Bel Air Marquis d'Aligre, Part 2, with More Organic Bordeaux!
2/16/18 -
We recently spent a few long rainy days in Bordeaux, happily visiting old and new friends who are bringing great organic farming and more natural winemaking methods to this land of stuffed-shirts and Chateaux. And of course we managed a visit to Jean-Pierre Boyer at Bel Air Marquis d'Aligre, whose delightfully old-fashioned Margaux offer a delicious glimpse into the past. We tasted the 2015 and 2016 from large cement foudres, as M. Boyer, who doesn't like to describe his methods, offered a steady stream of anecdotes and stories. Most importantly he said "de boire mes vins jeunes est de couper le ble en herbe." Roughly translated as "to drink my wines young is to harvest the wheat when it's green" - this is something to bear in mind when opening any bottle of BAMA, as even the 1995 needs many hours of aeration and the younger wines are often best if opened the day before. We've just received a new shipment of these beautiful wines - including the lovely 1998 and the very ageworthy 2009, both of which will certainly cellar well for another 20 years and more.
One of our favorite examples of Biologique (organic) Bordeaux is Didier Michaud's tiny estate in the northern Medoc, Planquette. From old vines of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 20% of an old variety of Petit Verdot, this is a brilliant natural wine that is deep, well-structured and beautifully complex making it delicious to drink now or after ten to fifteen years of cellaring. The wine spends a minimum of two years in old barrique, and the malo sometimes takes one to two years. Interestingly, M. Michaud attempts to limit the presence of wild yeasts in the cellar, preferring that his wines ferment as much as possible with yeasts found in the vineyard. Only a few cases are left of the lovely 2015 vintage, but barrel samples of the 2016 and 2017 showed beautifully, and with the better harvests we hope to have more quantity over the next few years.
Chateau Coutet in Saint-Emilion has been farming organically since the 1950s and has remained relatively unknown, though surrounded by famous neighbors such as Grand Maynes, Beauséjour and Angelus. The estate's vines are 60% massale selection Merlot Queue Rouge, with 40% Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot; an old press is used due to the small grapes and the fermentations have always been with wild yeasts. Coutet is one of the only Bordeaux estates to have extensive woods and hedges around the property - they like to hunt - and this helped protect them from the terrible frosts of April 2017. New releases from Coutet will be at a much higher price, so lovers of real Bordeaux should consider the lovely 2012 on offer today.
- David Lillie
