classe), and the distinguished Chateau Lagrange.
We began with three 2006 wines: Guyon’s two chateaux and what I discovered was Chateau Canon. I, and the participating wine writers, voted Chateau Rollan de By first; followed by Chateaux Haut Condissas and Canon.
The second flight had five 2004 wines: Guyon’s two chateaux and Chateaux Margaux, Cheval Blanc and Lagrange. We voted Cheval Blanc first, followed by Rollan de By, Haut Condissas, Lagrange and Margaux.Whether Guyon realized it, he took a page from Robert Mondavi, one of the greatest wine marketers. In the 1970s and 1980s, Mondavi regularly toured America and foreign venues hosting blind tastings for wine writers, retailers and restaurateurs that pitted Mondavi’s cabernet sauvignon reserve against the wines of Chateaux Margaux, Lafite-Rothschild, Mouton-Rothschild and other classified Bordeaux estates. Every tasting I attended resulted in Mondavi’s cabernet sauvignon reserve garnering more votes than one or more of the world-renowned Bordeaux wines.
Did that mean that Mondavi’s cabernet sauvignon reserve was better? Did the September tasting prove that Rollan de By and Haut Condissas, at less than $50 each, are qualitatively above the $1,000 Chateau Margaux?
I think these comparative tastings tell a different story.
The wine world has experienced a transformative age since the 1970s.
In the September tasting, all the wines were properly made; that
would not have been the case prior to 1980. Back then, despite the great
chateaux’s better vineyards, wine-making equipment and talented
winemakers, poorly made wines were common. Today, the great chateaux and Domaines Rollan de By employ scientific analysis of their wine and vineyards, temperature-controlled fermentation tanks, new barrels, and educated winemakers and wine consultants. In short, the playing field is much more level.
Consumers can buy wines with a quality assurance that our ancestors never had. Yes, differences remain, but they are matters of taste and style, as well as ego. This change has obliterated the sanctified and archaic 1855 Bordeaux classification that is the pillar of Bordeaux pricing.
So, at your next dinner pour the Chateaux Rollan de By or Haut Condissas and keep the change."
